Starting a new thread here as my previous one doesn't fit anymore. So i've been trying to figure out where my data usage was coming from. And now it looks like it comes from my text messages? I don't think it does but after what I saw this morning, maybe it does? My mobile data usage was zero yesterday according to the app “My Data Manager”. After sending and receiving some MMS messages, I saw that my data usage started going up. I checked immediately after messaging so I'm sure this was causing the data usage. Then I went into my usage history on PM and checked. The history showed each transaction as an MMS usage type with a 1 in the usage column. I know that these type of transactions don't count towards data so I left it at that. But this morning, I checked one more time, and the mobile data usage from last night got posted to my account. I'm attaching two pics. So again, I'm left scratching my head as to what's going on. As always, your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
@mobileguy also they will not show in Google Drive. It doesn't for anyone it shows only in Google Photos.
Now for me the only ones that show in Google photos are the ones I manually choose to upload to Google photos.
Apparently since you have a Pixel and only Google Photos no gallery. There is away by clicking the info icon or something on the right to see if the photo is stored to your phone only, Google photos only or both. Sorry I don't know how that looks for you.
On mine if I log into Google Photos I know which ones are on the Google cloud and which are on my phone as last time I uploaded pictures to Google Photos Cloud was in 2019 and my photos that are in my phone only have a little button if I want to upload it the Google Photos cloud like below.
The ones on both say "delete from device" and the ones only in Goggle Photos cloud say "download". Maybe yours is similar I don't know 🤷♂️
If you read this link below that I provided earlier.
https://support.google.com/photos/thread/550067?hl=en
People are saying they have sync / backup turned Off and Google is still uploading them to the cloud.
People have mentioned to sign out of your Google photos account. I don't know what that looks like on your Pixel. Mine I have an option like below to click "use without an account".
So if you have something like this in your Photo app to completely sign out of your account and leave it like that for a few days to see if it stops that data from being used. It's worth a shot to test.
As that link above people are saying even though they have sync turned off the photos still get uploaded someway. Then that other person posted saying he took a picture , it was not uploaded until he sent the picture to someone else then somehow it got uploaded to the cloud.
It's up to you if you want to try signing out for a few days.
If you have another brand of phone lying around test your sim in that for a few days or as mentioned you're always free to contact the mods to look into.
I still believe something in your phone is causing this but that's just me. I hope you will get this sorted out eventually.
Have a good evening!
@mobileguy Thanks for clarifying the A31 must of read it on an old thread of yours and thought that was what you're using.
So I looked into the Pixel a bit. From what I understand Pixel users only have the Photo app as you have said. Pixel users also get unlimited photo / video storage unlike other android users that get a 15 gig limit per account. It did say something that it's going away for Pixel users in 2022 but for now it's apparently unlimited. It only shows in you Google Photos it wouldn't show in the drive.
Anyways from reading a bit there was mention that all pixel phones are defaulted to automatically sync to your Google photos account?
Do you have sync automatically turned off? It seems like there are different areas on the phone to turn off different things.
Googling "Pixel 3 turn off photo sync" comes up with all different kinds of things.
One says
- Open your phone's Settings app.
- Tap Accounts.
- Turn off Automatically sync data.
Then another one says go into settings and they showed this picture.
Another one says go to the Photo app and click the 3 dots and in settings turn off sync in there.
It's rather confusing as non pixel phones that have Android do not have all these features. At least mine don't. If I look at my Google account on my phone I can turn each thing off individually like below.
I have a gallery and Google photos and in Google photos I just turn off backup that is all like below.
Then on one page and I found something interesting about pixel phones. Maybe the below is something that is happening to you.
https://support.google.com/photos/thread/550067?hl=en
I did not read all the comments on the link but one stuck out. Screenshot below.
The person does say they did not try sending a picture through messaging (maybe some of the other comments talk about that I didn't read all of them) but does say when emailing a picture then it does get synced to Google photos.
Maybe something like this is happening to you??
That person did provide a work around. And others I read on that thread and on Reddit say to simply log out of the Google photo app so that pictures don't sync.
Maybe have a read and let us know if something like what they described could be happening to you?
Thanks
@mobileguy at one point you said you were using a A31 which is Samsung now you are saying you are using a Pixel 3.??
To comment on when you said "it shouldn't matter if RCS is turned on or off"....It does matter. RCS does NOT use the traditional text system. RCS uses wifi/data. RCS lets you see when a person read your message. When sometime is typing you see the dots .... .... Like other chat apps. That all uses wifi/data..nothing to do with the standard text system.
Now on whatever phone you are using. Your MMS pictures that you receive from someone. Do they automatically go into your "gallery app" ? If they do you have your settings wrong and you have to adjust them to only show in your "message app".
For example I went to one of my contacts texts to our conversations.
We send probably 150 pictures a month through the message app. Never affects data counter and they always say data event/MMS. The ones I've received from that person DO NOT automatically go into my gallery. They simply stay in the message app. If I wanted to save the picture to my gallery so I don't have to go searching for it through the text messages I hold my thumb on the picture for a second or two and then I am provided a download button to download it to my phone into my gallery. I just look at them in the message app and save what I want to. If I wasn't on wifi I'd have to use my data to download it to the phone but I still see them in my message app.
You also mentioned that when you take a picture of whatever. A brand-new picture that has never been on your phone that you just snapped. That when you go and send it to someone then your data goes up. Either you have RCS turned on. But if you do have that off have you considered your Google photo settings?
You technically have two photo galleries on your phone that do the same thing.
You have Gallery and you also have Google Photos.
If Google photos settings are incorrect your data will likely be used at that point as well.
Which now may be where your data is going because you said "you take a picture 1.5mbs then send it to someone through text and your data goes up the picture size 1.5 mb.
That sounds like your photos are automatically being backed up to your Google photos account.
Here's your gallery
Here's Google photos
They both do pretty much the same thing. You can look at the pictures on your phone but Google photos you can also see the pictures you have stored to your Google account. Google photo account you can be on anything laptop , someone else's phone and you log into your Google account then you can see your pictures. If you loose a phone then it's easy to get your pictures back on a new one as you just redownload them. However Google photos has I think a 15 gig limit then you have to make a new Google account for another 15 gig limit or pay for a higher limit.
If every time you take a brand new picture and a few minutes later it is saved in your Google account. Then you need to fix your settings in Google photo's.
Turn backup OFF
By turning backup off..all your pictures will be only on your phone and not backed up to the Google Cloud for safe keeping. You have to remember to back up manually every now and then after deleting silly pictures that you don't want backed up to waste your folder limit.
An easy way to check this is by going to google.com on a laptop. Then sign into your Google account. After you sign in to your Google account.
Click the 9 dots then click photos.
If all your pictures are displaying there that means a y picture you take is getting uploaded to the Google cloud automatically and any picture that you receive from someone be it through text or RCS if they are automatically going into your gallery (which you should change your settings to only go to the message app) then they are also being uploaded to your cloud.
You're always welcome to contact the moderators any time you wish but I'm pretty sure this is a phone/setting issues vs a PM issue. Everyone would be complaing to PM if data went up everytime a picture or video was texted through the standard SMS/MMS system. I can only speak for myself from experience on my own multiple phones I use on PM with my own settings correctly adjust. Through my time with PM I'm well into the 1000s of picture /video text messages and they have always displayed as data event/MMS never a web with data being consumed or simply showing and not counting towards total data.
While testing stuff with you I've sent myself a 34 MB video (traditional text system obviously compresses it to the text size limit) but I don't even have 0.001 web usage or data unaccounted for. The only time data was unaccounted for until next day is when I turned on RCS which does not use the text system and uses wifi or data. That one used my data for the picture I sent to a friend who has RCS as I turned off wifi and turned my data on to send it through the RCS system. That one only shows "web" and the data used there is not even an indication of who I sent the picture to no numbers nothing just web that used data.
Everything on your phone uses a little bit of data even the message app if it gets an update. It's in the kilobytes which really go unnoticed and most of those things if settings are right will update via wifi rather then data.
Checking my data usage for my message app for the last month has used a total of 125 kilobytes.
As I mentioned you're always free to contact the moderators. That's what they are here for and what you pay for.
I do have to say that you have great patience with all of this and I give you a big thumbs up 👍 for not getting irritated like other members tend to do.
Regards
JB
