3G Data Pig

[jasonbstanding]

Hi there,

I'm hoping someone can tip me off as to what might be going on with my phone (HTC Desire / Android 2.2).

After not using it for 3G for several months due to the Out Of Storage Space problem that nobody seems able to solve without a factory reset, I did a factory reset and everything became wonderful again. However within a couple of days I'd nearly maxed out my 3G data allowance, which was weird as I hadn't been using my phone that much.

I eventually found the RadioOpt Traffic Monitor widget, which gives me a rough breakdown of 3G use.

It seems the prime culprit is com.htc.bg.uid.shared:10002 - overnight it downloaded 20.72 mb and uploaded 19.09 mb via 3g, which is a bit rude considering I was asleep at the time and not using it.

The software tells me that the parts reported under this module (presumably, it's a shared background data process) are:

DCS Service
Calendar Storage
Customisation Settings Provider
Peep
HTC Location Service
Customization setup
com.htc.socialnetwork.provider
com.htc.dcs.service.stock
DCS Utility Component
Calendar
Stocks
Footprints
Weather Agent Service
HTC weather sync provider
Friend Stream
HTC Media Uploader
PC Synchronisation
Facebook for HTC Sense
Flickr
com.htc.provider.settings
Weather Provider

I never use Friendstream, Footprints, Peep or Stocks - these sound like the kind of thing that would constantly poll services for updates. Are they likely to be my data pigs, and if so is there any way I can get rid of them?

Alternatively, can anyone recommend another forensic step to find out who's gobbling my allowance?

Thanks ever so much!

 

[takeshi]

IIRC 3G Watchdog Premium will actually narrow it down to the specific app. If you've never used/configured the items you mention I can't imaging that they'd use much data (what would they transfer?). Certainly a possibility but it seems unlikely.

After not using it for 3G for several months due to the Out Of Storage Space problem that nobody seems able to solve without a factory reset

Storage space issues are very straightforward. There are 3 things that use up internal storage:

1. Apps
2. Cache
3. Data

The last item seems to always end up overlooked. If you're running out of storage space you need to look into what's using it up and perform some housekeeping. There are no tricks. Apps that report on storage space use can help.

 

[Moscow Desire]

What you really need to be checking, are apps that are "auto-updating". Or set to synch at certain intervals. Most of these, you can adjust the time between synching or updating. Or better, set to Manual.

My guess, is that you have some auto-updating and synching going on and you don't know it. You can fix this usually by opening the app, and checking the settings.

There's an app called "droidwall" which basically prevents data transfer unless you allow it. Although I don't use it, it might be a good way to find out what app(s) are doing the dirty. The only problem, is you must be "rooted" to use it.