• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Never keeping wifi on when sleep, increases data usage?

Kossay

Kossay

Lurker
I was roaming around my phone settings and noticed this rather interesting option:Keep wifi on when sleeping which is set by default to always but what I noticed is that the never option says "may increase data usage" even though I was expecting the complete opposite.
So I want to make sure whether the manufacturer is wrong or I am wrong.
What do you guys say?
Btw I have a huawei device if you are wondering
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20180830-192332.jpg
    Screenshot_20180830-192332.jpg
    218.7 KB · Views: 257
James_Watson said:
It means that some background apps will access internet. If you have selected 'never keep WiFi always on', those spps will have to access internet with mobile data other than WiFi then.
Click to expand...
Wait really? Even when my Mobile data is turned off? I don't think so
 
Kossay said:
I was roaming around my phone settings and noticed this rather interesting option:Keep wifi on when sleeping which is set by default to always but what I noticed is that the never option says "may increase data usage" even though I was expecting the complete opposite.
So I want to make sure whether the manufacturer is wrong or I am wrong.
What do you guys say?
Btw I have a huawei device if you are wondering
Click to expand...

Slight difference of wording between my Huawei device and yours.

"Never (increases data usage)"....and there's no "may" about it.
Screenshot_20180901-144157.jpg
This is a Mate 10 with Android 8.1 if you're wondering.
 
Hadron said:
No, but the message doesn't know that your mobile data is turned off. That's just a fixed piece of text describing the setting.

(In Google's world nobody ever disconnects, you know).
Click to expand...
So you are saying google thinks we never disconnects ? Well I think that isn't the case for everyone (count me).
 
mikedt said:
Slight difference of wording between my Huawei device and yours.

"Never (increases data usage)"....and there's no "may" about it.
View attachment 135327
This is a Mate 10 with Android 8.1 if you're wondering.
Click to expand...
I guess it won't make a difference and as Hadron said they think we never disconnect which is not true in my case xD
 
It seems as if all your inquiries are answered but in hindsight to be on the safe side if you're connected continuously with MSP or Wi-Fi its best to disable background data from data sensitive apps when you're not in direct use of them.
 
I have my phone set to turn wifi off when it goes to sleep. But, I don't want to have to bother turning on mobile data whenever I go out of a wifi range so I have the Smart Network Switch (not sure if this is an Android feature or a Samsung one) set to On. That means whenever wifi goes off, it automatically turns on mobile data. To avoid unnecessary data use, I have set each app to not turn on in the background unless connected to WiFi. This prevents apps from being on and using data when the phone is sleeping. It also saves a bit on battery usage, since otherwise, most Android app never turn off unless you force them to.

Where to set apps to not use data in the background? Unfortunately, I don't know of any universal setting to accomplish this, so it must be done one app at a time. In Settings, under Data Usage, you will get a list of all your apps. When you select one, it will show the historical date use, and at the bottom, give you the option to restrict background data use to wifi connections only.
 
Switching to mobile data when wifi is not available is an utterly standard feature. It's not even a matter of turning mobile data on: the phone can only have 1 internet connection, so when connected to WiFi it uses that rather than data, whether data is turned on or not, and when you disconnect it switches back to data unless you have explicitly turned data off. I've never seen it called "Smart Network Switch", but don't own a Samsung phone (my Pixel doesn't even have a setting for this, it's just what it does).

Your options for controlling background data depend on the Android version. Older versions did have a global switch to restrict background data. Since Android 7 there's a "data saver" option, which does much the same thing but is rather vaguely is described as preventing "some apps" from sending and receiving data in the background when not on WiFi (the documentation isn't clear on whether "some" means "all except those you've specifically excluded from it", or whether there are others which the OS thinks should be allowed to use background data as well).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom