Whenever I'm out of Wi-Fi, my iPhone suddenly gobbles up gigabytes of data

By Ramy, 11 February, 2024

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hey everyone,
This weird thing keeps happening to me – like, for the third time now! Whenever I'm out of Wi-Fi, my iPhone suddenly gobbles up gigabytes of data, even when I'm not streaming movies or doing anything data-heavy.
Confused (and frustrated!), I dug around and found the culprit: document syncing. Apparently, these sneaky documents are silently siphoning my precious cellular data.
Here's the problem: I need those documents for work, so simply turning off syncing isn't an option.
So, I'm turning to the awesome minds of this forum for help!
My questions:
1 How can I stop document syncing from draining my data without affecting my work? Are there any specific settings I can tweak?
2 What kind of documents are even using all this data? Is there a way to identify the culprits and only sync the important ones?
3 Have any of you faced this issue? How did you solve it?
Any advice or insights would be lifesavers! Thanks in advance!
P.S. I know there might be typos in my post, but I wrote it quickly on my phone. Please forgive any mistakes!

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Comments

By Gar on Thursday, February 8, 2024 - 20:37

Hi there,
Try going to settings>cellular>cellular data options>data mode. If it's set to 'standard', put it on 'low data mode.'
I would also consider talking to your carrier, if you can. In Canada and the US at least, 5G plans tend to offer data that's technically unlimited, even if it's at reduced speed after a certain point, and you won't have to worry about paying overage fees. You might be able to switch to such a plan, if you aren't on it already.
I hope you found this helpful.

By Gar on Thursday, February 8, 2024 - 20:37

If that doesn't work, look under cellular settings itself for a 'document sync' toggle. If you find it, you can toggle it off so documents should only sync over wifi.

By Siobhan on Thursday, February 8, 2024 - 20:37

You'll want to check your data plan, making sure you aren't going over. I agree the syncing of data shouldn't take that much, plus there is such a thing called work life balance. I'd say sync your data at like eight in the morning on weekdays. Have you also gone through the documents and deleted older ones or one that you might have finished? I'd also check your wifi connection making sure you aren't in any dead spots. Hope some of this helps. Also make sure you're on the faster network if available.

By Gar on Thursday, February 8, 2024 - 20:37

I'd also check under cellular settings to see if 'wi-fi assist' is enabled. If so, your phone may use cellular data even when you're connected to a wireless network, if the network is weak or has other issues.

By Ramy on Thursday, February 8, 2024 - 20:37

ok, but how can i finish syncing before going out?
my Iphone always backup while i'm sleeping.
so, what can i do ?

By Ramy on Thursday, February 8, 2024 - 20:37

I changed it now, and hope it will make a difference,
BTW, I do not have this plan here in egypt

By Ramy on Thursday, February 8, 2024 - 20:37

But where can i find it?
Cellular settings does not contain any Document syncing options.
and BTW, what are these documents?

By Sebby on Thursday, February 15, 2024 - 20:37

You control iCloud Drive and Backup with a separate setting at the bottom of the Cellular Data apps list. Go there, go to the bottom, and work up; you'll find them. Document sync is whatever data changes in iCloud. You may also like to turn off Wi-Fi Assist, if your Wi-Fi at home is reliable and gives you good coverage.

Always remember this crucial point: you don't need to sync anything that only you can change on the one device you have. Not obvious or intuitive, but think about it--if you edit a document on your phone, you don't need to sync it; you already have it! Same for the photos you take. And the backups can wait till you get back. And the media you need can be downloaded while you're on Wi-Fi. You can absolutely make your data stretch even furtherer (apologies Bradshaws fans) if you want to do that.