A number of Windows Phone users have found that their data usage has been abnormally high of late, and it’s all thanks to Twitter.
Some users have reported that the built-in Twitter feature of their Windows Phone handsets has used up as much as 530MB of mobile data over the past month – enough to put many people over their monthly data allowance.
The Verge noticed the issue and raised it with Microsoft, which has in turn confirmed that a recent back-end change to Twitter is responsible for the issue.
Apparently, Twitter is currently in the process of moving its profile pictures to another server. This change is causing certain Windows Phone handsets to frequently re-download profile pictures for Twitter contacts.
The issue affects Windows Phone users regardless of whether they use the People hub or not, although the amount of data consumed seems to depend on how many contacts they have saved to the People hub. A quick check of the Data Sense app will tell you if the People hub on your device is using up too much data.
As this is an issue caused by Twitter itself, Microsoft is limited as to what it can do to stem the flow of data. However, it has limited the number of times its accounts sync with Twitter to just once per day for now.
Otherwise, the only solution is to remove your Twitter account from your Windows Phone handset until Twitter resolves the issue.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
