iPhone 5s Owners Gobbling “Unprecedented” Levels of Data, Study Finds

http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/22/jdsu-data-study/

by justinzollars • 13 years ago

29 45 13 years ago

rayiner• 13 years ago

This data presentation sucks. When dealing with exponentially growing markets, each new data point will break all previous records. What's interesting is deviations from the expected exponential growth trajectory.

TrainedMonkey• 13 years ago

I might be oversimplifying things... But more data usage is what I would expect given that 5S is faster compared to 5.

I make an assumption that less we wait for apps to start/load data is more time we can use to consume more data. I am sure there are other contributing reasons such as more media rich apps (taking advantage of faster hardware/networks) played significant role as well.

NoPiece• 13 years ago

Definitely. Also, early adopters are likely heavier users, so whatever the newest device is will see the most use.

bsdetector• 13 years ago

In my case it's the fingerprint sensor, not so much the CPU. I used the passcode with my old phone for basic security in case it was stolen, but it was just annoying enough to keep me from checking the phone for random things.

Now I just touch home and I'm in. I use the phone way more now. I thought the sensor would be marginally useful, but man it's the cat's pajamas.

rsynnott• 13 years ago

Certainly having gone from a 4 to a 5S, I use my phone an awful lot more.

dchuk• 13 years ago

I know that I use a ton more data on my 5S than my previous 4S, but that's because my new phone now supports Sprint LTE, so I can actually stream stuff and download full web pages rather than the bullshit spotty 3g that I was previously using on my 4S.

duskwuff4• 13 years ago

The iPhone 3G is a really old and strange device to be using as a benchmark - it was released in 2008, and was already considered rather dated when it was discontinued in 2010. If they're using data from when the iPhone 3G was current, smartphone usage trends have changed drastically since then; if they're using data from users who still have those devices, they're limiting the sample to users who haven't upgraded in at least three and a half years, or who are using a hand-me-down phone (and, either way, probably don't use their phones very much).

The numbers are still interesting to compare between each other, although I'm not sure how significant some of the differences really are.

sib• 13 years ago

Agreed. Additionally, many (most?) apps won't even run on the iPhone 3G anymore because they need a newer version of iOS than it supports (4.2.x, I believe).

[edit for spelling]

duskwuff4• 13 years ago

Oh, good point! Indeed, the iPhone 3G can't be upgraded to iOS 5, limiting what applications can be used on the device. While Apple does have a system for allowing users on older devices to install the latest compatible version of an app, that only helps if a compatible version exists, and it still works with the application servers. With an increasingly small number of applications available to use bandwidth, it stands to reason that average bandwidth usage per iPhone 3G user would go down over time.

IBM• 13 years ago

Just one more data point in a long list showing iOS users are the most engaged. Developers still have no reason to stop being iOS-first.

TwoBit• 13 years ago

You're assuming that Internet usage equates to app usage. I use the Internet a lot on my phone but hardly run apps. In fact my usage of the Internet surely eats into time I might spend running apps.

eli2• 13 years ago

My business news sites get 3 to 5 times as many visits from iOS versus Android.

coldtea2• 13 years ago

No, he just assumes internet usage equates to more phone usage. The proportion of apps and internet can be whatever, but more phone usage also means more app usage.

chrisrhoden• 13 years ago

The post that you are commenting on does not support this viewpoint. Indeed, significantly more data was uploaded on Android devices vs iOS devices in this study. This is waved off as the result of the camera on the s4, but the s4 is not the biggest uploader in developed markets, the HTC Sensation (a non-lte-capable device) is.

You are very likely correct that iOS users touch their phones more than Android users, and your conclusion may also be right, but this is not really the place. The point of the article is to compare current devices to the iPhone 3G, not iOS devices to Android devices. Further, the comparison is likely only valid between devices running the same version of the same OS - we could say that this only proves that there is a bug in iOS that is destroying data plans if that supported the narrative.

Fasebook• 13 years ago

Nobody is engaged with their phone. Their engaged with their SO, and use their phone to reach them. There are no engaging apps on the iOS at all. Name one "killer app" for iPhone, and it would probably be Google Maps, which is of course available on most devices already. (It's been on PalmOS almost a decade ago.) Wow, but it's on iPhone and somehow that's a technological achievement? So what if people can pull data through their phones now at a rate that is comparable to actual daily usage. That is not an achievement, that's just another spin around the sink drain. Putting another layer of abstraction and metadata around it just allows you to control the water's path down the drain.

This is fine, because it's just supposed to be a phone, not a iPod, a phone, and an "Internet communications device" all in one. Nobody who does serious anything does anything serious on the iPhone other than talk or reply to emails like "ok I read this", (or just use it as a social signal).

I feel like all this talk is just a bunch of old money circling the drain of greed that Apple pulled the plug of. People think somehow that if they put the data in the cloud, they'll stop piracy, stop theft and stop deflationary pressures of all the air finally being deflated out the 10,000 year old bullshit-idea economy. The reality, the price of ideas is finally reaching the equilibrium price, nothing, and everyone just keeps fooling themselves that somehow this is for the best, and not the same thing that happened with Microsoft on desktops or at IBM so long ago. Someone's idea that we all are stuck in, but it's just one idea, can we please stop trying it and maybe go for something new, something that actually approves on the printing press instead of emulating it?

ryanhuff• 13 years ago

Nobody is engaged with their phone. Their engaged with their SO, and use their phone to reach them. There are no engaging apps on the iOS at all.

My son, and millions of others, who continue to feed the coffers of such companies as Supercell, Rovio, etc, demonstrate to me that something is very engaging with their iOS device and apps.

coldtea2• 13 years ago

Nobody is engaged with their phone. Their engaged with their SO, and use their phone to reach them.

Actually a current problem is that people are TOO engaged with their phones, including in social situations where they should be paying attention to their company.

There are no engaging apps on the iOS at all. Name one "killer app" for iPhone, and it would probably be Google Maps

That's an interesting, if kooky idea, but totally on the outlier side (if you're from an older demographic it might be understandable).

iPhone (and Android) users have apps they find very enganging apps that they spends hours on end with them.

From games like Angry Birds to Instagram, including various clients for stuff like Twitter, apps like Omni's GTD stuff, Paper, and lots more besides.

And if you ask (hobby) musicians and graphic designers around (which are in the million), you'll find they spends tons of time with stuff like music apps and paint apps.

Nobody who does serious anything does anything serious on the iPhone other than talk or reply to emails like "ok I read this", (or just use it as a social signal).

You'd be surprised.

S_A_P• 13 years ago

I just think that the 5s is actually snappy enough to use it in cases you may hesitate to do so before. I actually had a 5 that I accidentally dropped and destroyed. The difference in speed between the 5 and 5s is very noticable to me. I use it much more than the 5 for every day stuff.

MikeCapone2• 13 years ago

I don't have a 5s, but I went from the original retina iPad (with the A5) to the iPad Air (with A7) and the difference is massive, and it does lead to more usage. Just the waiting time could easily result in me going on 20% more webpages per day, or watching an extra youtube video.

lstamour5• 13 years ago

How I read this article? (a) Android apps are more efficient about data. (Chrome has a bandwidth saver feature, for instance.) That said, (b) iOS has better, more content- or communication-rich apps that promote interaction and consume data. (c) iPhone owners may be able to afford larger data plans and therefore use more data. Or (d) iPhones tend to backup over the air a lot more thanks to iCloud than most (every?) Android app I've ever used. Plus (e) iOS focuses on background networking and downloads at an API level that Google is only now starting to with projects like Volley.

Which leads me to my last point: There's too many variables here. Focusing on phone model and total data used doesn't speak enough to app preferences, platform differences, and ecosystem maturity. Frankly, as a Nexus 5 lover waiting for the iPhone 6, I really like how iPad raises the bar for iPhone app quality. I don't expect things to take off for Android until Google convinces people that the Nexus 7 isn't just a bigger phablet, perhaps with new APIs. The one thing Google got right vs iOS that no one will argue is their API compatibility layers. It keeps older platforms feeling modern -- when was the last time you saw a pre-5.x app on the App Store? Android goes back to single-digit API numbers easily. (8 or so, at this point.)

BugBrother• 13 years ago

Note that this was for one specific iPhone model, so it is hardly (a) or (d) -- that is, not that Android is more efficient and not that iCloud sucks extra bandwidth for backups. Etc.

(To be obvious: If it were those alternatives, or (e), then iPhone models 5C, 5, 4S and 4 would use similar amounts of data. At a minimum, most 5/5C should have iOS 7.)

MikeCapone2• 13 years ago

Indeed. The fact that this is specifically about the 5s and the recent iPad tells me that part of this is probably the speed of the A7. If it's faster to open apps, browse the web, etc, you tend to do more of it. That makes the device more useful to users and reduces friction, which leads to high usage.

In short: They use more data because they're better devices.

But there are also probably some of the other variables mentioned by the parent. They just apply to all iOS devices equally, not just those models.

KaoruAoiShiho• 13 years ago

Very likely there is some efficiency stuff going on in here. GSII is on the list but not the GS3, interesting.

aryastark• 13 years ago

The iPhone 5c surely cannibalized 4s/5 stats, no? I mean, in prior generations people would purchase last year's model. But this time they got the 5c instead.

bruceb• 13 years ago

So am I blind or do I not see the actual amount of data used? Avg MB or GB? if Apple 3g is the measure what was the avg user consuming on the 3g? How do I know how much more 5s users are using if I don't have the baseline?

alexeisadeski3• 13 years ago

Will the major telecoms drop their charge per GB anytime soon? The going rate of $10/gb is usurious.

ChuckMcM2• 13 years ago

I find it interesting when someone is watching what looks like HD video on an iPhone 5s on the train. At arms length I would expect that something less than full res would be sufficient, but I don't know if the phone can let you select.

alexbell• 13 years ago

I think lots of video streaming is adaptive to bandwidth, and if you have an LTE connection that can handle HD video you'll get it. Still doesn't account for why the trend is supposedly 5s specific. Perhaps because the 5s can handle more LTE bands?

ChuckMcM2• 13 years ago

That is a good point on the LTE bands, I had not considered that it just may be that now this is more often achievable at an acceptable quality rate.

vfclists• 13 years ago

Does the higher usage related to the high video resolution of the Retina displays? Does more data imply higher res video and graphics, or data in the traditional sense, words and numbers and perhaps maps?

programminggeek• 13 years ago

My guess is the background app updates are contributing to this a lot. A couple large game updates could consume a few gig in a hurry.

tfe• 13 years ago

Isn't this mitigated by the 100MB limit while on mobile data?

gnu8• 13 years ago

I guess iPhone 5c users can go ahead and eat shit then?

brc2• 13 years ago

Not in Australia, they don't. No carrier provides an uncapped plan, and most plans have to be extended with a 'data pack' just to get 1GB/month. If you go over that, you start getting charged per Megabyte.

It's ridiculous.

benihana• 13 years ago

You guys don't have wifi in Australia?

shimms• 13 years ago

Do you mean public wifi? There are some areas that have some public wifi (Adelaide has some pretty good coverage in the CBD thanks to Internode, an Adelaide based ISP), but it isn't very common.

If you mean private wifi? Of course we do (in fact the CSIRO - an Australian based research organisation - was pretty pivotal in its invention in the 1990s), but the article is talking about mobile data not wifi.

piggity• 13 years ago

I recently went on holidays and was merrily tethered away on 4G to Telstra. Hit the cap limit on my plan - 3GB - called Telstra to get a datapack add-on - "I'm sorry, but you are on the highest plan, we can't add on any more data".

Basically I would have had to sign onto a completely new contract to get more data for the 5 days to end of month. Ridiculous.

brc2• 13 years ago

Are you getting good speeds on 4G? I'm considering turfing my fixed line connection altogether and going pure 4G.

iPhone 5s Owners Gobbling “Unprecedented” Levels of Data, Study Finds

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