iOS6/iPhone5 and extreme data usage

Ever since I got the iphone 5, I'm seeing extremely high data usage on my phone.
I have been using the same apps regularly as I used to before ios6/iphone 5.

I had a 2GB plan but in the first month itself I had to upgrade to the 3GB plan.
It is now the 16th day of my monthly cycle and I have already used 2100MB.

The apps I use frequently over LTE are:
1) tweetbot
2) Flipboard
3) Whatsapp
4) Facebook

None of these are streaming video or music. I dont use YouTube either unless I'm on Wi-FI.

I'm on AT&T. I called the At&T rep yesterday and they said they have received complaints from customers but there is nothing wrong from their side. So any issue , if existing, might be Apple's.

Is anyone else experiencing this? Are there any suggestions/known apps that suck data?
Any help appreciated. thanks.

So any issue , if existing, might be Apple's.

Click to expand...

It's not Apple's problem, it's probably AT&T. If when using those same apps before, you didn't exceed your data plan, but now seem to be using more data, it's likely because the new and faster LTE that both AT&T and Verizon are deploying use more data.

Same thing occurs on the Verizon network with LTE 4G.

I haven't seen a AT&T bill in a while, but doesn't AT&T provide daily breakdowns of amount of data used? If so, can you go back to a time before you had the iPhone 5 and using the same apps and compare the specific KBs. If they are dramatically different, then you can chase that down with AT&T first..

I use a Verizon MiFi - and I've found a similar thing. Before I had LTE I hardly ever used more than 3 GB on my MiFi. After LTE - if I wasn't careful I easily went over 10GB (Some months I hit 20GB) MiFi should be much higher usage as it is up to 5 devices (I typically have 3 connected).

Also - I only have an iPhone 4 and I really don't see it using more the 2GB (Usually in the 1GB range a month) I think my Brother's 4G LTE Nexus has a 4GB plan - and although he doesn't go over 4GB most months he does get close to 4GB more often than I do.

Don't forget that data usage - they ding you in both directions - so every request has a up/down component to it - but anyway any uploads also count as well as downloads.

I'm curious as to why using LTE would end up using more data than 3G or something else? I mean, the amount of data being used by the applications should be the same, isn't LTE just going to get me that data faster than 3G would. @IvanLasston, you obviously have witnessed first hand the data increase, and did you get an explanation from Verizon as to why that would be?

It's not only the data that seems to have increased, 4G LTE eats into battery time almost twice as fast on my iPad 3. I haven't inquired of Verizon why that's so because I don't use 4G until I need to do so. Which is why I was surprised at the amount of data used and how much my battery time decreased when I did turn it on for a month.

Sounds like, any of us still grandfathered with unlimited data, would be wise to keep it in lieu of considering the move to another carrier.

Good advice Tom. Especially if you're with Verizon. They want at least one quart of blood for their new data plan.

The MiFi is a different use case as you can have multiple devices connected to it. Be that as it may what happens is that since data flows faster - more data comes. For me when I went over - it was a semi-conscious decision as I had a lot of software I was downloading for my Job. Each piece of software was ~1GB each and I needed to download 4 installs. So you are talking about 40% of my allotted data at one time.

That being said - why did my data usage almost double from 3G to 4G on "normal" usage months? I've not been very stringent on monitoring. It may be a use case thing - meaning I have a large battery on the back of my MiFi and it is really fast. So I tend just to leave it on when I am away from home. I had the same setup with the 3G MiFi - with the large battery - but I don't think I turned it on as much. The 4G just seems seamless when I leave home - whereas the 3G was a compromise - I had connection but it was never really good for anything other than email and basic web browsing.

I've also found that 4G will eat battery like no tomorrow. (Kind of like 3G when it first released. Everyone I know with a 3G iPhone turned off the 3G to save battery and just run on Edge) It is why I bought a big battery for the MiFi. It is big but since I use it for computers and tablets - I still need to have a bag anyway so carrying the MiFi is no big deal.

@Bobtomay - I am trying to hold onto my unlimited plans on Verizon. Unfortunately big red makes you pay full (unsubsidized) price for an iPhone if you want to keep your unlimited plan. The iPhone costs about the same as an iPad for the same size memory when you pay full price.

My understanding is that it is an Apple issue, and Apple did provide Verizon with a "fix" for it that resets carrier services, (Settings, About, Reset, Reset Carrier Services).

Having said this, the major problem here lies with the way Apple sets up their "over the air" services in iCloud and iTunes. Both iTunes Match and everything that is part of iCloud seems to update through data services, regardless of the availability of Wifi. And since this information is being uploaded and downloaded from your device to their services on a pretty recurring bases, it eats up large chunks of data through the course of the day. To resolve this huge issue, many iPhone owners have had to resort to totally deleting their iCloud account from their phones, turn off iTunes Match, and then go to Services, and turn off "update through data" in every application with very few exceptions. And I think this is going to have to be the way it is until Apple comes up with a way to give us a way to use iTunes Match and iCloud through Wifi when available, rather than exclusively eating up data all the time.

This app was just pointed out to me.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/onavo/id423545287?mt=8&ls=1
Maybe you could use it and report back on any findings.