"Android OS" uses data when phone's data is OFF?

melman11

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(I posted this last week, I think it went into "Ask A Question", where it disappeared and/or there was no reply. Hoping for a better result here.)

New phone, LG Rebel 4 (LML212VL), Android version 8.1.0, Security patch level March 1, 2019. I use very little data and have a low-data plan.

Oreo has so many settings to limit data usage that I initially decided to leave data on and see how it performed. Many apps used more data than I could tolerate, even with background data disabled, data usage on my home and work wi-fi's disabled, etc.

So I turned my data off about a week ago and I've been watching the Settings - Network & Internet - Mobile Data numbers. The data usage of "Android OS" increases by about 0.1 MB every day. Even though data on the phone is OFF. My data balance reported by my carrier isn't changing.

So is the phone using data or not? I am curious to know.
 
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swannlake

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Weird. I have the opposite problem. Mobile data on my Samsung is off, background data is disabled and the phone does not show any data (0mb). However, data reported by carrier says 0.0051 mb data (and this amount will be charged on their tier system even though it is under 1 mb).

If this progresses and you aren't going to be charged by your carrier (which is good), maybe you can still monitor it and let someone on their tech support team know. Does your carrier not register anything that tiny? Or is it a phone glitch? I'm curious as to responses on this thread. I'm wondering if anyone has experienced your situation as I am still confused about my opposite one. On a previous talk/text only phone (with mobile data off), I did not have any data (for years) and this new problem only happened because data was initially turned on the new phone. Maybe your phone is similar since data was turned on as well. But it would be unfortunate if data leaks on some phones are caused by data being turned on & off.
 

melman11

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swannlake,

I reset my "billing cycle" in the phone (the date that is used for the "Mobile data" usage collection) 11 days ago. At that time, data was on. On the first day, with background data supposedly turned off for all apps, Outlook gobbled almost a MB of foreground data and I-Heart Radio used about 1/3 MB in background (with background data supposedly off). Other lesser usage by other apps but those were the two largest. That may not sound like a lot but I only buy about 60 MB a month, and it already used almost the entire day's allotment without me actually doing anything.

After that first day, I turned data off and it's been off for 10 days. The cumulative data usage of "Android OS" now exceeds everything else, at 0.91 MB. 865KB in Foreground and 64 KB Background. But throughout these 10 days, my data balance as reported by my carrier hasn't moved (and they track it with resolution of 0.01 MB).
 

swannlake

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Have you tried contacting your carrier about this? And have you seen your bill yet? If your actual bill (and not just the day to day usage) says 0 mb data used then this is something to contact your carrier's tech support about or even LG.
Double check all background data is restricted and also you can check your Smart Network Switch setting to make sure that mobile data isn't used if WiFi has low connectivity. There are so many odd things to make sure that data is not used (that you should check with your carrier about). I have checked all my settings as far as I know and there are still data leaks registered by my carrier. But with your situation, if you are not being charged by your carrier, that is a good thing until your phone is sorted out (a possible hardware issue,etc).
 

melman11

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Well I use Tracfone, my service is prepaid, I don't get a bill.
I can look at my data balance on their site and it's stayed on the same number for 10 days, since I turned off my master data control.
On my Settings menu, there's a banner at the top "Mobile data is off".
I have activated all the data-conserving controls such as the Data Saver (on) and the "Switch automatically to mobile data when Internet not available via Wi-fi" (off) for my home and work wi-fi's.

On my mobile data settings menu (the one showing 0.91MB of Android OS usage), if I press "Android OS" in addition to the data usage, there's a list of about 20 "Other Apps Included in Usage". Including things like Call management, Call services, Network, and many others. I guess I'll assume that this "data" usage is actually due to items on the "phone" side of the device.
 

Golfdriver97

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As I recall, there was a disclaimer in the data graph somewhere that the amount tallied by the OS and your carrier may differ.

That being said, I am not sure if the OS can authorize a report back to Google whether the data is on or off. Solutions could be to turn airplane mode on (if the OS can override settings like data, airplane mode may not make a difference), or turning the phone off.

However, the data metered by your carrier is what you are billed for. If the data the OS is sending in these circumstances aren't being metered by your carrier, you shouldn't need to worry about it.
 

melman11

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Yes, under the graph it says "Data usage is measured by your phone. Your carrier may account for usage differently. Set the dates to match the period on your bill."

I don't see where anything is being reported back to Google. The number I'm seeing is a measurement or tracking of data usage done by the phone itself. But if the main data control is OFF, why is the phone measuring that 70-80KB of "Android OS" data usage each day? What is it doing?

I agree that my carrier is not counting it against me so I really don't care. What I sorta care about, and not that much mind you, is that OFF should mean OFF, and the phone shouldn't be measuring any data usage at all. The data modem should be completely disabled.
 
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Golfdriver97

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I agree that off should be off, but at the same time, if there is a critical error the OS should be able to send that data back to Google.
 

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