Questions about Data overages for the iPhone 5 (Verizon)?

[AWalktoRemember]

I just upgraded to the iPhone 5 on Friday and Verizon made me give up my unlimited data plan in exchange for a 2 GB plan. They said based on my usage in the past, it was unlikely that I would go over the 2 GB often, so that's why I chose it rather than the 3 GB plan (or whatever the next lowest one was).

However, two days later (today) I get a succession of emails. First email this morning said I was at 50% of my data for the month. The 2nd email I got later this morning said I was at 90%, and then I got the 3rd email early this afternoon saying I was over my limit and would incur a penalty cost. For reference, my cycle ends on the 26th of this month.

My question has 2 parts:

1. If I just upgraded on Friday, shouldn't my unlimited data plan have been in effect until then? They shouldn't be able to go back and calculate my data usage for the entire month, right? I was going under the assumption that, starting Friday, I would start having to watch my data usage. I couldn't possibly have gone over if that's the case.

2. What programs / apps use the most data? I have the basics on my phone, like FB, Twitter, Instagram which I check frequently, but I rarely send / receive messages on any of them. I upload photos to Instagram maybe once a week. I also have numerous games, of which I usually only play 1 (Temple Run). I don't watch many videos and I hardly ever stream music (I use my own library).

Thanks in advance for your responses!

[579]

I doubt this is normal expected behavior. More likely your iPhone 5 has the same glitch that sometimes affects other iPhones, where they suck up a lot of data for no reason. There are a lot of people complaining about it, google for "iphone 5 data overage verizon".

The problem is even though this problem has been around for a while, even before the 5, nobody seems to be in a big hurry to fix it. Makes sense when you realize that Apple sees Verizon (and AT&T etc) as their real iPhone customer, not regular people (after all, it's Verizon who buys the phone from Apple, and then turns around and sells it to you). Obviously Verizon isn't going to complain about a problem like this to Apple since it probably nets them millions of dollars in extra data fees.

Anyway if you want to try to get an idea of which apps you're using that might be sucking up a lot of data, try the free app "Onavo Count". Another thing you probably should do is turn off iCloud backup on your phone since some people seem to think this might be the cause of the problem (nobody knows for sure).

My friend's Verizon iPhone 4S had a similar problem that I was able to stop by turning off iCloud backup - even though it's not supposed to back up except when you're on WiFi.

Anyway to answer your specific questions:

1. It probably depends on whether they prorated your plan or not. You need to call and ask.

2. The most data is used by streaming or downloading videos, followed by music. After that it's viewing/downloading pictures. And of course if you're on Wifi none of that counts at all.