Help Using too much data sending photos over Gmail?

[LP22]

Hello! I have recently switched from iphone to Samsung and noticed a huge increasein my data usage. I finally figured out what is using so much data on my plan, since I don't watch videos or listen to music on my phone. I have been sending photos to my computer from my Samsung phone. I thought I was sending them to myself via Gmail over wi-fi through and it wouldn't count toward my data usage, but that is not the case. When I send the photos, it can take hours for them to arrive, and then large amounts of data are used. I called support and they told me that photos and videos can't be sent from my phone using wifi (I don't understand WHY, and I don't recall this being a problem with my old iphone, though I may be mistaken) so since they can't be sent over wifi, they use my data, and large amounts of data at that.

So, can someone please help me to avoid this? What is the best way to get photos from my phone to my desktop computer? Is there a way to do it via a cloud service, and if so, which one is best? Or, should I be sending them some other way, not through gmail? I am not technologically advanced, so I would like something simple as far as a method for transferring photos goes. Thank you in advance!

 

[AeolianReflex]

Any media send from your phone to your computer is going to use data but if it is done using wifi, your phone's mobile data plan should not be used. I have sent literally hundreds of pics and other media from my phone to my pc and vice versa using wifi and never had it show up as usage on my phones mobile data plan. Picture messaging on the other hand always uses mobile data.

Try this test .Make sure that your mobile data is off and wifi is on and try sending an email with an attachment. If the mobile data icon doesn't show up in your notification bar and you see the sending/receiving arrows blink on the wifi icon then you can be sure it is using wifi and not mobile data. If the email doesn't send or if the mobile data icon appears there may be a problem in setting but for the life of me I can't find a setting that would cause it to happen.

Could it be that other apps are syncing and using the data when you are away from wifi?

I have used cloud services like Google Drive and it works fine with wifi. I usually just use Samsung Link or connect to the computer using the USB cable.

 

[Goodspike]

I use Dropbox to automatically add my photos, but only when connected to wi-fi.

 

[LP22]

Thank you for the responses.

AeolianReflex, thanks for the advice. I have turned off mobile data since I am nearly going over my data max for the month. And, I just attempted to send more photos via phone gmail and the photos went through very quickly this time, and did not take hours. I saw the wifi light blink when sending so it went through wifi. I also just checked my data useage and it is not showing up at the high levels it did when I was sending the photos yesterday. I was also home and had access to wifi so I don't understand why it would be sending it in a way that ate up my data.

I too had the understanding that sending photos via text used data but sending over wifi using email did not, but when I spoke to ATT customer support, he told me that was incorrect and that sending photos using email counted toward phone data. And, he seemed very quick to give me a $30 credit for any overage I might incur this month "since I didn't know" which makes me think that this is something new that they have implemented to cause more data usage...can they even do that? I am not usually paranoid but I had a weird feeling about it, like he knew something he didn't want to tell me, and I don't know why I didn't think to ask if this was a new change to my phone or plan. Plus I know for a fact that I did not text the photos to myself, they were definitely sent via email while wifi was on. He also mentioned that the reason my data was so high is because the files were big and it kept trying to send them over and over again, and that is also why they took hours to arrive via email. So I wonder what "it kept trying to send them over and over again" means.

I suppose the other possibility of a program synching in the background could be the culprit too. But how do I find out if that is the case?

 

[AeolianReflex]

He also mentioned that the reason my data was so high is because the files were big and it kept trying to send them over and over again, and that is also why they took hours to arrive via email. So I wonder what "it kept trying to send them over and over again" means.

My daughter moved over to ATT just 3 weeks ago and has the S4 Active and she was not having the issue you described as of a few days ago so I don't think it is a policy change on their part. But I will check her phone to see if that has changed just recently.

I suspect the phone may be having a conflict in prioritizing wifi over mobile data. You should be able to keep both of them on and all data except those required to use mobile data will be sent using wifi when it's available. The operating system controls this behavior. The conflict may explain why it takes so long to send the emails. If you had sent something when both were on and wifi was in range and then you moved out of wifi range, ending the conflict, it was sent using mobile data since it was the only service available. All speculation on my part but it is feasible.

You could try the before mentioned test using mobile data only and sending an email attachment. If the speed is OK, the conflict theory may be the culprit. I don't know how that could be fixed through settings but a FDR may take care of it as a last resort. Before doing that try removing and re-seating the SIM card. Sometimes a tenuous connection can cause weird things to happen.

Another issue could be that your data connection is not very strong. You could try testing by sending email from a different location to see if that is better. Removing and then re-seating the SIM card may help here as well.

One other thing is a possible conflict with the Gmail app itself. Do you have the same problem using the stock email app or any other 3rd party email app? If not, you could try uninstalling and then re install the Gmail app. Make sure to stop the app, delete data and cache before uninstalling it to avoid any remnants being left over.