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iOS 9 downloads endless data over *WiFi*

corzine

corzine

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 1, 2015
7
0
Since upgrading to iOS 9 on my iPhone 6 and iPad air, both are downloading tons of data in the background for apparent reason. This isn't the wifi assist issue - I'm not talking about 4G data. It's the data they're pulling down over wifi.

Why this is an issue: I live in South Africa, and my home wifi data is capped at 30Gb / month. These have wiped out several gigabytes without me even noticing. If I forget to turn off the wifi on one of the devices, I'm in trouble.

What I've tried: I've been tracking things closely. It happens inconsistently, but often enough that I can watch it by watching the data statistics on my router. I've tried turning off the Background App Refresh. It still happens.

It's hard to google, because the wifi assist issue is always what comes up.

Can anyone help me?
 
Which version of iOS 9 do you currently have on your devices? It's possible your devices are trying to download the 9.0.2 update (which iOS 9 now does in the background - it'll inform you when the download is ready for installation).
 
if ur not on ios 9.0.2 theyre probably downloading it in the background, if u are, reset network settings, still happening?

it would be helpful if u can list the connections the devices have open on the router, if ur router offers that info..like ddwrt has a active connection list, it would help say what they are downloading or uploading
 
It's still been doing it since the 9.0.2 update. I'll try resetting the network settings.
 
Yun0 said:
settings -> general -> reset
Click to expand...

I did that on the iPad - I was a bit hesitant on the iPhone because of the cellular settings.
It didn't work though. I logged the iPad back into the wifi afterward, and it pulled down 30mb in the first minute.

I also just turned off all the automatic download toggles (only "Updates") was on. That didn't make it stop either.
 
Install a proxy that you run at home on a system, point wireshark to it and connect to the network over that proxy.. wireshark will show you the what's what.

does this also happen if you do a factory restore, and select "install as a new phone" without connecting to icloud or other services? Does it start happening when you have restored your profiles, apps, etc, (restore from backup)?
 
Data doesn't just come and go out of nowhere.. it would be very interesting to see what is being traferred by which app.
 
Floris said:
Data doesn't just come and go out of nowhere.. it would be very interesting to see what is being traferred by which app.
Click to expand...

Agreed. But doesn't the background refresh being turned off prevent apps from downloading data in the background? Also: I haven't been able to find a way to track data per app.
 
Floris said:
Install a proxy that you run at home on a system, point wireshark to it and connect to the network over that proxy.. wireshark will show you the what's what.

does this also happen if you do a factory restore, and select "install as a new phone" without connecting to icloud or other services? Does it start happening when you have restored your profiles, apps, etc, (restore from backup)?
Click to expand...

That sounds kind of complicated. I'm not really an expert on these things... What would wireshark be able to show me?
 
Well... before trying a complete iPad or iPhone restore, I started removing apps, and I think I found the culprit.

9GAG

It's consistent. If it's there, the ipad is pulling a ton of data. If 9GAG is gone, everything relaxes. Strangely enough, when I delete it, it tries to reinstall itself, but only once. If I cut off that reinstall, it stays away.

I'll still be watching it. But this seems to have solved the problem. Thanks for the tips.
 
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