Massive Data Usage . . . TikTok, anyone have this happen?

cactus68 on 08/01/2021 - 02:02
Last edited 08/01/2021 - 09:26 by 1 other user

We got the daughter a 365 day plan through Woolies which expires June 2021.
Last week she got a message that she had used all of her data.
So I went and checked on the data usage breakdown.
48GB in December!!!!!!
Every other month she's averaged 4-7GB a month.
So it was a huge shock that December was a blow out.
It did coincide with her getting a new mobile (Samsung A51) as a Christmas present which she got early 28th Nov.

So went through her mobile and found that TicTok (rather she) had used ~2GB+ a day of data.
I'm trying to work out how this could change so dramatically with the new phone as she was doing exactly the same stuff
with her old Samsung S5 prior to this.
Same settings and most of the use is when home and using our WIFI not the mobile data.
Data saving was set to on in both the old and new phones.

So this old dude is stumped as to what the hell is going on!

Anyone had a similar experience or any ideas as to what could have happened?

Cheers

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Comments

  • garetz on 08/01/2021 - 02:15
    +13

    Pretty sure its the resolution of the videos, if it was 480p on the s5 and went up to 2k on the new phone thats about 8x the data.

  • Hybroid on 08/01/2021 - 02:16
    +1

    You can check how much data the actual app has used in the settings. If it correlates then that's a lot of hours watching videos. Approx 1GB per 1-2 hours use which could increase with higher resolution screen/specs.

    It's possible data saver may not have worked and clearly wasn't connected to home WiFi.

    • JimmyF on 08/01/2021 - 08:46

      They did….

      So went through her mobile and found that TicTok (rather she) had used ~2GB+ a day of data.

  • TK Deadwalker on 08/01/2021 - 02:40
    +6

    If it was a new phone, perhaps some of the updates were downloaded over mobile data?

  • Windows7forever on 08/01/2021 - 03:40

    You can specify data limits and force the phone to disconnect from 4G once the allocated data has been exhausted for the month. Background updates and HD videos are the biggest data hogs. I'm so stingy with data I won't even load basic images unless required and watch videos @ lowest resolution 140P on UTube. I'm in the extreme minority though :P

  • follow on 08/01/2021 - 07:38

    s5 must have been slow as.. with a faster phone you do more with it. you could chance to 3g only in the future to conserve data

  • JimmyF on 08/01/2021 - 08:48
    +6

    So this old dude is stumped as to what the hell is going on!

    Not sure why. You seemed to have worked it out

    48GB in December!!!!!!
    So went through her mobile and found that TicTok (rather she) had used ~2GB+ a day of data.

    Ok so you know she used the data and you know it was used by TicTok.

    Looks like someone wasn't connected to wifi during the month of Dec……then ran out of data.

  • AustriaBargain on 08/01/2021 - 08:49
    +2

    She might do better with a plan. Telstra and iirc now Optus too both have removed excess usage charges and shape to 1.5mbps, which is actually fast enough for tiktok, youtube, and browsing anyway. Plus the unlimited calls and texts.

    • Neoika on 08/01/2021 - 09:16

      I know Vodafone has this feature on prepaid plans too.

    • braskic on 08/01/2021 - 09:29
      -1

      I agree. It costs the telcos 1/200th of (profanity) all to give you a gigabyte, the only reason why these arbitrary limits exist is to get you and everyone else in the habit of rationing data so the network doesn't fall over with everyone trying to TikTok at the same time. This younger generation has no idea how good they have it. Perhaps have a usable, albeit slow, data connection will teach your young one how to conserve their data?

  • modsec802 on 08/01/2021 - 09:06
    +14

    I would be worried less about the data usage and more worried about her screen time

  • Ryanek on 08/01/2021 - 09:23

    Android has a "Data Saving" mode for mobile data. This will cut down the TikTok video downloads in half by reducing the resolution (from 70MB every 5 mins down to 30MB).

  • Hardlyworkin on 08/01/2021 - 09:30
    +2

    Looks like your daughter may need to sign up for a paper run to pay for the new data!

  • brendanm on 08/01/2021 - 09:49
    +21

    Delete tiktok, save both data and your daughter's mind from that absolute rubbish.

    • follow on 08/01/2021 - 12:26
      +3

      omg i hate you DAD!

  • dust on 08/01/2021 - 10:28
    +2

    No wifi at home?

  • Neilzy on 08/01/2021 - 10:39

    Use a monitoring app like glasswire to monitor and report data traffic flow.

  • avoidfullprice on 08/01/2021 - 10:50

    I'm skeptical wifi was set up on her new phone.

    But you're kinda in difficult situation, because your daughter habit didn't change and shouldn't be punished. Yet you have to get her a new plan and want to find out the root cause.

    Can she live without tictok outside home for next 5 months?

  • jjjaar on 08/01/2021 - 10:59

    A lot of apps have the ability for a “low data usage” setting so tik tok may also have this?

    Edit: sorry I just read you have already done this.

    • jjjaar on 08/01/2021 - 13:06

      Have a look at one of the kogan 365 day plans that give a monthly allowance. If she wants more gb per month then she can pay the difference between what you are willing to pay and what she wants to use. Or, she can only use tiktok on wifi.

  • stirlo on 08/01/2021 - 11:08

    If you can afford it sign her up to felix https://felixmobile.com.au/ unlimited data for $35 a month.

  • dogboy on 08/01/2021 - 13:21
    +2

    Why in the ever loving hell would you let your daughter use TicTok? Jebus…

  • Davo1111 on 08/01/2021 - 13:52

    turn off mobile data for tiktok.

    problem solved

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