Strange 135.0 MB repeated cellular data usage every minute or two on AT&T

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Level 1

6 points

Strange 135.0 MB repeated cellular data usage every minute or two on AT&T

I was looking at my AT&T cellular data usage and saw that I was burning through my cellular data at a very rapid pace. I found on one day I was using 135.0 MB once or twice EVERY MINUTE over about 40 minutes. There were 35 instances of that 135.0 MB usage for a whopping total of 4.6 GB (135

MB x 35 = 4,725 MB / 1024 (MB/GB) = 4.6 GB)!!!

Based on my AT&T bill and usage log, I know it was me (not others in my family) on my iPhone XS Max using the data. And, based on the time in the data usage log, I know I was driving in my car and streaming music over Amazon Music.

I can also tell that Amazon Music has used several GBs of data using the cellular data statistics that my iPhone reports. As an experiment, I reset the cellular data statistics for the current period and over the past few days I can see I've already used 6.1 GB with Amazon Music using 5.9 GB. So I think I've identified the culprit is Amazon Music.

However, I don't understand how that app can be using this much data. I read in a few places on the internet that, even with the highest quality music setting of 256 Kbps, that Amazon Music should only be using 0.12 GB per hour (which is about 123 MB per hour).

I first suspected that maybe I was inadvertently downloading music for offline listening. But, if that were the case, then wouldn't Amazon Music be downloading different numbers of MBs per download instead of a steady 135.0 MB every download?

Or, is this AT&T trying to casually ROUND UP to some whole number of MBs and allow me to burn through my data as fast as possible so they can try and sell me more GBs of data or have me switch to an Unlimited plan? As it stands now, when I run out of my shared 20 GB per month data then my whole family gets throttled down to 128 Kbps which is painfully slow to even read a web page on an iPhone.

Does anyone have any similar experiences? And, do you have any suggestions on how to get fine-grained app usage details (i.e. this app, at this time, used this much cellular data)? I'd like some kind of log where I can show Amazon that their Amazon Music app could be burning through my data at an unacceptable rate.

iPhone XS Max

Posted on Dec 22, 2019 8:14 PM

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Answer 1

BORg529

Level 4

3,070 points

Feb 9, 2020 8:46 PM in response to sadamick

Settings > Cellular > WiFi Assist > OFF? Settings > General > Background App Refresh > OFF?

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Answer 2

sadamick Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 31, 2019 5:02 PM in response to lobsterghost1

I did reach out to AT&T and they were no help. By resetting the Cellular data stats and tracking for a few days, I can see that my iPhone is telling me that the Amazon Music app is the thing that's using the data. I'm fairly certain the iPhone tracks the usage of each app instead of it querying AT&T how much cellular data was used. AT&T's support service (online chat level 1 support referred me to level 2 support) could only recommend some web pages listing some very basic steps to reduce my cellular data usage. They were able to give me a case number. Once they heard that I'd pinned it down to Amazon Music then they felt like they'd done their due diligence and said I should take it up with Amazon.

I also reached out to Amazon's support service (online chat) regarding the Amazon Music app. All online support could do was assure me that they'd forward the relevant details to someone who would look into it. I told them I was very keen to get to the bottom of this and would supply any details to them including my AT&T cellular data usage report showing how much data I was using and at what times. I'm hoping with that info they could see what the Amazon Music app was requesting. Sadly, the support engineer couldn't even supply me with a case number to track this issue. So I honestly don't know if I'll ever hear from them. I'm guessing at best, instead of a phone call, I'll get an email that winds up in my Junk mail that I'll probably overlook. I'm very disappointed that a large company like Amazon doesn't have a support system with a ticketing system that could supply a case number.

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