DataMan - Data Usage Widget
reviews and complaints

January

So far this app is absolutely great! On my iPhone 4, it hasn't crashed once. It displays information in a very appealing manner. It is extremely accurate on its usage. You don't even have to start on a new cycle to start using. It is far easier to use than AT&T's MyAT&T App, or digging through Settings to find Usage.

1 Month later...

I have an iPhone 5 now, and I am still pleased with this app, however it no longer seems to be as accurate. It lags about 30 MB behind and I constantly have to manually add usage. It is very nice when formatted for iPhone 5, however.

This would be a cool app if it were accurate. I've had this app installed for 3 billing cycles. It consistently says I've used more data over the cellar network than I actually have. Last billing cycle, this app showed that I had used almost 1GB more data over the cell network than i actually did. I'm writing this at 7:00AM. My plan reset at midnight 7 hours ago. I have been home and my phone has been on my wireless network all night while I slept. This app says I've downloaded almost 100MB of data over the cellular network in that time when I haven't been on the cellular network.

I'm very thankful that this app was created. My plan includes three people and we are splitting a 30GB plan through AT&T. With Family Sharing, I've loaded this app onto everyone's phone. We cap ourselves at 10GB a piece and it helps to see where we all are on our data usage. It takes too long to get into the AT&T app and see where we stand but thanks to this one you just tap the app itself and/or view it in the notifications drop down and see where your data is currently at. The information is very close to what AT&T has on their app so I have no complaints on my end. Thanks again for making a great app.

This app doesn't track the same as my Verizon data usage. It caused me to go beyond my 3 GB limit and I was charged for an additional GB. I've tested other data managers and found this app reads usage far less than actual, giving you a false sense of security. The format is great. It forecasts usage and changes colors from green to yellow to red. As you use the data, it forecasts whether you should be cautious (yellow) of current use or that you will run out of data (red). Except it never left the safe (green screen) for me. It could be a nice app if it tracked usage correctly. My experience says it doesn't.

So I put in my data half way through my cycle, and it is waaayyyy to far ahead. It says that I used 76% of my data, and yet I haven't got a text from AT&T (They usually text me if I used 75%, 90, and all of my data). I wanted to test it out, and it failed practically completely. That's not why I'm giving it three stars though. All though the purpose of the app has failed, and that has brought down the score substantially, you can tell that they took at least a little time, because of the design that they did. So, to be nicer, I did three stars so that they have a chance to make the app accurate, and beautiful.

I paid for the app knowing I need only simpler statistics. I don’t need pro features.

Don’t spam me and don’t show pro logo on the widget.

Show useful info in the widget and don’t show an advert for pro as a landing page of the app. That’s not what I paid for. You haven’t provided the app for free. Stop pushing unneeded features.
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Dec 5, 3020

Updated to 4 stars after developer’s response. The developer pointed me to the correct widget which I needed as a new iOS user.

Less one star as
- I am not completely happy with the app look and feel
- I didn’t need the information on why a pro business model is needed

It's A simple, clean, beautiful, and yet robust way of instantly and conveniently knowing your data usage.

It's 100% Reliable and has tons of billing cycle choices to track your data. You just automatically see everything with only a mere glance!

The new Stop Watch feature lets you track your data at anytime by pressing go from the iPhone swipe down menu. Long drives for me always make me want to know how much data I ate up with Music. I imagine others will find other cool uses for deep data tracking.

That was enough for me!

Or you can pop into an even more detailed mode and look at some additional features.

My plan changed to give roll over minutes for one month into the 2nd. NO data plan has ever accommodated roll over minutes. There is no option to accommodate the various plans out there. Was 5*'s before roll over minutes became the norm. However, our plan only rolls over 1 months extra. But those extra won't get used until after current months minutes are used, then after that 2nd month, extra minutes are zeroed out from month one. Greedy phone company confusing plan. But maybe add option to record unused minutes and Bandwidth, by month. Maybe talk with at&t to figure out how to get better app to accommodate plans goofy rules? Thanks!

Before spending any money on this app, understand a few things:
1. The app DOES NOT connect to your carrier to manage data. Take for instance, if you are on T-Mobile, this app wil not give you a correct reading since T-Mobilw does not charge data on certain streamong services.

2. The app will ONLY show data usage from the device that you have it on. In other words, if you have an iPad using up your data as well, it cannot read that device in the data usage.

3. I have not been able to get an accurate reading from this app since I installed it. Why? Well, beacause it does NOT READ THE CARRRIERS DATA USDAGE!

This just does not make sense.

I really want to like DataMan. So much that I was hoping DataMan Next to be a good trial before spending more on DataMan Pro. I love iOS 7 look and feel, automatically resetting on the billing date, and customizable alert. All of that makes it much more appealing than iOS 7’s built in cellular usage report. But the data is so widely inaccurate that I can’t trust it for anything.

For the last few months, it consistently reported much higher number (between 2 to 3 times as much) than my cellular carrier’s website.

Perhaps it isn’t possible for an app like DataMan to report number as accurate as the carrier, but the margin of error is just too much.

This app is definitely awesome. As it says in the description, it tells (or shows) you hoe much data you're using. It even comes with a "stopwatch" that you can activate and see how much data a specific app or time period of using apps they run up. The only advice I would suggest in the update is if I could add the other phones in my plan. I have a plan with my family and I can't see how much they're using. There are other apps for this but I trust something that came from an Apple employee (or Apple themselves) more. Besides that I love the simplicity and utility of the app. Please make more like this! All the help an iPhone user can get is great.

So, after a few months of actually using this version of the app, it has been a very weird experience.
I have seen the app actually trying to calculate all my data usage, but it doesn't seem like it is actually on track. It always seems to be 100 MB lower than the actual data that I have consumed. The reason why I know this, is because I have the AT&T app, and comparing those two data accounts, seems like DataMan is 100 MB lower than the actual data that I have used up.
I think, if the developers of this app can fix this problem, this App will get my five stars again. But as of right now, I think I will be only be rating this app at three stars.
So, please fix this soon, because I do not want to see others go over there overages of their data plans.

I bought this because I wanted to know my data stats when I am overseas since my carrier only gives me 800MB. It wasn't until I bought it that I found out this version only tracks ALL data usage, not domestic vs international. For that you need to buy the Pro version.

I think this is deceptive but also unnecessary. Just put all functionality into the $2 version and call it a day. Or provide an upgrade coupon to go from regular to pro. Now instead of just buying pro for $6 I would need to spend a total of $8 for both. Or just make an in-app upgrade! Why isn't that an option?

So frustrating. I hate when developers nickel and dime us like this. The right solution is to sell DataMan for $1 and then allow in-app upgrade to more advanced functionality. Lame.

Update 3 - asking for a rating is a little annoying. I'm just saying…

Update 2 - the usage of 3D touch on the app icon seems a little gimmicky, but the fact it's there is alright. A suggestion though - daily usage and the ability to check hotspot usage would be nice, if those two features would be plausible. Also, syncing usage among multiple devices would be nice, using either an account you can provide or through another online storage account (box, dropbox, g drive, iCloud, skydrive, etc.)

Update 1 - the addition of the widget in iOS 8 was awesome, and still is. Still using it, still works perfectly.

I've had this app through several versions of iOS, and I have to say it works just as well now as it did when I first got it and configured it correctly.

I'm on a family plan, so I like to be mindful about how much data I'm using throughout the month. Dataman only includes my usage, however I'm able to roughly estimate the total data so I can know to either back off on heavy steaming or go for it. For others with family plans: what I do is in the data plan settings, I estimate each other user will use 2 gb (your figures will vary depending on your situation), and allow myself a typical month's usage of 3 gb. That gives me a fair picture of usage, and leaves buffer space for others in the shared data plan. The historical data of Dataman is helpful to see trends in usage so you can decide if you're getting the most out of your plan.

Btw, please stop asking us to rate the app. Maybe once a month is ok, but it seems to ask for a rating more frequently... -1 star for that.

The app alone won’t show your data usage in the small size widget. You have to have a monthly subscription for that functionality. Odd that they would draw a line there. No? This was not obvious before purchase. You can still see the medium size widget with info though. Not a problem with a big phone. I have an SE so screen org gets tricky. Would have been nice to be able to use the small widget but that’s where they decided to draw the pay line and I got caught on the other side. For 99c it’s worth it. I spend to much time on this stupid phone anyway. And hopefully this app will help me not spend so much time that I go over my data plan. Which is the point after all. My issue is mostly cosmetic. With a dash of salt for the functionality restriction hidden behind the paywall. Three stars for now. Will update if it saves my a$& for me.

I have been using this app for sometime now but it has never been accurate, so I don’t pay much attentions to it, just that it is on my phone and runs in background.

Apple on the other hand actually has inbuilt data usage tracker which is very accurate and closely matches with what my service provider shows on my bill. I am not sure if people are aware of this. I just set a reminder to reset the inbuilt usage monitor the day my billing cycle starts/ends to always know the correct usage during the billing cycle.

You can compare the usage provided by this app versus from Apple and you’ll see what I am talking about. Just remember to reset your usage counter the day your billing cycle ends and take a note of what it says. This is done in Settings->Cellular (under Cellular Data, look for current period). Try this for couple of months and you’ll see the difference.

To the developer: please take this as constructive criticism and improve your app so it gives a correct picture of data usage. Thanks!

[Updated August 26th]
Well, the developer finally removed all of the redundant in-app purchases - but now the only purchasing option is a .99¢ a month subscription.

“But you get to keep the old features you paid for” doesn’t mean anything when you up your prices. They bundled all their features into a new IAP, meaning if you already paid for most of the features then you’re being charged for them again. In this case, I already have access to 90% of the features - meaning I can pay a monthly subscription to gain access to features I already paid for? However the dev tries to spin it, it’s simple: your pricing isn’t considerate of previously paying users.

This dev is absurd. After insisting there was nothing they could do for users who paid for the same features more once, they’re trying to do the exact the same thing once more. It goes to show you they only care about monetization and couldn’t care less about their users. By the way, the original price of this app with all features was $2.99 - what an absolute rip-off.

[Edit July 17th]
Developer asked me to reach out to them in the reply below, as you can see. I actually had already contacted them before writing this review to see if I was missing any features or content in regards to what the IAP contained.

During my first support contact, they confirmed I did not and offered no solution or alternative, saying it was better for new customers - which is obviously true. I asked them why they didn’t consider implementing an upgrade option for previously paying customers, like COUNTLESS other apps have, and they said they’d take my feedback. I asked once more if there was anything they could do for me, and they said verbatim: “You may contact App Store for any refunds.” showing they really care about their customers ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I messaged them again as they asked here, and after chatting they realized I was the same person and said the exact same thing: they bundled them all together, request a refund.

The app is great, but I’ll never purchase from this developer again and will seek other data management apps.

[Original Review]
Buyer beware: if you’ve paid for any of the previous in app purchases to unlock more features, they’ve all been bundled into one larger IAP now, meaning you’ll end up paying twice if you want them all.

Prior to this change you could pick and choose which features you wanted to pay for. There was only one feature I was missing, and I naively believed that the new, larger IAP would include multiple features I didn’t have access to - why else was the app showing me only this one available purchase?

It turns out there aren’t any “newer” features, and they’ve all just been rolled up into one IAP. This means I bought two IAPs before the change, and then had to pay the full bundled price just to get one feature I didn’t have - paying again for features I already paid for before the change.

None of the verbiage in the app is forthcoming with this information, and there’s no option to upgrade for a lower price and fair price (as I’ve seen in plenty of other apps). Definitely a dishonest business practice, and I will personally be avoiding this developer.

Not accurate. Interface is not intuitive and lacks explanation. Just use the data tracking app provided by ATT or your carrier. They are free and easier to understand.

My plan doesn’t start the 1st day and end on the last day of the month. There doesn’t seem to be a way to change the start/ end dates, making the application misleading at best

I always check if apps can be shared. This one indicated it is supported. However, basic functionality is offered with costly upgrades not included in family sharing. Do. Not. Buy.

What’s wrong? It hasn’t moved off zero in two weeks, and there’s really nothing but one basic screen to the app, nowhere to look for answers. No options anywhere I can see, and I paid for this. Not good.

There used to be an app that was able to track my usage on two different cellular plans but these have been removed to move to a subscription model which will end up costing more in the long run.

Don’t buy. Switch to something else.

I paid $0.99 primarily for the widget advertised in the app, only to find out I have to buy a subscription to be able to use that. This information should have been clearly outlined. I feel deceived, buying this as I have no other use for it.

Apparently measures based on one device while most of us have multiple devices on our data plan. After two days it’s off from ATT by 2 gigs. Not useful at all if this is how it works. Developer did not address this question when I asked. The system software under Cellular is more useful.

This application has never evolved rather they charged original owners a fee to use. Then they charge a monthly fee for features that used to be part of the application we already paid for. I can understand charging a subscription for some automation with backups or server usage but to change colors come on.

This app is not reliable. I don't count on it's accuracy. It happened to me few times that my date usage on this app looked safe I had more then
50% of data available, but my cell phone provider - T-mobile - sent me a massage that I just went over the limit and I am using my date stash!
I am not recommending this app!

The point of this app is to make sure you know how much cellular data you've used so you can avoid overages. Well, it doesn't work as well as it could. Whenever I check with my carrier, my actual usage is often 30-60% more than what is tracked in this app. Yes, I've checked and double checked that the billing start date is correct.

Shows they charge .99 but they charge 1.99 after you load it
Don’t show difference between cell phone data use and hotspot data use they’re not the same
Hotspot data is expensive and different from your regular cell phone (Safari) data usage
This app does not show the difference hard to know how much real-time hotspot data is used

I’ve been using this app for a while and I liked it, but now you cannot put in your data usage timeframe so it has become useless. Now you have to pay .99 per month to sync with your data calendar! I’m not paying $12 per year to track data with other options out there. I’ll be deleting and looking for more sane options. Very disappointed.

I used to have free version of that app that was showing detail usage by app of 3g and wifi. That stopped working.

I upgraded to paid version. And even installed in app add-on for “detail usage”

The app is useless now it inly show the total usage per day - there are now way to determine which app is eating data in background.

Wasted money...

This app consistently undercounts what celular data I actually use. I've had it for years, and it only shows/counts like 25%-45% of the celular data I know I'm using. I know what I'm using bc of what my cell carrier's bill says, and also what other apps tell me (and they all corroborate each other).
Get a different app - this one doesn't work well.

You pay to buy an app that doesn’t appear to do much of anything more than you can view in settings - and need to buy an add-on for $3 to make it do ‘something’. Given I paid a dollar for nothing, I’m not optimistic that an additional $3 will really add that much functionality. It might be a great $4 app - I’ll never know because it’s sold in a way that makes me feel ripped off.

I installed this app to monitor data usage of different apps on my cellphone, because a blog suggested this app as one of the good ones for this purpose.
Pure B.S. It doesn’t track data usage of individual apps! The interface has a horrible design, not user friendly at all. There are other free apps who do 500% percent better than this fraud! Try My Data Manager for example! This was the worst $1 that I spend on App Store

3 years ago, I spent $5 purchasing the DataMan Pro app to track my data usage. The other day, I thought that it would nice to have a Home Screen widget so I could track my data usage at a glance. Turns out, the developer hasn’t updated the app I’ve been using in 2 years, released this app, and now wants to charge a recurring $1 per month for pro features. No way. I’m not buying some subscription on top of paying for the app. Biggest ripoff. I’m definitely moving to a different data tracker.