It's reported that Microsoft has confirmed a problem with Windows Phone's in-built Twitter feature that could lead to huge mobile data usage. And that could lead to huge phone bills.
The Verge reports that the problem seems to arise from backend changes Twitter is making which are resulting in Windows Phone devices downloading Twitter contacts' pictures multiple times.
On one of our own Windows Phone devices we found that the People hub, the section that hosts the built-in Twitter client, had used over 300MB of mobile data and over 3GB of Wi-Fi data in just under a week. The data drain occurs even if you don't use the People hub. It's not clear exactly when the issue started, but the level of data use will depend on how many Twitter contacts Windows Phone users have listed in the People hub. Verge readers have confirmed the issue on a variety of handsets, and we understand it's not related to any specific Windows Phone update so any device could experience the problem. Some readers have reported 530MB of data use for the People hub in the last 30 days, and others have seen 412MB of data use. If you're on a 512MB or 1GB monthly limit, then that's a significant problem.
Microsoft is working to address the issue, but as it's a backend Twitter change the company is limited in how it can best address it. Removing a Twitter account from a Windows Phone will prevent the excessive data use fully until Twitter has completed its server migration in the coming weeks. Microsoft has also implemented a change to only sync Twitter accounts once a day to reduce the impact. If you're worried about excessive data use then you can check the Data Sense application in Windows Phone providing you have enabled the feature. Otherwise, it might be worth checking with your mobile operator to ensure you've not passed your data limit for the month.
Comments