Apple Music Using Too Much Data

Question

Level 1

6 points

Apple Music Using Too Much Data

I just subscribed to Apple Music about 3-4 weeks ago and have noticed a drastic increase in data consumption compared to Spotify. My listening habits haven't really changed since I switched over so would expect my data usage to be similar.

After downloading an app (My Data Manager) which tells me how much data each app is using...I have found out that Apple Music used 198MB in 1 hour of streaming even when I disabled the high quality stream option from the settings menu. I was streaming one of the Apple Radio stations and not using any downloaded music for the purpose of this test.

I have made sure Wi-Fi Assist is off, iCloud Drive is off, Download Songs is Wifi Only and High Quality Stream is off.

I had Spotify for well over 1 year and used it as much as i'm currently using Apple Music, and never had anywhere near this sort of data usage. I'm very close to my data limit and still have little over 2 weeks left which has left me to only listen to downloaded songs.

Any help would be much appreciated.

iPhone XS Max, iOS 13

Posted on Oct 18, 2019 8:06 AM

Reply

Answer 1

ryane77

Community Specialist

Oct 24, 2019 8:59 AM in response to neel88

Hello neel88,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities!

I understand from your post that you are noticing that Apple Music is using your data more than expected. If you are streaming your music, you may need to adjust the streaming settings so the songs only stream while on Wi-Fi. This can be done by tapping Settings > Music > Cellular Data. Then slide the switch off. The following article has additional information about adjusting settings you may find helpful:

Listen to music and more in the Music app - Apple Support

Best Regards.

Reply

Answer 2

neel88 Author

Level 1

6 points

Oct 25, 2019 1:51 AM in response to ryane77

Hi Ryane77,

This still doesn't solve the problem when I want to listen to playlists created by Apple on the go in the car with no WiFi.

I did a small test with Spotify (as I have a few days remaining) and I found out that I was using roughly 1/3rd of the data less than Apple Music.

Spotify used roughly 35MB in 30 mins whereas Apple Music used around 100MB in the same period. Both were streaming non-downloaded playlists. I do a lot of car journeys every month and if I keep using Apple Music, then I would keep running out of data unless I listen to the same downloaded music everytime (which gets boring after a while).

All this is baffling to me as I have read in various articles that Apple Music uses pretty much the same data (or even slightly less) than Spotify. Surely Apple Music must be doing something else in the background everytime I stream as that is a substantial difference between the two platforms.

Kind Regards

Reply

Answer 3

chris_g1

Community Specialist

Oct 25, 2019 3:59 PM in response to neel88

neel88,

If you are still experiencing unexpected data usage from Apple Music, you may want to contact Apple Support for additional assistance.

Contact Apple Support

Regards.

Reply

Apple Music Using Too Much Data

Similar questions