Burned through cellular data

[bcoyle]

Since June 1st, Dropbox has used 5GB of cellular data. It used up all my data for the month and the additional data I purchased. I have all the toggles off for cellular uploading with photos, etc. what the hell! Now I’ll have wasted $40 because of this app.

I think something in the latest update broke. I'm on an iPhone X with iOS 11.4

[bcoyle]

Should add that my primary function for Dropbox on my phone is for photo backups. Otherwise I haven't touched the app during this recent period of data overage.

[Ed]

Ugh - hey @bcoyle is this something that just started on a recent app version or you always had this issue where the app was consuming your data?

[Jay]

Hi there, could you try disabling cellular data in the iOS settings to see if this helps?

Otherwise, we’d like to look into this matter further on our end.

Would it be okay if we reach out to you at the email address associated with this account to assist further on this matter?

[bcoyle]

Never had this issue in all the years I've been using Dropbox - I'm annoyed I didn't notice the cellular drain until after I purchased more cellular data and that got eaten up. I initially thought it was my photos syncing with iCloud. But the cellular usage I finally saw Dropbox is the culprit.

Super annoying. I wasn't even that far behind on my photos being backed up. Not sure why it was pulling so much data. Does the app have anywhere I can send app usage to figure this out?

I like to find a solution to this, but after this situation I'm seriously considering another storage option. I've almost spent the cost for another year of dropbox within 1 month...

[bcoyle]

Sorry didn't see AgentJay's response. I have cellular turned off now for Dropbox - but I'm out of data for the month again. So I'll need to re-up more data to even see if Dropbox continues to consume.. I'll check my email now - thanks

[bcoyle]

Why does the thread say this topic is closed? After several days I got a few generic responses from support. ie, Dropbox uses cellular to view files in the app and how background uploading works. So I guess it's my fault? I'm $40 short from cellular data fees, which is almost half of what I pay for the year with Dropbox. Never in all the years I've used Dropbox has this been an issue. I've revoked all access to cellular for the app - I shouldn't have to worry about an app like Dropbox screwing me over -  I'll figure out my move to another service after having been a user since 2009.

[Jay]

Sorry about the forum stating the topic is closed, we’re making some changes to the way it works, so it might incorrectly label posts as closed, even though you can still post on them!

Regarding the ticket, while I can’t comment on the contents of it specifically, I’ve forwarded it to a specialist team to check this out further!

[Ian M.]

I recently upgraded from a 128GB iPhone to a 256GB iPhone.

Previously I allowed Dropbox to use my data allowance (3G/4G) without a problem.

Since getting the new phone Dropbox is using data at a high level and I cannot work out why.

Last night I needed to see a couple of files (needed to see the location in the file structure rather than actually view the files so there was limited usage) so I toggled on mobile data as follows: Settings - Mobile Data - Dropbox.

Over night it has used 5.9GB of data. Sadly I forgot to toggle it off again.

I have 2 offline files which are tiny (12KB and 30KB) and haven't been looking at / using them.

Settings - Dropbox has:

• Location:always
• Photos: Read and Write
• Siri & Search: On
• Background App Refresh: On
• Mobile Data: now toggled off but when on gobbles my data.

For photos I normally open the Dropbox app when at home on Wifi and it starts uploading the photos to Dropbox. I did this this morning and it uploaded 22 photos from yesterday.

It was not a problem using data all the time before and my data usage was nothing like this. It now uses more in a day then in a month?

Any ideas what it can be as I would have hoped after 7 weeks with the new phone things would have settled down now. Nothing else has changed.

[Ian M.]

Few other settings to note.

Dropbox App - Settings - Camera Uploads - On (with the following also toggled on; Camera Uploads, Upload Videos, Background Uploading). "Use Cellular Data" is toggled off.

Dropbox App - Settings - Camera Uploads - Save HEIC Photos as: JPG.

Dropbox App - Settings - Offline Files - Available Space 51.8GB, Space Used 71.1KB, Use Cellular Data toggled on.