Excessive Bandwidth Usage for Time & Location Services

[gedstrom]

I just received a notice from my Cellular provider that I had reached my 3GB limit for the month and that overage charges were going to start. I examined my iPad and I found that "Time & Location" services had accounted for a MAJOR portion of the usage. Is there any way to isolate what application has been responsible for all of this activity? The regular list of cellular usage data doesn't seem to provide a clue. For starters, I have disabled location services for almost every application on my iPad and will only re-enable them one-by-one as needed. In some 5 years of iPad usage, this is the first time I have seen anything like this. I have tried to think about any new apps that I may have installed recently and can't think of what it might be.

 

[twerppoet]

Time is an unlikely culprit. Location could be an issue, so look for GPS/Map apps that have excessive use (especially background use).

Two places to check.

1) go to Settings > Battery and tap on the clock icon above the app list. This will show both screen and background times for apps (in order of most battry usage). Check both the 24 hr and 7 day tab to see recent and long term stats. Note that this shows battery usage stats, not cellular usage.

2) Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services. Where you have the option, change your apps to "While Using". Or if you don't think that particular app needs your location to work properly, turn it off. At the bottom of the list is a key that will tell you what the little triangles mean (next to some of the apps). Pay close attention to apps using geo-fencing, since this is by nature a background location task you may not realize is running.

If you haven't done so reacently, restart or reset the iPad. Time and Location services are background tasks that apps can not access directly. A hicup in the operating systgem could cause excessive time and/or location requests from the iPad. I try to restart my iPad at least once a month, or whenever it seems to be running slow or having issues.

Note: Rereading your post, I realize you already know most of this. Don't know what I was thinking.

 

[gedstrom]

Thank you for your response. I had several apps that had location services set to "Always". I changed all except one to "While Using". I set a whole slew of apps to "Never" and will re-enable them one-by-one if and when needed. I have reduced the number of apps that have cellular access to a bare minimum. I will have to keep an eye on my usage. Previously, the only time I have run up against my usage limit was periods of time when I was away from home on an extended vacation and not using my home WiFi.

 

[twerppoet]

You're welcome.

I can't think of anything else to try other than what you are doing. Good luck.

I don't know what cellular provider you use, but Verizon offers warning (SMS texts and/or notifications through an app) that warn you at 75%, 80%, and 90% of your usage. You should look to see if your provider has a similar overage protection service.

Just to be on the safe side.