Data usage by popular cycling apps
 

Just curious as to how much of my data plan would be eaten up by a couple of popular apps. I have a Samsung Galaxy III (android) and a 2 gig data plan. The apps I'm interested in are Google Maps and Strava. Those of you using a similar device and these apps, how much of my data plan would be used if I rode on an average about 12 hours a week? Or if you have an estimate of hourly MB consumption, that would be equally helpful. Not looking for exact, just an idea of how much I can use these apps without maxing out my 2 gigs.

BTW, I'm completely new to smart phones so forgive the obvious newbieisms.

Thanks

I am 78% sure that most of the data use is when you upload your ride to strava. And maybe when the map loads at first. I know that I have used Strava successfully thru areas that I get no service in. If I am correct, and I think I am, each time you use it would be a negligible amount of data.

No data is used when recording a ride? That would be cool as I can upload from my home wireless router.

As long as we're talking Strava, is there something like An Idiot's Guide to Strava out there? I've been on their site but I'm still a bit fuzzy about a few things. Maybe I just need to get out there and use it some to figure it out. Now if only the roads would clear up. All deep slush today with another 4" of snow predicted this weekend :(

Yeah, just use it. You will figure it out pretty quick, unless you have the technological aptitude of my Grandma. Who has been dead lo these many years. You basically just start the ride, end the ride, upload the ride, and then you can fiddle around with the data on their website, from your computer. If you are worried about data, stay away from the youtube videos and pandora, that's what will get ya.

Those apps won't even make a dent on your data usage. Your battery, however, won't last very long with the gps on. I'd guess 3-4 hours on your S3. I go for rides with pandora streaming and that doesn't even do much to my data usage. I also have a 2gb plan.

Good to know, both about the data usage and the battery life. As some of my rides are 6-8 hours long, I'm going to have to carry a charger of some kind and plan to plug in during my rest stops.

I keep my phone plugged into a usb charger while I ride. The charger just has 4 AA batteries in it and after 4 hours the phone is still fully charged. I haven't tested longer than that yet. There are some lithium ion chargers you can get that will last for days but they can be pricey.

In NW Minnesota your battery life may be less than the 3-4hr estimate above. If you don't stay locked to 3G, your battery life will drop and your tracking may be inaccurate.

i had issues with 3G service in rural Iowa and bought a garmin. For reference, I've nearly always got strong voice coverage.

I've been looking at some of the portable chargers, including some of the solar powered ones. I'm not a data-driven trainer so if I don't get accurate or complete data on a particular ride, no big deal. I still have my bike computer and good old Google Maps on my PC. I got the smart phone for other reasons so if it can give me additional data, cool, but not a major concern either way.

You're not a data driven trainer ... yet.

You can actually turn the data off and it will still work. I have an old phone that doesn't have service that I use to track my rides so my actual phone doesn't die. Of course I wind up carrying 2 phones, but I don't have to worry about having a dead phone 20 miles from home either.

IME the thing that really sucks a smart phone battery dry is when it's hunting for coverage. If you're in a solid coverage area I'd just leave it alone, but if you're riding in the boonies and you know there's poor coverage, it might be worth putting your phone in airplane mode. Obviously you need GPS on for strava to work.

As others have mentioned, you will use a little data when you upload.

If you are concerned about data usage, go into your phone settings and set up data alerts. Most carriers will also alert you (VZW will send me an alert at 50%, 90%, 95% etc) and the overage charges aren't what they used to be anyway - I think it's $15 for an extra gigabyte for me so I'm not going to freak out about it.

At some point you will figure out that having a dedicated GPS like a garmin will be much nicer, and then you'll have a nice fresh phone to use when you need it.

Lots of data is necessary to record the details of your ride, but I'm pretty sure you only get charged for internet traffic. GPS is a radio signal broadcast from a satellite constellation. Your phone is going to tap into that, record your data, and you can send it up when you're good and ready.

How often are you really going to be looking at the map while you ride? I've got a Garmin, and it's usually on the page with my speed and how long I've been out; I only check the map when I'm turned around, or want to know if it'd be a bad idea to see what's down this road.

You can get "battery extenders" for smart phones, a plug in extra battery for longer run times.

My Garmin records once per second into a .tcx file. A 4 hour ride is around 5 mb.

Some phones can still log GPS in "airplane mode". Great way to save batteries.

I believe most phones still use assisted GPS that relies on cell towers for accuracy.

aGPS only kicks on when you can't get a satellite GPS signal. If you ride in some heavy forests or city with highrise towers all over then it may kick over to aGPS.

Odd, I have had some serious GPS issues (latency and lock) using both a Samsung and an apple in areas where I have a clear view of the sky and a decent 2g signal.

I have an actual number for you, if that helps (vs. all the speculation) :)

One 1-hour ride on Strava (yesterday) resulted in 175kb of data usage on my Nexus 4 (they graph it out in Settings->Data Usage->Strava). My bet is that around half of that will scale linearly with ride duration, so expect more data to go when you have more data to send... There's surely some handshaking and version checking in that 175kb that will happen no matter how long your ride is, and not get bigger. I'd bet you'll add somewhere around 90kb per hour after the first one. That part is speculation though ;) I'll post back after a longer ride sometime.

To prevent uploading before you get home to wifi, you might need to go into airplane mode, then finish your ride and save it, then manually kill Strava so it won't try to upload in the background, then go back out of airplane mode. When you get home, start Strava and it should sync quickly on its own. If not, browse to the ride, and hit the refresh button. There may be a simpler way to do this... but I don't have to worry about it.

FWIW: I'm running the T-Mobile unlimited data/text no-contract plan for $30/month. It. Kicks. Ass. (b/c of the value) Coverage is not outstanding, but generally is fine. The best part is saving around $575/year vs. Verizon. I only get 100minutes of talk, but I'm running Google Voice for all outgoing, so if someone chatty calls me, I call them right back. Additional minutes are only $0.10 each, so I could use an extra 400 minutes and still be below my Verizon monthly cost. My phone was only $300, so it's paid for in the first two months (vs. the $150 I'd pay for an S3 or similar), and it's GSM, so if I travel I can just get a monthly sim card in country and be in business for about another $30.

No data is used while logging the ride. I use an older Droid Eris to log my rides, and it is off the grid, just a small, wireless device without mobile access. Upload over Wi-Fi and you use no data whatsoever.

I know mine doesn't, because I've used the Google Sky Map app on my phone in very remote mountain wildernesses with no cell coverage for 50 miles in any direction.

Phones can use the network for locations, but the app designers get to choose when, and for what reasons (assuming the user has allowed it). The Android apps I've written have had to rely on GPS and ignore network location, because location was too important to miss by 2km.

Strava does not use network location, as you can't track a ride with 2km variances between readings. Strava is pure GPS.

Unless you've cached them, maps come down real-time via your data link so if your viewing your position on the map as you ride, you're using data. I don't know how much as I'm grandfathered in a unlimited data plan so never bothered to check. I don't think it's enormous though. Turn off email pushes and any other pushes. Traveling out of the country I just use a Garmin and keep the phone data turned off most of the time.

The "Bike Tracks" app uses zero data and can be run on a phone without a sim card. I had the "Ski tracks" version and it is designed to last 13 hours if optimally configured.

Strava uploads at the end of your ride when you save it. Endomondo updates at different times during. Don't know about others. Either way it's very little.

Great info and some great tips. Thanks everyone.