Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a while;
maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But it still
happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
How can I find the app that's doing it?

Ed

On 19.11.24 10:27, Ed Cryer wrote:
> Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a while;
> maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But it still
> happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
> How can I find the app that's doing it?

Each and every restart does it.

--
"De gustibus non est disputandum."

Jörg Lorenz wrote:
> On 19.11.24 10:27, Ed Cryer wrote:
>> Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a while;
>> maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But it still
>> happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
>> How can I find the app that's doing it?
>
> Each and every restart does it.
>
No it doesn't; at least not on my phone.
Ed

Ed Cryer wrote on Tue, 19 Nov 2024 12:54:14 +0000 :

>>> Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a while;
>>> maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But it still
>>> happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
>>> How can I find the app that's doing it?
>>
>> Each and every restart does it.
>>
>
> No it doesn't; at least not on my phone.

It always amazes me that people respond to the gibberish of the Joerg troll
(where Joerg Lorenze doesn't own a helpful bone in his entire body).

Anyway, ignoring the Joerg Lorenze troll... Andy Burns told me about
NetGuard long ago, which, if you do determine the app that's causing the
problem, you can turn off mobile data specifically to it (you have control
over every single app with NetGuard).

Now your question though is how to determine which app it is.

Every app lists in the settings (on my Samsung anyway) how much mobile data
it used. Let me look for you with, oh, let's say "NewPipe...
a. I go to Settings
b. I go to Apps
c. I search for NewPipe
d. I scroll down and it tells me I used 3.81GB of mobile data since Aug 1.

Actually I don't do it that way because I use the Muntashirakon App
Manager, but you probably would do it that way - so I checked for you that
way so that you could follow in my footsteps.

Of course it's a PITA to have to look at every app that way, but since the
data exists, there is likely an app that rolls it all up for you somewhere.

Next I went back to the general settings (Android 13) and searched for
"mobile data" and it came up with "Mobile Data Usage" which showed last
"month" I used 2.44GB of mobile data (where a "month" to Android is
whatever you set it to be and where mine is set at the 1st of each month).

When I click on "Mobile Data Usage" within that activity, it shows me a
graph and then it sorts all my apps by the amount of mobile data they used.

That's what I think you need to do as the top app in that list uses the
most mobile data & the bottom app in that list uses the least mobile data.

Good luck. Let us know how it worked out as my suggestion is:
a. Follow the steps above to locate the offending app
b. Limit what that app can do with mobile data

Note: There's probably a third-party app for all this but I didn't look.

Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:

> Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a
> while; maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But
> it still happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
> How can I find the app that's doing it?

What options are available likely depends on brand of phone, and maybe
even the model within a brand. For example, with Samsung (maybe not all
of them), go to Settings -> Connections -> Data Usage, and use the menu
button. Select "Restrict Background" from the menu which stops automatic
enable of data. Some phones reenable data when resuming out of sleep
mode.

Some folks say to disable automatic update of date and time: settings ->
Date & Time, toggle "set automatically". Yet I thought cell phones got
their time sync from cell towers which get their time sync from GPS
satellites, not by the phone using data for an Internet connection to
some NTP server.

On my phone, under settings -> Network -> Wifi, menu, Advanced, there is
a "Switch fo mobile data" option which I have enabled. When I leave
home to lose the wifi connect to my cable modem, I still want my apps to
connect online, like to Google Maps.

There are malicious apps that will reenable data, like a viral VPN app
that wants to connect to your phone from outside. Because apps often
want data for Internet connections, and they can reenable data when
they're active, you might want to go to Data Saver settings to see if
Data Saver is enabled, and, if so, which, if any, apps are excluded.

Andrews wrote:
> Ed Cryer wrote on Tue, 19 Nov 2024 12:54:14 +0000 :
>
>>>> Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a while;
>>>> maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But it still
>>>> happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
>>>> How can I find the app that's doing it?
>>>
>>> Each and every restart does it.
>>>
>>
>> No it doesn't; at least not on my phone.
>
> It always amazes me that people respond to the gibberish of the Joerg troll
> (where Joerg Lorenze doesn't own a helpful bone in his entire body).
>
> Anyway, ignoring the Joerg Lorenze troll... Andy Burns told me about
> NetGuard long ago, which, if you do determine the app that's causing the
> problem, you can turn off mobile data specifically to it (you have control
> over every single app with NetGuard).
>
> Now your question though is how to determine which app it is.
>
> Every app lists in the settings (on my Samsung anyway) how much mobile data
> it used. Let me look for you with, oh, let's say "NewPipe...
> a. I go to Settings
> b. I go to Apps
> c. I search for NewPipe
> d. I scroll down and it tells me I used 3.81GB of mobile data since Aug 1.
>
> Actually I don't do it that way because I use the Muntashirakon App
> Manager, but you probably would do it that way - so I checked for you that
> way so that you could follow in my footsteps.
>
> Of course it's a PITA to have to look at every app that way, but since the
> data exists, there is likely an app that rolls it all up for you somewhere.
>
> Next I went back to the general settings (Android 13) and searched for
> "mobile data" and it came up with "Mobile Data Usage" which showed last
> "month" I used 2.44GB of mobile data (where a "month" to Android is
> whatever you set it to be and where mine is set at the 1st of each month).
>
> When I click on "Mobile Data Usage" within that activity, it shows me a
> graph and then it sorts all my apps by the amount of mobile data they used.
>
> That's what I think you need to do as the top app in that list uses the
> most mobile data & the bottom app in that list uses the least mobile data.
>
> Good luck. Let us know how it worked out as my suggestion is:
> a. Follow the steps above to locate the offending app
> b. Limit what that app can do with mobile data
>
> Note: There's probably a third-party app for all this but I didn't look.

Hello Andrews.

Your solution seems heavily dependent on third-party apps and specific
software; Android 13, Newpipe, NetGuard.
I don't have any of those.

Ed

VanguardLH wrote:
> Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:
>
>> Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a
>> while; maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But
>> it still happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
>> How can I find the app that's doing it?
>
> What options are available likely depends on brand of phone, and maybe
> even the model within a brand. For example, with Samsung (maybe not all
> of them), go to Settings -> Connections -> Data Usage, and use the menu
> button. Select "Restrict Background" from the menu which stops automatic
> enable of data. Some phones reenable data when resuming out of sleep
> mode.
>
> Some folks say to disable automatic update of date and time: settings ->
> Date & Time, toggle "set automatically". Yet I thought cell phones got
> their time sync from cell towers which get their time sync from GPS
> satellites, not by the phone using data for an Internet connection to
> some NTP server.
>
> On my phone, under settings -> Network -> Wifi, menu, Advanced, there is
> a "Switch fo mobile data" option which I have enabled. When I leave
> home to lose the wifi connect to my cable modem, I still want my apps to
> connect online, like to Google Maps.
>
> There are malicious apps that will reenable data, like a viral VPN app
> that wants to connect to your phone from outside. Because apps often
> want data for Internet connections, and they can reenable data when
> they're active, you might want to go to Data Saver settings to see if
> Data Saver is enabled, and, if so, which, if any, apps are excluded.

Hello, man.

I've looked through all my apps, viewing Permisions for each one.
The likeliest suspect is an app that surveys our local bus Network. It
has one permission; Location.
That seems very likely. Interpreted through the eyes of a predator, it
could read as "switch on GPS when wifi is disabled".
But I can't catch it in flagrante delicto. In fact, quite the opposite.
I switch off wifi, load the app, and it just sits there blinking at me;
while mobile data stays off.

I hope you're well.

Ed

On 19.11.24 10:27, Ed Cryer wrote:
> Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a while;
> maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But it still
> happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
> How can I find the app that's doing it?

AFAIK there is no app that is able to turn on hardware without user
consent. On Android there is always the message that requests to turn on
missing hardware.

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote:
>> Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a
>>> while; maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But
>>> it still happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
>>> How can I find the app that's doing it?
>>
>> What options are available likely depends on brand of phone, and maybe
>> even the model within a brand. For example, with Samsung (maybe not all
>> of them), go to Settings -> Connections -> Data Usage, and use the menu
>> button. Select "Restrict Background" from the menu which stops automatic
>> enable of data. Some phones reenable data when resuming out of sleep
>> mode.
>>
>> Some folks say to disable automatic update of date and time: settings ->
>> Date & Time, toggle "set automatically". Yet I thought cell phones got
>> their time sync from cell towers which get their time sync from GPS
>> satellites, not by the phone using data for an Internet connection to
>> some NTP server.
>>
>> On my phone, under settings -> Network -> Wifi, menu, Advanced, there is
>> a "Switch fo mobile data" option which I have enabled. When I leave
>> home to lose the wifi connect to my cable modem, I still want my apps to
>> connect online, like to Google Maps.
>>
>> There are malicious apps that will reenable data, like a viral VPN app
>> that wants to connect to your phone from outside. Because apps often
>> want data for Internet connections, and they can reenable data when
>> they're active, you might want to go to Data Saver settings to see if
>> Data Saver is enabled, and, if so, which, if any, apps are excluded.
>
> Hello, man.
>
> I've looked through all my apps, viewing Permisions for each one.
> The likeliest suspect is an app that surveys our local bus Network. It
> has one permission; Location.
> That seems very likely. Interpreted through the eyes of a predator, it
> could read as "switch on GPS when wifi is disabled".
> But I can't catch it in flagrante delicto. In fact, quite the opposite.
> I switch off wifi, load the app, and it just sits there blinking at me;
> while mobile data stays off.
>
> I hope you're well.
>
> Ed

Another place to look is in settings -> Data Manager, and select Mobile
to look at usage. For me, under there are a list of apps that want data
access. I know there is one app that I set it to "restricted": it only
gets wifi access, not data. It is a security web cam app that can
generate tons of network traffic. When I had a limited data quota, that
app sucked it all up in a short time. Videos consume a lot of quota.
So, I configured that app to only allow it wifi access.

I used to have the HERE WeGo app for maps which could download a LOT of
map data. Although I only had it download offline maps for areas where
I live, and where I may travel, those offline maps still consumed
something like 20 GB (configured to store on the SD card). The
downloads took a long time. I didn't want to consume data updating the
offline maps. However, for that app, it had its own setting to restrict
map downloads to wifi (not use data). I didn't have to go into Android
settings to restrict the app to only wifi access which would not only
apply to offline map updates, but using the map app while moving since
wifi hotspot are limited in range, and there is no reconnect when
leaving one wifi hotspot to moving into range of another wifi hotspot as
there is with switching connections when travelling between cell tower.

When going to those Data Manager mobile settings on apps, you can
disable background data usage to restrict an app to only give it wifi
access. Navigation to the similar function on whatever phone you have
may differ from mine.

Ed Cryer wrote on Tue, 19 Nov 2024 22:03:17 +0000 :

> Your solution seems heavily dependent on third-party apps and specific
> software; Android 13, Newpipe, NetGuard.
> I don't have any of those.

WTF?

Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> Wrote in message:

> Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a while;
> maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But it still
> happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
> How can I find the app that's doing it?
>
Do you mean you find the switch in settings in the 'on' position
after you've turned it off? Or that you find the mobile data
counters have increased?

Phone make? Android version?

My understanding is that ordinary user-installed apps cannot turn
on mobile data, but 'system' apps can. Malware probably
could.
--
Remove numerics from my email address.

Jörg Lorenz wrote:
> On 19.11.24 10:27, Ed Cryer wrote:
>> Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a while;
>> maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But it still
>> happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
>> How can I find the app that's doing it?
>
>
> AFAIK there is no app that is able to turn on hardware without user
> consent. On Android there is always the message that requests to turn on
> missing hardware.
>
I suppose it's still possible that I'm switching it on accidentally.
I'll keep monitoring; see what happens.
Ed

Ed Cryer, 2024-11-19 10:27:

> Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a while;
> maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But it still
> happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
> How can I find the app that's doing it?

What Android version? What phone model?

--
Arno Welzel
https://arnowelzel.de

Using <news:vhhln3$1p43u$1@dont-email.me>, Ed Cryer wrote:

> Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a while;
> maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But it still
> happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
> How can I find the app that's doing it?

What is your Android phone brand model & OS version?