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[Q] Data monitoring that monitors apps?

Anyone know of an app that monitors individual apps net connect? I use 3g Watchdog but would like to know what apps are using the net and how much?
thanks
Lee

I've noticed my Android phone is gobbling data a lot faster than my Blackberry ever did. I'd like to know what's eating it as well.
I know the Blackberry is a lesser experience, but I've burned through half of my data cap in a week.
I've now resorted to just disabling data unless I need to use it, but it would be nice to know if there is one app, or a few apps that are chewing through it that I don't need to be running.

"Phone Usage" is what you should be looking for in android market! Droidwall is another app that will allow you to explicitly enable/disable certain apps from accessing data on your phone!

Try spare parts, there's a battery management option that'll show you data usage, gps usage, partial wake lock and cpu usage. if it shows a UID in place of the app you just need a app identifier to tell you what that uid is.
Biggest thing I found using it was dolphin browser had a huge data leak even after closing it through exit causing massive battery loss on my phone
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

Pat123 said:
"Phone Usage" is what you should be looking for in android market! Droidwall is another app that will allow you to explicitly enable/disable certain apps from accessing data on your phone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Droidwall requires root access though. I am trying Phone Usage now next to Network Monitor (which does not monitor seperate apps) cause I am wondering if Network Monitor catches everything (Provider says I am using more...)

uncletaz said:
Droidwall requires root access though. I am trying Phone Usage now next to Network Monitor (which does not monitor seperate apps) cause I am wondering if Network Monitor catches everything (Provider says I am using more...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ugh..I meant to "quote" you and accidently "thanked" you. So..thanks?
Anyways, I have PhoneUsage, which is useful for showing how the data is spread across your phone, and shows the top apps. However, I don't think it shows individual apps..only the top hogs.

3g watchdog PRO does monitor individual apps also. This is one of the extra features on the pro version
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

You can also try ZDBox.
This has been a telepathic transmission from the Outer Limits

Thanks for all the replies. Now to track down the source of my issues.

LBartley said:
Thanks for all the replies. Now to track down the source of my issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this might be useful. Although it's more on applications that are not closed properly or running on its own..
You can identify the problem by looking at your CPU usage.. if you have application showing and the cpu is high. probably, the problem lies on the program.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=967686

Hello. I am also looking for an app that monitors individual installed app network usage (3G or WiFi) in a real time sense (graphically or text based).
There are several utilities that monitor apps individually (3g Watchdog, Network Counter, NetworkTraffic Stats, OS Monitor) but nothing I've found offers a real time showing of individual apps the way that some apps show real time network usage of the OS.
Some show hourly tracking and some will refresh and show slight changes, but for real time tracking purposes (what the heck is consistently sending data *right now*), these are not as helpful.
Some background: for the past few days, my Vibrant would only get 3-4 hours of uptime, way down from the 8-12 I'm used to. I then noticed that my 3G connectivity was always on in both directions and I wanted to know exactly which app(s) was constantly transmitting. With the hourly monitoring, I had to wait, and I might have missed it. With the constant refreshing utility, the changes were so miniscule and not sorted by actively transmitting apps that it was counter productive to search that way.
Again, I'm not looking for one of the many utilities than do real time monitoring of the total network traffic, but real time network monitoring of the individual apps.
If anyone knows of any app that can do this, assistance would be really appreciated.
Thank you!

[Q] Excessive data usage problem

Hi,
I've recently discovered that very large amounts of data are being transferred from my Nexus S which is pushing me over my data limit of 750mb. I downloaded 3G watchdog and monitored traffic for a while and noticed that every hour or so data use goes wild running into the tens of mb over a very short period of time.
I'm currently running MIUI-109020 and have a fairly standard range of apps installed. I've tried killing all of the apps that might possibly transfer data but this makes no difference. So, at the moment I've turned off mobile data before it bankrupts me but obviously I'd like to have it back on again.
Anyone, anywhere have any thoughts or pointers as to what might be going on or how I could solve it?
BTW I'm in the UK on Vodaphone's network.
Cheers
David McNorton

davidmcnorton said:
Hi,
I've recently discovered that very large amounts of data are being transferred from my Nexus S which is pushing me over my data limit of 750mb. I downloaded 3G watchdog and monitored traffic for a while and noticed that every hour or so data use goes wild running into the tens of mb over a very short period of time.
I'm currently running MIUI-109020 and have a fairly standard range of apps installed. I've tried killing all of the apps that might possibly transfer data but this makes no difference. So, at the moment I've turned off mobile data before it bankrupts me but obviously I'd like to have it back on again.
Anyone, anywhere have any thoughts or pointers as to what might be going on or how I could solve it?
BTW I'm in the UK on Vodaphone's network.
Cheers
David McNorton
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That much data? Email, gmail, facebook sync.

Install Droidwall and prevent some apps from the network.
I would also like to see what exactly Android is doing all the time...

MIUI has a built in Monitor app. Use that to see which app is using up your data.
You may also want to opt-out of MIUI stats. I'm not sure of how much data it sends, but it will cut down on some of your data usage.
Droidwall is a great suggestion as well. Prevent some apps from connecting on 3G but allow them on wifi. If you want some apps to connect on 3G, check your sync settings.
Sent from my Evo + MIUI using Tapatalk!

Thanks for your replies. I've now installed droidwall and that looks like it could help. I've also purchased the pro version of 3G Watchdog (hadn't realised MIUI had a monitor app) and that's showing me what how much data my apps are using.
I phoned Vodaphone and they increased my data plan to 1GB which gives me a little leeway while I try to work this out. So I'll test it again tomorrow and see if I can work out what's going on.
Cheers
David McNorton

Is your Gallery app syncing pictures to Picassa? It's the only thing i can think of that would explain that much data in a short period of time.

Problem solved. Google+ was the culprit. By default the app had Instant Upload of all photo's and video's set to on. That has cost me about £50 since installing the app in late September when it first came out. Thank's Google
Thanks for all your tips. At least now I have a better handle on data monitoring and firewall protection.
Cheers
David McNorton

Wow, never thought Google Plus would use that much, even though it syncs a ton. Good think I have unlimited, may want to look into it yourself.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App

[Q] Controlling data usage?

I have the 200mb/month plan, and for the last few yeras, that has been fine... Starting with iphone 3gs and then captivate and skyrocket (when on GB) - never really used much more than 100 mb/ month - since I'm at my office or home most of the time and on wifi. Lately with ICS on the phone, the data has been going wild and I'm pushing the limit every month for the last 2 months. I read about 3g watchdog and onavo and droidwall - but don't know much about using them. I was hoping to find an app that would come up while using mobile data and asking explicitly if I want to allow that app to go through the firewall or not. Droidwall can be configured to allow traffic - but I'm not sure what traffic to allow through or not. For instance, this month my top data useage so far is 'Google Services' @ 15mb and the next down is Maps @ 2.23 and then Pandora @ 1.59mb.
I would like to be able to enjoy using most of the phone features on the run but block stuff that happens in the background, like Google syncing bookmarks etc that could wait till wifi is available - or blocking pandora from network if wifi drops off accidently.
Playing around with the droidwall I cut off other apps that need some data use so was looking for something that would pop-up and ask me 'do you want to allow this app to utilize network data' or something to that effect. Any suggestions that I should look at?

Droidwall is the closest thing. If u are looking for an app that behaves like superuser except for data, there is no such thing. My suggestion is to leave everything for 3g in droidwal unchecked except the stuff u need. All the other stuff that requires data that u use occasionally, set to wifi.
*#* Google dropbox, its useful.
https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTcwNDE0ODUyOQ *#*

Sounds good - does 'disable background data' in the system cp do much better than droidwall?

That turns off pretty much ALL data, u have to leave that enabled

I can use 200 mb in a day... :/
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

[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

Increased Data Usage

I recently came back from a two-month trip and started using my ATT sim card again. My Infuse is basically the same as when I left - Infused 2.23, no major changes.
All of a sudden my data usage has gone from an average of a couple of megabytes (at the most) a day to over ten. I only have a 200mb plan, so this is a problem.
I installed traffic monitor; unfortunately most of the data used falls under the heading of "System Traffic," which cannot be researched further. New build of Maps? Some rogue system program? I can't figure out how to find out what it is, and a google search wasn't particularly helpful.
Something is different, and I don't know what it is.
Anyone facing a similar situation or have any clues?

Start uninstalling apps and watch your usage to see which is the culprit.
Sent from my not-an-iPod

Thanks. That's a good idea, but it's all system apps, not apps I've installed. None of them are causing any trouble. I'm not even sure which are all the system apps...

Some apps I noted:
1. Quick Office Pro uses like about 20k on phone start up; not sure if it does it every time. There could be a few more apps that do this.
2. Google voice syncs itself
3. Push emails send info to server saying the link can be used
4. Maps new build could be a possible culprit (I keep mine frozen all the time now, and defreeze it only when needed)
I noticed this even on my wife's iPhone sometimes when she gets 65% usage sms (she has a 200 MB plan), and she's always on WiFi at home, and sometimes the data usage on AT&T site shows up to 20-30 MB per session. No way to track it. I tried taking it up with them, but that won't help since AT&T too does not track which app or what data it is.