Any apps that check/disable specific application's network usage? - General Questions and Answers

I think someone might asked this before but i can't find it.
Nor checking around for one, i had tried several apps on android but none do the thing i want.
What i want is an application that check which application access the networks and use it and how much it use. (would like to disable network for the application too if possible without remove it)
I am losing 200 mb in 8 days when 99% of the internet access are under wifi. My wifi seem to be turn off whenever my xperia x10 go to sleep too.
Anyone can help ?

Related

WP7 - Usable without Data?

I'm considering moving away from my WP7 device. It doesn't appear to have much resale value so I was thinking of giving it to my son to replace his again original iPhone.
I don't want to pay for data and honestly would prefer him not online at all for now.
First can I disable data on the phone in a way that wouldn't let him turn it back on easily, perhpaps through a diagnistic code? Any way to disable wifi again to make it tough to turn back on?
Next, how usable is the phone with data disabled? So much uses the internet that its hard to tell what would happen. For instance, would all the XBOX games still work? What would be broken? People hub I'm guessing, not sure what else.
Thanks!
You can always just take out the SIM card I suppose? Or do you want it keep as a phone and not just gaming device?
There is an off-switch for data connection in Settings, it prevents from connecting all together I think.
Btw, what device is it?
Games work with no data. Even livegames, you just won'thave the benefits of live (acheovents, posting scores online) Phone works.
Turn off data through settings to see how it works.
Do you have a focus?
I think there might be a diagnosis setting that will turn off data. I'll check.
Sent from my SGH-i917 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
I have been using it on a no-data plan for 6 months now...no problems whatsoever, except for navigation, which depends on data connection to pull maps...but even GPS gets a lock without data. I have apps like Weave installed that cache data for reading while away from WiFi or in commute...
If Settings you can disable Data & WiFi as has been stated. As for hiding them so it'd not be easy to re-enable, it should be possible through the registry to add a redirect reg value. I'm not sure how to implement that though & of course you'd need it unlocked & a registry editor installed. Also, the device can get internet via a USB link with Zune. So, if he's at home where he has access to a pc/laptop with internet, the device would still get data, but as he'd have internet access anyway via the pc/laptop.
@kapanak: GPS should work find if you are using Navigon as it has the maps installed locally.

[Q] can't turn off edge/2G/3G

can't turn off edge/2G/3G
i have an acer liquid e, and when i set mobile networing off , the E of edge networking still stands in the status bar.
help me please
Plenty of apps restart your mobile data connection by themselves. For example, Lookout switches your data on when you start your phone, which allows blocked apps to bypass DroidWall when you reboot.
The only sure way to switch your data off is by renaming your access points with apps like ApnDroid, Quick Settings or Widgetsoid.
Good reply, rogier!
You can also try to reboot your acer, and see if it was a minor bug! Sometimes, its as easy as that
i have ZD-box and the internet useage meter alway's say's 0 mb used.
am i safe now?
i rebooted plenty of times, i was starting to think that this means that there is Edge/2G/3G connection avaible.

[Tips] Data Usage Best Practices and Tips (Android)

When using the internet on your device that has an active carrier data plan and no WIFI network is available, the device automatically switch to carrier's data plan.
There are many instances where people with limited monthly plans have run into bloated bills due to unintentional excess data usage.
I searched far and wide across the forums, to find any tips, tricks, tools or best practices for optimized data usage, but could not find much.
This is my humble attempt to come up with such a list.
Hopefully this will help someone avoid those surprise excess usages and bloated bills.
Please bare with me if this is insufficient or if the information herein becomes outdated due to new features in latest Android versions.
I'm not an expert. I am kind of a half-noob myself
1. Install a Data Monitor application.
There are applications which help you monitor data usage.
They show how much usage has happened through carrier's packet data and how much is through WIFI.
They also show data usage per application.
If your ROM does not already have these features, there are so many applications available on the android market (Google play store).
Search for one that suits your needs. I personally prefer My Data Manager
Note that all these data monitor applications monitor the usage at real-time.
That means, they can only monitor your usage form the day you installed them. Don't wait till you run into an excess usage problem, install one now.
2. Explicitly turn off packet-data during huge WIFI downloads.
If you are downloading huge data over WIFI (say a 600 MB file), and in-between if your WIFI becomes unavailable, chances are that the phone switches automatically to carrier data and continues with the download.
This is a sure shot scenario to cause surprise excess usage.
The WIFI might become unavailable due to any number of reasons like:
Straying out of the signal area - if you are moving around
Source getting disconnected - I have a cabled broadband with unlimited data on my laptop, I make my laptop a WIFI hotspot (kind of reverse tethering) using a USB adapter (wireless N150 USB adapter from buffalo). Whenever there is a power cut, my broadband connection goes off until I manually reconnect. Also, my connection periodically times off if it's on for a long time, or my laptop might restart.
The router might malfunction or in worst case, the phone's WIFI connectivity might itself dysfunction.
The point is, keep in mind that the WIFI can go off half way through the download and you might end up using carrier data.
The best solution is to turn off your carrier data. [Uncheck Settings -> Wireless and network -> Mobile networks -> Use packet data]
You can turn it on once the download finishes or once you have stopped/paused the download and you are sure that it won't use up your packet data.
This way, you can ensure that you are actually downloading through WIFi.
3. Firewall - allow/disallow data access to individual applications.
There are firewall applications on the market that allow you to:
Block internet access to selected apps.
Many apps like offline games and simple tools require full internet access permission. At first glance, this looks suspicious as these apps do not seem to have any business going online.
The main reason most of them use this permission is to allow in-app Ads.
By using firewalls, you can block internet access to selected apps that do not require internet access for their normal functioning.
Separate packet (3G/GPRS) and WIFI data.
Some apps consume too much data, like Facebook, Google plus and some games.
If you don't need to be online on these apps all the time, you can allow them only WIFI access, so that they can sync only when WIFI becomes available and they can never use up your carrier data.
Toggle blocking status.
Useful when you want to occasionally turn it on for a while.
There are many such firewall apps available on the market and some antivirus apps also come with inbuilt firewall features.
I personally use DroidWall
Note:
Provide access to all android system applications, and apps which come pre-configured from your vendor (I guess they could be trusted)
Make sure all apps that require internet access are given the access - both in WIFI and 3G mode.
Make sure known data guzzlers are denied access - both WIFI and 3G (provided they do not require access for their normal functionality)
If in doubt about any particular app - I prefer to provide it access. Better safe, than risk impaired functionality.
4. Download Manager - pause/resume downloads.
Say you are downloading about 10MB of data and the connection drops when you are about 8MB completed.
At this situation, you do not want to start downloading from scratch again when connection becomes available.
This way, if you are moving in and out of connection, you will end up trying to download the same data again and again, drastically increasing the usage.
You need a download manager with pause, resume, auto resume features to handle this situation.
There are many available on the market, search and use a one that best suits your needs.
This works only for downloading from browser links, dropbox, etc.
The download manager does not come into picture if you are trying to download data directly from an app (like many games download huge data when started for the first time after installation).
I am yet to find an app which can handle this kind of situation. Something like - intercept any downloads initiated from within other apps, and provide you option to manage those downloads.
If anyone knows of any such app, please do update us.
However, most games and apps which do huge data download have inbuilt capability to manage the download.
For example, Sygic has an excellent download manager that manages maps and other downloads for it. It comes by default with Sygic.
5. Push Notification Detectors.
When you install certain applications, they might have tie-ups with certain advertisers to send add notifications directly to your device's notification bar.
Such ads are called push notification ads. They allow the developers to make some revenue and help keep the free applications free.
These notifications show up on your notification area periodically, even when the original application which installed them is not running.
As of now, I cannot find any statics/benchmarks to understand how much data push-notifications consume. But they definitely do consume some data.
It is a personal choice whether you want such notifications or not, I personally feel a little bit of data usage is OK, as it is a small price to pay and helps the developers.
But some applications might be tied up with greedy advertising schemes that do extensive push notifications and consume excessive data.
One best way is to go through the apps description carefully before installing.
If the developer clearly states that the app uses push notification adds, it shows some responsibility on the developer’s part and you can assume he has taken the steps to ensure that the notifications are not excessive and does not consume excess data.
You can then choose to either install or not install the application.
However, there are many applications which are silent about the fact that they use push notifications.
There are many detectors on the market which detect all the installed apps on your device which appear to use known notification Ad frameworks.
They do not block the Ads, but inform you which applications are causing them. You can then choose to uninstall those applications or give them only WIFI data access or freeze them for a certain period of time to monitor your data consumption.
I personally use AirPush Detector
6. Freeze / Unfreeze applications.
If you suspect some application to be causing excess data consumption through push ads, you can freeze it for certain time and monitor the data usage to check if there is any significant change.
There are many such applications on the market which allow you to freeze/unfreeze select apps.
Most of them require root access (I do not know of any such app which works without root)
Titanium Backup (Requires Root) is the best application out there as per my opinion.
It does much more than freeze/unfreeze. It's a must have app for any root user.
PS:
Be very careful which apps you decide to freeze.
There are many apps that should not be frozen, especially system apps and some of those that come preinstalled on your ROM.
If you try to freeze any such app which should not be frozen, you might render your phone unusable.
Please refer threads related to your device to get a list of safe-to-freeze apps for your particular device.
Rooting might void warranty and has an associated risk of rendering your device unusable if done improperly.
If you are unfamiliar with concepts, read through the forums here on XDA, use the search button
This is all I can think of for now.
If you have any more useful tips/tricks or best practices related to data usage, please add them here, so that it can help others as well.
Cheers,
Sandeep

[Q] Concerned about data

Hey all,
New to the site and all.
Anyway i have a Samsung Galaxy S2X and ive been looking at my data usage and it says that a lot of data over a small period of time is being used for " Android OS services" though I'm not using my phone. If anyone has any suggestions let me know I wanna find out this problem so it stops eating up my data plan.
Thank you.
Hi Welcome,
I am new to.. back to the problem.
Those OS services are pretty normal I think, because there are multiple system apps that frequently make contact with internet to refresh certain data.
If you don't like this, because of data limits from your provider. Go to your phone's settings --> wireless and networks --> mobile networks --> "use packet data" and "data roaming". Make sure both are not marked, if you don't like the OS to retrieve data in the background.
If these settings are unchecked you need to take in mind that there is no way to use the internet through 3G, HSDPA, etc. anymore and you can only access internet via WIFI for example.
I hope this fixes your problem
Thank you for the idea, but its more so finding what ones take up the largest amount of data. That's what I'm trying to figure out.

Connection to my VPN drops every 10-20 minutes when phone is idle

My last android phone did not have this problem. I connect to my home VPN while at work. Ever since I got this phone the connection just drops every 10-20 minutes when the phone is sitting idle, or when I'm just listening to a podcast or something.
I don't know if it's phone related or android version related but I can't find any information on it. Has anyone else experienced this?
I tried looking through the power save settings to see if there was some option cutting data when the phone went idle but didn't find anything.
thoughts?
Thanks
check to see if battery optimization is on for your VPN app....Settings > Battery > (3 dots menu) > Battery Optimization > set your VPN app to Not Optimized. Honestly not well versed in how the VPN config works, but the activity you describe sounds very much like Doze (battery optimization) is kicking in and killing your connection. For example, I turn off battery optimization on my exchange mail app and other apps that I want to ensure stay active even if my phone is idle.
I have added VPNdialogs to the don't optimize list. I couldn't find anything else that was VPN related, but this doesn't seem like the proper app I need. Unless anyone knows what the VPN app is called?
Thanks for the suggestion, with any luck this will work.
Frontier3 said:
I have added VPNdialogs to the don't optimize list. I couldn't find anything else that was VPN related, but this doesn't seem like the proper app I need. Unless anyone knows what the VPN app is called?
Thanks for the suggestion, with any luck this will work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no worries, good luck with it. you may wan tot explore some of the VPNService config information in the AOSP/Dev site here. This probably starts to get into the connectivity/network aspects of the optimization, and it's hard to say how those services are isolated from general phone connectivity and the battery optimization (that is, does turning off optimization for one of the potentially related services cause a lot of stuff to go out of optimization by detraction, which could hamper battery life significantly but not in a way that's immediately obvious). You could guess and check, but another method may be to reexamine your VPN app of choice. You could try free options like OpenVPN Connect, Open VPN for Android, or Speed VPN (all free) and see if you can run your vpn through them and control battery optimization at that app's level to better success. There's also VYPR (VYPYR? spelling?) that's free up to a limited amount of data usage and could be used in P.O.C. manner to test things out. Again, I'm not a VPN expert, but I did tinker with a few of these when I was recently in China (to no avail, but not due to the apps, due to China being very Chinese/Anti-Google).
That said, we still don't even know if this is Doze/battery optimization related, but it's worth eliminating as an obvious potential culprit. I fear I'm not going to be able to help much beyond this, but have used android as a "super-enthusiast" for many years. I can also ask my buddy at work tomorrow who's a network and security freak, he might know...
Just an update, putting vpndiags out of battery optimization did not affect the issue. It's still disconnecting regularly. When I find time I'll look through the dev link posted above.
In the mean time if anyone else has any ideas I'm all ears.
Just a random thought, but did you remember to check the always on box when you configure the VPN setup, so that it transmits a keep-alive packet across the tunnel to prevent disconnection?
Yeah I couldn't figure out what that button was doing. When I check it the connect button greys out. I tried checking it but it seemed like it wasn't doing anything. I'll play around with it a bit more. Thanks for the suggestion.

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