Blogger Mobile App Data Overage

Blogger Mobile App Data Overage

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

I've been a Google fanboy for a number of years and I get excited to use new Google products and hold onto ones that I enjoy. I used Google Buzz essentially as Twitter until it was discontinued. Blogger is another service that I generally enjoy using. I've put a lot of time into understanding how to customize the template using conditionals and other CSS tricks. Granted Wordpress is the way of the world now and most people aren't using Blogger for more than just a blog. Even so, I still like Blogger because it's easy and integrated with Google. Most people have a Google account, so instead of remembering yet another login, you can sign in with your Google account and go to town. It even let's me admin a site I designed without needing the owner's password; a feature I didn't realize until recently. All that being said, there's one thing it needs to fix; it's mobile app.

I have Verizon phone service and I was under the grandfathered data plan for a long time, as I was one of the first people to own a phone that could browse the web (when the web was barely mobile). As some may know the way Verizon was weaseling customers off this plan was by forcing those upgrading to pay full price for their new phone, which would generally be upwards of $700. This past upgrade, I folded and went to the new data plan after doing an analysis of my data usage. It seems on a monthly basis I've only ever used 4GB max but regularly only use about 2GB. So, the 6GB plan that was given to customers coming from the grandfathered plan was going to be fine; or so I thought.

The first problem was at Verizon's end with calculations of data usage. I had an unlimited plan and went to a 6GB plan. Instead of simply starting me with the 6GB plan starting on day 1, I was given the remaining allowance as if I always had the 6GB plan. So when I got the plan in the final week of my cycle, I was given 1/4 of by 6GB to use. This wouldn't be a problem to only use 1.5GB in a week however, it also tacked on the data I used before I got the plan (while I was still unlimited). So where I normally use 2GB of data, this month I was only allowed 1.5GB. After re-downloading all my apps to the new phone; automatic overage. Real cool Verizon.

After that, things were fairly hunky dory until recently where I received notifications that I was getting close to overage again. I haven't changed my data behavior since getting an Android phone (with the Motorola Devour many years ago) so this was unexpected. After checking the data usage of my apps, Facebook was a necessary evil in the top spot but public enemy #2 was unexpected; Blogger.

I downloaded the Blogger app simply because it's a Google product that I use on a semi-regular basis (I'm using it right now), so I figured I should include it in my list of applications. However, I don't use the app so how it transmitted 1.7GB of data over the past month is beyond me. I've deleted the app once I noticed the discrepancy and tried to do some research however the word "blogger" is fairly popular on the internet so normal search methods aren't yielding results. The reviews aren't so helpful either as it mostly consists of people complaining of a lack of functionality.

So why is the Blogger app trying to use 30% of my data per month just by sitting on my phone? Only Google knows and I don't think they'll be telling soon.