Database Info

Excessive "Android OS" data usage

So I have noticed since buying my HOX, "Android OS" consistently uses several hundred (anywhere from 100-500MB) megabytes of data every month. This is really annoying considering I only have 3GB a month. It uses more data than facebook or the browser! I am rooted on 1.73, and removed some ATT bloat through titanium backup, no other modifications. But if I remember correctly, it was doing this even before these modifications. Any idea what could be the culprit?
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

specter491 said:
So I have noticed since buying my HOX, "Android OS" consistently uses several hundred (anywhere from 100-500MB) megabytes of data every month. This is really annoying considering I only have 3GB a month. It uses more data than facebook or the browser! I am rooted on 1.73, and removed some ATT bloat through titanium backup, no other modifications. But if I remember correctly, it was doing this even before these modifications. Any idea what could be the culprit?
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you've setup Android to transfer all data to the cloud, you may just be transferring a massive amount of contacts or Wi-Fi passwords. If all of your contacts have pictures on them, this could be part of the problem.
However, 500 MB is a bit excessive. Time to do some troubleshooting!

I do have my contacts set to sync, along with gmail, calendar, the weather(every 3 hours), etc. My pictures come from facebook, so shouldnt that data come up under the facebook app? And since my billing cycle started on the 27th, I have used a total of 298MB, and 153MB of that is Android OS. And I have set the Play store to update over wifi only

I was having this issue as well. I went to Setting > Privacy > Backup Settings, and checked it off. I think it was backing up everything on my phone including podcasts in downloaded in the pocket cast app.
Since then the Android OS data usage has not increased.
I have auto sync turned off. I also think the respective programs that sync show up separately.
Hope this helps.

Did some more searching today, someone else also mentioned that turning off "back up my settings" severely decreased data usage by android os. Thanks for the tip gert260. I'll report back to see if that fixes it. Currently at 153MB
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

That could be some APP showing as Android OS instead of the actual APP.... that happened to me with JANGO (Radio APP) I noticed that my Android OS was using a lot of DATA but Jango was using a few KB... I did a test and I confirmed that it was this app... WEIRD! because on my tablet it shows the correct amount of data. If you use a streaming APP you can do a quick test

The last option says it all. It says app data and settings I would assume that it should go down if some apps aren't being used and being updated. My thought is that the os is updating these settings and data even though their not being used. I personally haven't had the phone more than a month so I cannot confirm this. I will update when I can.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

justmart said:
That could be some APP showing as Android OS instead of the actual APP.... that happened to me with JANGO (Radio APP) I noticed that my Android OS was using a lot of DATA but Jango was using a few KB... I did a test and I confirmed that it was this app... WEIRD! because on my tablet it shows the correct amount of data. If you use a streaming APP you can do a quick test
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pandora does this for me
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

Apps installing by themselves

Hey I was wondering if anyone else has had apps install by themself, over the past few days a couple of apps have somehow showed up on my home screen. They don't show up under the app drawer or under apps in settings. Also ever since these started coming thru I keep getting notifications for other stuff like "lose belly fat" and "job offers starting at $325 and hour". I'm currently running aokp m6 if it helps. I've done a full wipe and it stopped for a day and then came back. I'll post some screen shots of the apps.
P.s. the ones installing automatically are the last three above the PayPal widget.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

tr82691 said:
Hey I was wondering if anyone else has had apps install by themself, over the past few days a couple of apps have somehow showed up on my home screen. They don't show up under the app drawer or under apps in settings. Also ever since these started coming thru I keep getting notifications for other stuff like "lose belly fat" and "job offers starting at $325 and hour". I'm currently running aokp m6 if it helps. I've done a full wipe and it stopped for a day and then came back. I'll post some screen shots of the apps.
P.s. the ones installing automatically are the last three above the PayPal widget.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too had some Apps install on their own. But they were apps I had before I attempted a NANDROID Restore, which for some odd reason failed and killed my Boot. So I was forced to re-flash my stock boot/ROM on my S3 (AT&T Flavor) and repeat the Rooting process. But once I started looking through my app drawer, some of these apps were being re-installed. Odd, perhaps some internal back-up that I'm not aware of on ICS.

Yea these are random apps that aren't even from the play store. When I click on them they open the browser and take me to a page to sign up for a subscription.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Have you installed recently any pirate app? An app not bought or downloaded from Android market?
I saw some apps that installs a patch that brings/installs apps and shortcuts on your cellphone. Tô solve this Just delete the program or patch and use an antivirus Just in case...
Good luck
Enviado do meu GT-I9000 usando o Tapatalk

No I purchase all my apps from the market. and have all your same apps from my note and my note doesn't have this issue.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

same issue
I'm having this issue but its legit apps keep "updating" themselves baxk after I uninstall them
ie: bbm, flashify, (more I can't think off atm)

Some of the apps has Adware build in it, which means if you download the App, it will spam your Home screen full.
You can fix this problem by manually delete it everytime, to fix it permantly you need to delete the app.

Fantassy123 said:
Some of the apps has Adware build in it, which means if you download the App, it will spam your Home screen full.
You can fix this problem by manually delete it everytime, to fix it permantly you need to delete the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do uninstall them but they update from the app store and come back

dewrust said:
I do uninstall them but they update from the app store and come back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you uninstalled the right one?
also do you have any virus on your phone? I don't think this is the problem though.

Fantassy123 said:
Are you sure you uninstalled the right one?
also do you have any virus on your phone? I don't think this is the problem though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes multiple times
Today I went as far as deleting history of them being installed in the app store... Waiting to see if they are back tomorrow
Update: still happening. Resorting to auto update off and still having to stop installs... Something to do with rebooting, or its triggering it

How to detach an app from the Play Store

Right, I'm a PowerAMP pro user, but with a pretty old phone. The latest app is working but it's slow and sometimes lags. The poweramp site also offers the old 1.4 version which works right for me. Now, all is fine and dandy but I;m a bit annoyed by the app always showing up there to be updated. So I searched for a method to detach the app from the market and learnt that the bug has been solved long ago and apps can't be detached. So I tried changing the app's signature, of course with no luck, my android dev skills being close to absolute zero.
So I ask you, is there any way to do this? I am not pirating the app, so don't worry
I'm also trying to convince the developer to make an unsigned version of the app specifically for old timers like me, but with no success until now..

Just use LBE Privacy guard and freeze internet connection permission for this particular app..
So it will not connect to net and not telling you that new version is available..
we all should be polite enough to press thanks for anyone who helped US.

andrei1015 said:
Right, I'm a PowerAMP pro user, but with a pretty old phone. The latest app is working but it's slow and sometimes lags. The poweramp site also offers the old 1.4 version which works right for me. Now, all is fine and dandy but I;m a bit annoyed by the app always showing up there to be updated. So I searched for a method to detach the app from the market and learnt that the bug has been solved long ago and apps can't be detached. So I tried changing the app's signature, of course with no luck, my android dev skills being close to absolute zero.
So I ask you, is there any way to do this? I am not pirating the app, so don't worry
I'm also trying to convince the developer to make an unsigned version of the app specifically for old timers like me, but with no success until now..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it doesnt need to connect to the internet for anything else you could use droidwall to block it from accessing the playstore

If your rooted you could use blackmart to download the app and never have to update it
Or see the updates notifications saying there's an update
Sent from my MB865 using XDA Premium HD app

andrei1015 said:
Right, I'm a PowerAMP pro user, but with a pretty old phone. The latest app is working but it's slow and sometimes lags. The poweramp site also offers the old 1.4 version which works right for me. Now, all is fine and dandy but I;m a bit annoyed by the app always showing up there to be updated. So I searched for a method to detach the app from the market and learnt that the bug has been solved long ago and apps can't be detached. So I tried changing the app's signature, of course with no luck, my android dev skills being close to absolute zero.
So I ask you, is there any way to do this? I am not pirating the app, so don't worry
I'm also trying to convince the developer to make an unsigned version of the app specifically for old timers like me, but with no success until now..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know Titanium Backup can detach apps, though I am not sure if it is available in the free version. However, I do recommend the paid version of Titanium Backup anyway.

universeman said:
I know Titanium Backup can detach apps, though I am not sure if it is available in the free version. However, I do recommend the paid version of Titanium Backup anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have never been able to make that function actually work and I've tried with several apps that I don't want updates for.
Sent from my M886 using Tapatalk 2

On a related note, is there a way to remove apps from the "My Apps"list? It is really annoying to have to scroll through a list of apps containing tons of apps that you may have tried for a while and then uninstalled when you need to reinstall something. And why is the "My Apps" list in random order and not alphabetical?
"Dark is the night, I'm just a lonesome ol' shootin' star."
Sent from my Paranoid Android JB'd Infuse 4G using Tapatalk 2

lunarlandr said:
On a related note, is there a way to remove apps from the "My Apps"list? It is really annoying to have to scroll through a list of apps containing tons of apps that you may have tried for a while and then uninstalled when you need to reinstall something. And why is the "My Apps" list in random order and not alphabetical?
"Dark is the night, I'm just a lonesome ol' shootin' star."
Sent from my Paranoid Android JB'd Infuse 4G using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know (and after some quick Googling), there is no way to remove any apps from the giant "My Apps" list. However, I use the Appbrain android market replacement, and it lets you customize your lists and sort them better. You can remove devices from view though.

universeman said:
As far as I know (and after some quick Googling), there is no way to remove any apps from the giant "My Apps" list. However, I use the Appbrain android market replacement, and it lets you customize your lists and sort them better. You can remove devices from view though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I will definitely look into that and continue to research the issue as well. If I find any other solutions, I won't hesitate to post an update.
"Dark is the night, I'm just a lonesome ol' shootin' star."
Sent from my Paranoid Android JB'd Infuse 4G using Tapatalk 2

[App] Greenify *Root*

Note: This is not my app. This app is by Oasis Feng
Update: I think the link to the app thread by developer would be this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2155737
There is a new app in play store called Greenify. This app is only for rooted users. This app is similar to the freeze option we find in Titanium Backup Pro, but does the job in a much better way - it puts the app to hibernation.
Key features include:
1. You can add the apps to list which you want to hibernate
2. After the app is added to list, Greenify does the rest of the job.
3. No need to manually hibernate and de-hinbernate (like we manually freeze and unfreeze in TB Pro)
To use Greenify follow the steps below:
1. Open Greenify and give SU permission
2. Add the app to list in the built in recent app list or if you want to add app manually then choose more and open the desired app from list and tap on Greenify in notification bar.
3. In the main screen of Greenify you will see the apps that are currently running under "pending" category.
4. Now turn off the screen and wait for 2-5 minutes. Open Greenify again and you would see that, all the apps added to list are movee to "hibernated" category. All these apps are as good as frozen/uninstalled.
When the apps are in hibernated, they don't run in foreground nor in background. This will help in saving the battery and also increase the performance of the device.
I could test this by adding WhatsApp to the list in Greenify and later when WhatsApp went to hibernation mode I did not receive any of the messages in it (as good as the app not running). Then once I opened Whatsapp, it was our of hibernation and I received all my pending messages. Voila!
Note 1: you cannot add the system apps to the list. Greenify gives a message stating "Sorry, system apps are impossible to be greenified due to safety reason". Who wants to hibernate system apps anyways.
Note 2: Like the app description says in play store, it's not advised to put IM, Alarm clock apps and other apps that you rely heavily on for it to be running in background.
Note 3: You can send the pending app to hibernation immediately by tapping the app in list and tapping the pause icon.
Suggested list of apps that to be hibernated:
1. Facebook (take that FB!)
2. Google Maps (install as user app)
3. Any other rouge app which you wish to keep but keeps on popping up as background process. You tell me.
Weirdly I could think of only two apps! So share your list here. Thanks.
So this is really a very useful app which I feel would increase the milage of the device in long run. Kudos to the developer!
Play store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oasisfeng.greenify
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Great APP. Thank you.

I often wondered what it took to be a recognized contributor.
Now I know. You have to spam an irrelevant forum with an advert for an app.

oinkylicious said:
I often wondered what it took to be a recognized contributor.
Now I know. You have to spam an irrelevant forum with an advert for an app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I in no way advertising this app. I found the app to be useful and worth sharing it. And I did not develop this app, nor did anyone pay me to advertise it.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

oinkylicious said:
I often wondered what it took to be a recognized contributor.
Now I know. You have to spam an irrelevant forum with an advert for an app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We got a bad ass over here. Perhaps this is the wrong forum but the app is damn useful.
I has a sig

Thanks for sharing with us all. :good:

I tested it, and it works well.
Maybe excepted for Google Maps which keep coming in running apps even if put in the 'hibernated' list.
But that's a great app, I'll give it a try the next couple of days.

i know you said this app works better than freezing/unfreezing via TiBu but how is it better? This apps sounds like its the same thing. Just curious...

nyydynasty said:
i know you said this app works better than freezing/unfreezing via TiBu but how is it better? This apps sounds like its the same thing. Just curious...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OP said that it automatically do so (freeze/unfreeze) which makes it unique. In TB you always have to do this manually whenever you plan to use an app after freezing it.
Sent from my HTC One V using Tapatalk 2

If i greenify, no more push notifications right? Would be nice for Facebook, i could get rid of them if i could just use the app without it eating all my battery
EDIT: How about keyboards?

nyydynasty said:
i know you said this app works better than freezing/unfreezing via TiBu but how is it better? This apps sounds like its the same thing. Just curious...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Testing this, I'm fed up freezing apps then un freezing them when I need them. Play store doesn't show updates for frozen apps. Could be promising as apps are hibernated and run only when you need them. Best of all worlds of it works.
Pressing more exits the app at the moment
Sent via TCP/IP

So far, i hibernated whatsapp, facebook and twitter. I don't care about push notifications, but this works real nice! They are not running (background, cache, anywhere) so it gives me more RAM (specially you, facebook) and i can open em with no problems, no errors or nothing. Great app!

How's your increase in battery life?
Sent from my LT29i using Tapatalk 2

gsw5700 said:
Testing this, I'm fed up freezing apps then un freezing them when I need them. Play store doesn't show updates for frozen apps. Could be promising as apps are hibernated and run only when you need them. Best of all worlds of it works.
Pressing more exits the app at the moment
Sent via TCP/IP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pressing more exit the app so you can choose whichever app you wanna hibernate. You can see in the notification
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

Initial impression is that this is very promising, can't wait to test further.

AW: [App] Greenify *Root*
I'm using the ViperS rom on a HTC Sensation and greenify doesn't ask for root so I can't hibernate maps. I get a error message there.
ViperS uses a special superuser app, how can make it work?

Sprint82 said:
I'm using the ViperS rom on a HTC Sensation and greenify doesn't ask for root so I can't hibernate maps. I get a error message there.
ViperS uses a special superuser app, how can make it work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try installing SuperSU app from market.. Then give SuprerSU su permission with special superuser app. From this point on you SuperSU app will be used to grant su permission. Greenify will support SuperSU.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Loving it! Don't have to defrost the app every time I want to use it, but can still stop it from running when not using it.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium

Hi dev. Please, could you add a option to ignore the fact that some apps are system ones? Sony has some apps that are media related, and even Facebook, that comes with software, that ate safe to hibernation.
Cheers.
Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk HD

Felimenta97 said:
Hi dev. Please, could you add a option to ignore the fact that some apps are system ones? Sony has some apps that are media related, and even Facebook, that comes with software, that ate safe to hibernation.
Cheers.
Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dev won't be following this thread AFAIK. You can contact him at [email protected]
About hibernating system apps, since you are already rooted you can convert few apps like Facebook and other Sony apps which are media related to user apps with help of a titanium backup. This will enable you in hibernating them.
Take due care when converting Sony apps to user apps though.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

[Q] Disable OTA updates possible?

I am trying and getting absolutely nowhere disabling the OTA update nag screen. Even though my phone is rooted I can not disable the OTA update service nor rename the otacerts.zip file (as it still says access is denied.)
Motorola is refusing to help me aswell.
Surely there is a way of doing this?
Any help would be much appriciated.

I disabled the OTA and a whole bunch of other services using Greenify. There is a thread in this forum, with a comprehensive list of services that can be disabled (far more than I disabled). I also disabled some apps from multi tasking. I typically get 3 days of moderate usage. So its a win win situation.

Can u tell me the apps that i can disable to save battery life.
Sent from my XT1033 using XDA Free mobile app

grahamgo said:
I disabled the OTA and a whole bunch of other services using Greenify. There is a thread in this forum, with a comprehensive list of services that can be disabled (far more than I disabled). I also disabled some apps from multi tasking. I typically get 3 days of moderate usage. So its a win win situation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand to do this I have to install the xposed framework? Something that does worry me after seeing the dreaded boot loop recently.
I am under the impression from some thread in here, renaming otacerts.zip in the system folder to otacerts.bak can disable the function, but likewise I am a bit worried about bricking my phone. Motorola have informed me that updates are mandatory now and they will not tell me how to disable OTA updates.
The lack of working apps for things like this is also putting me off playing around too.

kartik sehgal said:
Can u tell me the apps that i can disable to save battery life.
Sent from my XT1033 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is the link hope it helps
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2818992
Sent from my XT1033 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I got rid of the nag screen by disabling an app called "motorolaOTA" and erasing the cache in recovery to delete the OTA file. I really wouldn't recommend upgrading to 4.4.4 as I eventually did anyway about a week after disabling the nag screen (wanted to test it out lol) and in the process hard bricked my phone.
So, disable "motorolaOTA" and whatever you do DO NOT upgrade!

kartik sehgal said:
Can u tell me the apps that i can disable to save battery life.
Sent from my XT1033 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I dont have access to the phone right now so cannot list the services. But I think I fed some miss-information, I now realize that I used Titanium backup to freeze the unwanted apps. This being all Motorola services. I then used Greenify on my messaging apps, like Facebook, Whatsapp and others.
But I do agree with another comment in this thread that rooting does mess up the upgrade process, it becomes a real pain! So its worth considering to not do it. Like others I have not upgraded to 4.4.4

grahamgo said:
Sorry, I dont have access to the phone right now so cannot list the services. But I think I fed some miss-information, I now realize that I used Titanium backup to freeze the unwanted apps. This being all Motorola services. I then used Greenify on my messaging apps, like Facebook, Whatsapp and others.
But I do agree with another comment in this thread that rooting does mess up the upgrade process, it becomes a real pain! So its worth considering to not do it. Like others I have not upgraded to 4.4.4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This helped me with the upgrade (Phone is unlocked, rooted and had xposed modules on it before the upgrade)
For me to succesfully update the OTA i had to do follow the steps in the OP of this Post. I tried a lot of flashing, but in the end only this worked:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g/general/ota-file-indian-dual-sim-4-4-4-t2810166
Just follow the steps below the text:
REVERT TO STOCK WITHOUT LOSING DATA OR ANYTHING ELSE
After this, you have to root it again with superboot. It's worth the effort to have 4.4.4. The phone feels more responsive for me.

Problem Solved!
I installed "System app remover (ROOT) by Jumobile". Its a free app in the google play store. This allowed me to uninstall Motorola OTA service.
The upgrade nag screen has yet to re-appear, and my phone is otherwise functioning perfectly.

Well done! I had never heard of this app, it looks neat. I use Titanium primarily for backups, the ability to freeze apps is just a nice bonus. I wonder if Titanium and "System app remover" work using the same method? With Titanium its easy to restore a frozen app. I read that "System app remover" puts removed apps in the recycle bin. I'm wondering what the chances are of this storage getting erased by accident, making it harder to restore?