How to check your mobile data usage and live speed on Android

Running out of mobile data halfway through the month is annoying, and so is not knowing whether a slow app is the app or your connection. Android can tell you a lot about both. Here’s where to look, and what Shadowkit’s Data skill adds.

Android’s built-in data usage screen

Every Android phone records how much mobile data you use. Where it lives depends on the maker and the Android version, but it’s usually one of these:

Pixel and stock Android: Settings › Network & internet › SIMs › App data usage.
Samsung: Settings › Connections › Data usage › Mobile data usage.
Others: search Settings for “data usage”.

This screen shows usage for the current billing cycle, broken down by app. You can also set a data warning and a hard limit there, which is the right tool if your plan has a cap.

What it doesn’t show well is right now: how fast your connection is at this moment, and how today compares with last week.

Live speed in the status bar

Shadowkit’s Data skill shows your live download and upload speed, updated every second, with a pill that says whether you’re on Wi-Fi, mobile or offline.

If you turn on its notification, a small speed indicator sits in your status bar, so you can glance up and see whether anything is moving. Pull down the shade and you’ll see download and upload speed separately, today’s mobile and Wi-Fi usage, and a Turn off button. It’s off until you turn it on, and it comes back by itself after your phone restarts.

This is handy when:

a video won’t load and you want to know if the network is the problem,
you’re tethering a laptop and want to watch how much it pulls,
you’ve just moved somewhere and want to know if the signal is any good.

Today, split by mobile and Wi-Fi

The Today card shows how much you’ve used since midnight, split between mobile and Wi-Fi. Below it, the history goes back 90 days, day by day and grouped by month with month totals, so you can spot the days that ate your allowance.

The free version shows the last 7 days of history and keeps recording all 90 in the background. Shadowkit Pro shows the full 90 days.

What the numbers really mean

A few honest caveats, because data counting is less simple than it looks:

“Wi-Fi” means “not mobile”. Android reports mobile traffic and total traffic. Anything that isn’t mobile, including Ethernet and some tethering, counts as Wi-Fi.
VPNs can double-count. With a VPN on, the same traffic may be counted once going into the VPN and again going out, so totals can look higher than they are.
Your carrier’s count is the one that bills you. Phone-side counts are close, but carriers round and measure in their own way. Leave a margin if you’re near a cap.
It’s whole-device usage. Data shows totals for the phone, not per app. For per-app numbers, use Android’s own screen above.

Does a data monitor use data?

Not Shadowkit’s. The Android app doesn’t have permission to use the internet at all. It reads the phone’s own traffic counters and the current connection type, and that’s it. Your usage history stays on your phone. More on that in why Shadowkit has no account.

The Data skill is on Android only; everything else in Shadowkit works on iPhone too. Meet Shadowkit covers the rest.