Question about APN Toggles?

[dylando808]

so i use Widgetsoid, which allows me to customize toggle widgets for my homescreen.

i currently have a mobile data toggle which allows me to "turn off" my mobile connection.
from what i've read android/google doesn't allow third parties to make switches that turn off the mobile network completely. so devs found a way around this by making toggles that rename the APN setting so that data cannot be accessed because it is a different APN.
and the only way i can even use this toggle is to leave my mobile network on all the time.

my question is. if i have the toggle turned off does it still use data since the mobile network is on? because on my first day testing the toggle, even when i had the mobile data set to "off", there would be some times where data would be used without me even touching the phone.

does this have to do with the APN toggle?

hope u guys can understand this post.. i tried to word it as best as i could.
thanks in advance.

 

[snapper.fishes]

It shouldn't be possible. APN toggle works by adding a few letters in front of after the original APN name, making it invalid. Without a valid apn name your phone cannot connect to the internet.

What do you mean by data is still being used?

 

[dylando808]

It shouldn't be possible. APN toggle works by adding a few letters in front of after the original APN name, making it invalid. Without a valid apn name your phone cannot connect to the internet.

What do you mean by data is still being used?

well what i mean by data being used is, when i have the phone on standby does the phone automatically sync or use data when i'm not using it? i do have auto sync turned off when i go to work. and i turn the mobile network toggle on/off whenever i need to use data.

here's what happened that lead to me being suspicious about data use.
i was checking my data usage because i have the 2GB data plan so i dialed *3282# to check it. and it came up as 850mbs (done with mobile network off) and about an hour later (didn't use the mobile network during that hour.) i checked it again (just to see) and the reading came up with 880Mbs used.
which means 30mbs of data used that i don't even remember using..
this didn't happen when i used the default mobile network toggles with the phone. but could it be because the default mobile network toggles turn the network all the way off? instead of leaving the network "on" but the APN changed?

btw thanks for the reply. lol i thought no one was gonna reply to my overly complicated question

 

[McNerdius]

Background info: I've replaced Power Control with Widgetsoid, and to my surprise the data toggle (using APN toggle mode) worked fine for me. I'd read that it was impossible. So i did some reading, and learned about the APN 'cheat'
(before i go any further: i'm not rooted, so it's root toggle feature isn't applicable)

My question is: What is the *real* difference between APN rename and APN toggle ?

I feel i *must* ask this for one reason in particular - In the permissions, it requires:

For APN rename: WRITE ACCESS POINT NAME SETTINGS
(Allows an application to modify the APN settings, such as Proxy and Port of any APN.)

For APN toggle: CHANGE NETWORK CONNECTIVITY
(Allows an application to change the state of network connectivity.)

i'm a smartphone uber-n00ber, but it seems as if APN toggle is a bit of a misnomer ?

I've checked in the menus and all, as well as with "Android Status", and it *seems* legitimately turned off, although going by the permission description, a disconnect is all i should expect, not a radio power-down. I haven't found a way to *for really real* check to see if the radio itself is off. I suspect it'd take an app that requires a phone to be rooted to gain such knowledge. Maybe i'm missing something obvious altogether.

My only other alternative, which i'll be starting tonight, is a series of battery drain tests (airplane/3g off "for real"/3g off "widgetsoid"/3g on). The thought of doing these tests makes me gag as i'd have to not use my phone for hours . But... i gotta know one way or another. A bit OCD like that.

 

[!on]

Check that it also disables MMS? I have the option to leave that alone in the toggle settings (APNdroid). But I wouldn't have thought anything other than MMS would use that gateway?

Just check in settings to see if APNs have been renamed (appended with something - same thing).

There isn't another widget that is overriding the widget in question?

Other thing is not to uninstall it when data is off - because the APN stettings will not change back if you did, so you'd need to enter them manually.

 

[McNerdius]

Check that it also disables MMS? I have the option to leave that alone in the toggle settings (APNdroid). But I wouldn't have thought anything other than MMS would use that gateway?

Just check in settings to see if APNs have been renamed (appended with something - same thing).

There isn't another widget that is overriding the widget in question?

Other thing is not to uninstall it when data is off - because the APN stettings will not change back if you did, so you'd need to enter them manually.

As far as i can tell, phone behaves identically, mms and all, if data is toggled via either widgestoid or quicksettings. these are the only widgets of their kind that i have. The setting for modifier string isn't available in widgetsoid when APN Toggle mode is selected, and APN Manager confirms no renaming is done.

Things aren't misbehaving by any means, i'm just curious to know what it is that isn't being done, if anything, by using APN toggle mode. I've only ever read "that can't be done" regarding toggling data. OTOH - wtf does quicksettings do ?

My phone's "menu->settings->wireless&networks->mobile networks" only contains "Data Enabled" - no way to play with APN stuff unless i use something like APN Manager. Even with such an app, i've no way of knowing if it supplies all the same info/settings as the phone's inbuilt menu.

*continues mumbling incoherently, wanders off....*