spinning wheel icon next to wi-fi indicating network activity

Have you tried the diagnostic steps that Lawrence Finch has recommended, machinist_5?

What he is trying to help you find out is what Apps may be the “culprit” for the, apparently, endless use of your network.

All you know, right now, is that voice dictation (in almost any App?) triggers this unending use.

What you don’t know is whether there is something else going on “behind the scenes”.

My iPad is WiFi only. After resetting everything and closing everything (all tabs in all browsers), all apps etc... I can still get the spinning wheel by simply using the microphone (any browser, notes, gmail etc...)

I've combed through settings and turned off all app refresh, I don't allow geolocation etc.... I have a couple of apps that did not come direct from the original software but don't have widgets, no social medias and no notifications

I believe the problem to be software related so restoring to factory will give you the same settings. I do need to try it as an experiment but at this point I am not very hopeful..... until the next update??!?

Well, Wi-Fi uses data continuously when it is on. Unlike cellular data, Wi-Fi must maintain a connection whether data are being transferred or not, as long as it is on, to maintain synchronization with the router. OTOH, it uses very little energy compared to cellular, so there is no harm in letting it run on an iPad.

I've read all the posts and have the same problem with my Iphone SE 2020... No other phone I have has the issue... the only thing that stops it, and its a temp fix, is restarting. I'm very interested in what comes of this. I have tried all the recommended courses of action with no resolution.

And have you tried the troubleshooting steps I posted 6 days ago, and repeated 2 days ago:

Turn Wi-Fi OFF. Go to Settings/Cellular and Reset Statistics. Use the phone for a while, then check which apps have used data.

That includes things like streaming music, updating content. Do you subscribe to Apple Music, iTunes Match, iTunes Genius, News+, TV+ or a similar service? Any iCloud sync settings turned on in Settings/[your name]/iCloud?

And have YOU also tried the troubleshooting steps I posted 6 days ago, and repeated 2 days ago:

Turn Wi-Fi OFF. Go to Settings/Cellular and Reset Statistics. Use the phone for a while, then check which apps have used data.

Would just like Chime in and say I have the exact same issue on my new 2020 iPad Pro 11 inch. Spent the day trouble shooting and if I dictate in iMessage the spinning wheel comes up and will not go away. I can replicate the issue very easily and it doesn’t seem to happen in other apps such as safari, I really hope they fix this.

I’m having the exact same issue with my new 2020 iPhone SE. Only started after the iOS 14 update and still continues after I downloaded the iOS 14.1 update that was released (I think) To fix any minor bugs that had come with the original iOS 14 update.

I remember the last time this issue happened and the easy fix was just to access Siri by saying “Hey Siri” but for me this does not fix the issue 😡. So any time are use my microphone regardless of the reason the wheel will spin continuously until I turn the iPhone off/on.

From 🇦🇺

elietuna1 wrote:

I’m having the exact same issue with my iPhone SE as well. Exactly as described by machinist above. Only triggers with voice to text.

Well, DUH! The phone has ZERO voice to text capability. All voice to text is done on Apple’s Nuance servers, so your speech must be send over the Internet to the server where the translation is done, then the result is sent back to your phone. And it must be done in real time, so as long as you have any app open that uses voice to text there will be a continuous connection to the voice processing servers. Likewise, any time you use Siri, which is also processed on the Nuance servers.

Yes, elietuna1. «using voice to text» shouldn’t «trigger the spinning wheel [Network activity indicator] in perpetuity.»

However, we are seeing that only a subset of users are seeing this behavior.

What is not yet known is what the common features are, for that subset of users.

As best we can tell, it is not simply what iPhone model they are using.

It’s certainly not simply the version of iOS or iPadOS, being used.

It could be some setting or combination of settings.

It could be some App or combination of Apps running in the background.

The specifics of the issue are still being investigated.

I have a two week old iPhone SE. I traded to the SE because I was having this Spinny wheel problem with my iPhone 7. Now I have the same problem with the SE. I have spoken with Apple and they had nothing for me. Hoping somebody comes up with something soon