iTunes Match and 3G data usage

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Level 1

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iTunes Match and 3G data usage

Since turning on Match in Oct my data usage has doubled. It seems like Match uses 3G data everytime it plays a song even of its already been downloaded. Before Match I was using a bit less than 2gb per month but in my first month of Match I used over 4gb. My current usage is tracking at about 3gb plus for the month

I use smart playlists to manage what music is on my phone and do most of my heavy downloading over wifi. I don't get why Match is using so much data.

I leave "Show all Music" turned on and have 3G enabled in the Store setting.

I love the service and look forward to Apple fixing some of the obvious bugs.

Curious what others are seeing on data usage

Posted on Jan 1, 2012 9:05 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 23, 2012 10:27 AM in response to Jason Hughes

Okay. Called Apple. All you have to do is go to settings on your phone/ go to music/ turn off "use cellular data" it won't do it any more. It will only do it when you have wifi.

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Answer 2

Mar 23, 2012 10:27 PM in response to Jason Hughes

If you want to double-check whether you are indeed streaming a song or not, go into the iTunes app while the song is playing in the background. Click on More... then Downloads. It will tell you if anything is being played/streamed from the iTunes server.

Personally, I have not had an issue with songs I have already downloaded being re-streamed from the server. This usually means the iTunes Match database on your device has been corrupted. You can fix it by rebuilding the iTunes Match database (basically, it involves turning iTunes Match OFF, wait a 5-10min, turn it back ON, wait another 5-10min for the database to recompile, and you're done.

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Answer 3

Mar 24, 2012 12:40 AM in response to JohnBradshaw

iTunes match just isn't worth it. Toooo much trouble. I'll stay old school.

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Answer 4

May 28, 2012 11:23 AM in response to nowsthetime

The catch to the suggestion to "turn off cellular data" is that when you use a 3G hub, the devices identify the connection as wifi. This affects many rural users as well as cottagers.

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Answer 5

bob.os

Level 1

14 points

May 29, 2012 10:46 AM in response to nowsthetime

Turning off the "Use Cellular Data" sliders *seems* like it would help, but in a very importnat case, it doesn't:

Fire up your iPhone or iPad and start downlaoding a big playlist or artist grouping on WiFi with the "Use Cellular Data" setting turned on.
Leave the WiFi network.
Notice that you are still downloading and turn off the "Use Cellular Data" sliders.
Notice a few hours later that your battery is almost dead and that you've still been downloading.
Get an angry text message from ATT about exceeding the limit of thier 'unlimited' plan.
Enjoy 2G EDGE data speeds for the rest of your billing period.

There are serious bugs with iTunes Match and iOS devices that Apple really needs to fix.

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