Excessive Mobile Data usage after iOS 9 update - System Services - General

Excessive data usage is common when you download iOS 9 on your iOS device.

Apps updated on its own - that's one reason.

And the other reason is this new feature that Apple added to iOS 9, which is called WiFi Assist.

Disable it to stop iOS 9 from sucking your bandwidth. You can find the tutorial here: http://ios9news.net/stop-cellular-data-usage-charges/

Let me know if this helps!

Facing the same issue and desperately looking for a solution ... Lost close in 6gb and almost all in system services general... last couple of days using my iPhone 6 without cellular to avoid high bills as the cellular operator would not own this data cost .... Eagerly waiting for a solution ...

Unfortunate to hear that.

Can you do me a favor and check iCloud Drive?

Whether it is turned ON?

That eats your bandwidth silently.

Hi,

I had the exact same problem and Wifi-Assist was NOT the cause. I have just turned off all icloud auto updates, especially regarding messaging, and photos, and limited these to only update/upload when connected to wifi. I think the main one is to turn off 'Use Cellular Data' under iCloud drive, and then to adjust settings under Photos, within the icloud settings. This has taken my 'general' data usage down from nearly 200mb in a day, to a little over 5mb. still need to monitor it though as I am not sure this is a long term solution.

I hope this helps? Please let me know if there are other ways to fix the data consumption under 'General'

I have exactly the same "problem", and the lack of transparency from Apple on this issue is really starting to annoy me. I don't use Wifi Assist at all, I don't use the "ecosystem" at all, I have everything I don't need turned off - the only thing from iCloud I use is email, but that's on Manual refresh.

Yet the data counter shows each month a few megabytes used for the first two items under System Services (General and iTunes Accounts). Heck, the only thing on that list (System Services) which I can account for is Push Notifications.

When I switched from Airplane mode to online (without wifi around) in the morning, General sucked 2 MB in an instant. It doesn't always happen, it's not a problem about using too much cellular data per se, but it still raises suspicions.

Also, I've checked the session logs from my service provider -- apparently iPhone initiates a cellular session (regardless if it's on wifi or not) around every 10 minutes or so (a few kilobytes).

In addition to that... ever since updating to iOS 9, the background activity animated icon at the top (to the right of 3G/Wifi symbols) is almost always present now (probably not connected to data usage, but it looks like a bug to me - after a restart, it goes away for a while, then it starts again).

I have same problem with my iphone 6 a recently i did factory reset and deleted everything , tried everything but its not helpfu. It uses all my mobile data which is very annoying. i have tried to contact apple but there's no reply from them. Its no point using the phone without internet. It was better i never updated my phone.

iphone 6. 9.0.2

I have noticed that "General" under System Services consumes (quite large) quantities of Mobile data only when "Enable 4G" is set to both Voice and Data, instead of Data only. Before switching to this option I have never had a "General" subcategory under System Services at all, so maybe 4G Voice accounts for that.

On the other hand, iTunes Services continue to gulp cellular internet although everything is turned off, including iCloud Drive. Very annoying.

iPhone 6s, 9.0.2

Hi

I dont use 4g services but it still use to consume a lot of data.

But i have found that it happens when u download xender app or may be if location services are on.

Try any of these , it might help all.

same problem not understanding wht comes under general and its eating up my cellular data... kindly post solution....

I have the same issue. I turned off wi-fi assist immediately after updating to iOS 9, so it's definitely not that. I manually download mail data (fetch is off) and background app refresh is off too. iCloud is on, but use mobile data is off. I have 2.5GB data on my plan and I rarely use all of this. The last three days alone I've used 3GB. I don't believe I am doing anything differently. Why has this started happening just over the last week or so, and how do I fix it? I need a solution as this is not economically viable.

iPhone 6 , iOS9.1

Hi Folks, I've tried these steps

> turn off Wi fi assist

> go to general- reset- reset network settings

> done

After this, i don't see much data usage in system services > general category

hope this helps you! Cheers

hey people i had this problem on my iphone 5s ios 9.1 but i fixed it quickly realy all what you have to do is

first turn off wifi assist

second go to general - reset - reset network settings

then your problem is solved 🙂

Came across this post while looking for answers for the exact same problem.

"System Services, General" was contributing to 3-400MB of data.

Thought I would post what my issue/solution was.

I already had Wifi assist turned off, so I knew it wasn't that.

It turned out to be Whatsapp, doing it's routine weekly backup (time stamp matched my Data manager app).

This was never done over cellular data before, but since updating to iOS 9, it has been uploading via iCloud Drive (which has the mobile data on/off switch).

Which also explains why the data is not being recorded in mobile usage under 'Whatsapp' and instead is under System Services, General.

Turned off the iCloud Drive mobile switch now.

iPhone 5, iOS 9.0.1, 32GB