Open Radar

 
15-Jul-2012 09:00 PM Rusty Mitchell:
Summary:
iPhones and iPads desperately need a quick and efficient way to check app data usage details. Ideally, this information would be accessible via the Settings app in General>Usage>Cellular Usage.

Adding to this feature, the user should be able to disable cellular data on a per app basis and delete irresponsible apps directly from a new app cellular data detail screen.

Steps to Reproduce:

Expected Results:

Actual Results:

Regression:

Notes:
In the Cellular Data Usage category in Settings, there is a key piece of information that is currently not provided. This information is the breakdown of how much data is being consumed per app in each billing period.

Apple should be able to provide this information in the same way that app storage information is currently presented in Settings in General>Usage>Storage>[App Name] with the overall data used for the billing period appearing above the list of apps with their individual data usage numbers. Selecting an application could then take the user to an app detail screen where they can view usage data for that application broken down by date and time along with the ability for the user to disable cellular data usage for that specific app and the ability to delete an app that has been identified as abusive.

I am currently in great need of this information to help track down rampant data usage by rouge apps. My wife has a 200 MB per month data plan through AT&T. Before I switched my wife to this plan, she was averaging around 90 MB per month of data over 12 months or more. I upgraded her phone to the iPhone 4s around the time that I switched her data plan from unlimited to 200 MB per month.

Since switching her plan, to my frustration and bewilderment, she is now averaging 160 MB per month and has gone over her data plan five of the past ten months. The most frustrating part of the overage is the mystery surrounding it. AT&T notes when and how much data was used in the previous 24 hours at the end of each day. However, because of what I assume are privacy concerns, they are not able to note which application was being used.

To add to my confusion, a good deal of my wife's cellular data usage, according to the AT&T's records, takes place when my wife is at home with a reliable and steady Wi-Fi connection.

A search online reveals that this is a longstanding issue. Many people are suffering from the same confusion around data overages and the frustration of not having the information necessary to properly track the issue. There are many articles and discussions on a myriad of websites including both AT&T's and Apple's. This particular discussion on Apple's Support Communities page has 1,854 replies and has been viewed 494,473 times since June 5, 2010: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2450738?start=0&tstart=0.

Certain applications are incredibly irresponsible in data usage. One such application called Tiny Zoo Friends (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tiny-zoo-friends/id456082760?mt=8) used over 50 MB in just a few minutes the other day when my wife allowed one of our daughters to play the game on the way home in the car. Testing the application the next day from home using a web proxy application (Charles) on my computer, I allowed the application to run for five minutes. After five minutes on my Wi-Fi network at home, Tiny Zoo Friends had amassed over 200 MB in downloads and was still going. The application never stopped an endless stream of downloads for character and background images. While these items were being downloaded, there was no indication given to the user in the app that content was being downloading.