Windows Phone's integrated Twitter functionality causes data drain

Whether one has a modest monthly mobile data plan or an unlimited plan with a cap on, for example, 4G speeds, the waste of precious MBs cuts into one's usage and is unwanted. Users on Windows Phone have been experiencing such extraneous data usage lately, something that results from the integrated Twitter feature, Microsoft has confirmed.

The issue was reported on by The Verge, which has received confirmation from Microsoft that the Twitter feature has caused the excessive data usage and that it is looking into a way to solve the problem. The problem has resulted from a backend change made by Twitter causing Windows Phone to keep downloading profile images too often.

Such results from Twitter migrating profile pictures to a new server. In one instance, as tested by The Verge, Windows Phone pulled 300MB+ of data via the People hub, as well as 3GB of data from wireless networks — both in less than a week. It doesn't matter if the user uses the People hub, the excessive usage remains. Those with more Twitter contacts will have higher data pulls.

Until Microsoft gets a fix out, Windows Phone users can remove the Twitter account from their handset to solve the excess data problem. Until the server transition by Twitter is over, Microsoft has put a change in place that causes Twitter accounts to sync once per day to keep the data usage down. It isn't clear how Microsoft will fix the problem, given that it is resulting from changes happening on Twitter's end.

SOURCE: The Verge