"Android OS" is continuously downloading something in the background, how can I stop that?

Question

My HTC One V (on 4.0 ICS) seems to be continuously downloading something even when it's inactive, and it's using the battery abnormally fast.

My data usage graph:

^{(click to enlarge)}

On the first picture, the brown line is for the "Android OS" element, which as you can see is responsible for at least 60% of the data consumption. I don't know what Android is downloading, but it does it continuously and it has a big effect on my battery's life. When I disable mobile data, the battery usage line becomes flat (see second picture). How can I check what exactly "Android OS" is doing? And how can I disable this activity?

Here is the battery usage graph. As you can see, the line became flat when I've disabled mobile data.

^{(click to enlarge)}

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 25 '12 at 07:14

I've found the culprit! I went to Settings > Call > Internet call settings and deleted the SIP account I had once created and forgot. The phone kept reaching the SIP server (probably to check for incoming calls).

I had to install a packet sniffer on the phone (tPacketCapture) to see where the requests where going and realize I had configured a SIP account.

score 4 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 27 '13 at 20:13

4

Depending on what apps you have installed, apps like facebook, twitter, google+ and others will download data in the background to keep current when you open the app.

With ICS, you can disable background data usage for specific apps:

^{(click to enlarge)}

this is visible in the system settings -> data usage. you should then see a list of apps that are using data. it will also show the highest usage app. Clicking on the app brings you to a details screen that allows you to disable data usage or background usage.

edited Feb 27 '13 at 20:13

Izzy

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answered Aug 22 '12 at 16:49

Ryan Conrad

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Thanks Ryan, but unfortunately this checkbox isn't available for the Android OS element. – Cutter Aug 22 '12 at 17:01
interesting, i missed the part that it is actually Android OS. if you restart the device, does that continue to be the case? – Ryan Conrad Aug 22 '12 at 17:48
@Cutter It's not available when you press the settings button while you're on that page? – ott-- Aug 22 '12 at 17:59
@ott--I don't have a settings button, but holding the "recent apps" button (which is equivalent to pressing the settings button) has no effect (I don't have a menu popping up). – Cutter Aug 22 '12 at 20:23
@ott-- Unless you meant the "View app settings" button, which is grayed out for me too! – Cutter Aug 22 '12 at 20:37
@RyanConrad Yes. Do you have that checkbox for Android OS? – Cutter Aug 22 '12 at 20:39
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Look at http://www.1qaz.de/Screenshot_2012-08-23-00-16-23.png and http://www.1qaz.de/Screenshot_2012-08-23-00-16-34.png - this is from a Nexus S with 4.1.1 – ott-- Aug 22 '12 at 22:31
I don't have these menu items. – Cutter Aug 24 '12 at 18:28

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 14 '12 at 17:04

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Have you looked at something like Onavo Count to monitor data usage?

edited Sep 14 '12 at 17:04

ale

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answered Aug 22 '12 at 16:44

Tim Scarborough

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I've just installed it. I hope it will give me the details about what Android OS is doing. – Cutter Aug 22 '12 at 17:02
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It turns out Onavo Count doesn't tell more than "Android OS + others"; that's the name of the app consuming most of the data. – Cutter Aug 24 '12 at 17:39

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 09 '19 at 18:08

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In Apps & notifications -> Advanced -> Special app access -> Unrestricted data, click on the overflow menu (3 dots stacked vertically) and select "Show system". Then turn off background data for all of them.

answered Sep 09 '19 at 18:08

Utku

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"Android OS" is continuously downloading something in the background, how can I stop that?

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