- 1,000,000+ installs
- 4.4★ from 16,401 ratings
- Android 6.0+
- On Google Play since 2017
See where your mobile data goes — before the bill does
Data Monitor puts live upload and download speed in the Android status bar, counts mobile data against the quota and billing cycle you actually have, and breaks the month down day by day and app by app.
Free to install · contains ads · optional one-off purchases unlock widgets and selected modules — what that means
- 1M+installs on Google Play
- 4.4★16,401 ratings
- 8 yearspublished and maintained
- 6.0+Android version needed
Features
What Data Monitor actually does
Six things, and it is worth knowing which of them solves which problem — because a net-meter and a usage analyser answer very different questions.
Net-meter in the status bar
A live readout of current upload and download throughput, sitting in the status bar and notification area. This is the one that answers “is something transferring right now, and how fast?” — useful when a page stalls and you cannot tell whether the connection died or the server is just slow.
Your quota, your billing cycle
Set how much mobile data your plan includes and which day of the month it resets on. The app then shows how much of the allowance is gone and how far through the cycle you are — the two numbers that actually tell you whether you are overspending.
Day-by-day history
A table with one row per day and separate columns for Wi-Fi and mobile, plus the share of your quota that day consumed. Spikes stand out immediately, which is usually how you find the day something went wrong.
Per-app breakdown for any day
Tap a day and you get the apps that were transferring on it, each with its own Wi-Fi and mobile figures. That is the difference between knowing you used 1 GB on Tuesday and knowing which app used it.
Connections and ping watcher
A list of the network connections currently open on the device with their remote address and state, and a watch list that pings the hosts you add and reports the round trip time. Diagnostic tools rather than everyday ones, but they are there.
Wi-Fi scanner
Shows the wireless networks your phone can currently see. Handy when you are working out which access point a device is attached to, or why the signal in one room is worse than in the next.
What it is not
Data Monitor measures and reports. It is not a data saver, a VPN, a firewall or a speed booster: it does not compress traffic, block apps from going online or make your connection faster. Nothing in the app changes how much data an app is allowed to use — it tells you what happened so that you can change your own settings or plan.
Getting started
Three steps, no account needed
-
Install from Google Play
One tap from the button on this page. There is no registration, no sign-in and no APK file to download from anywhere else.
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Enter your plan
Type in the monthly mobile allowance your carrier gives you and the day your billing cycle starts. Without those two numbers the percentages have nothing to compare against.
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Switch the meter on
Turn on the network meter and pick a notification style. From then on the readout sits in the status bar and the history fills itself in as you use the phone.
The full guide covers each step with the exact screens, including what to do when the daily figures look empty.
Screens
The interface
Screenshots published by the developer on the Google Play listing. Exact wording and layout differ a little between app versions and Android versions.
Comparison
Why not just use Android’s own data usage screen?
For many people the built-in screen is enough, and it is worth saying so plainly. The differences below are the reason some people still install a separate meter. How much of this your phone already does depends on the manufacturer and the Android version — check yours before you decide.
| What you want to know | Android settings | Data Monitor |
|---|---|---|
| Is anything transferring right now, and how fast? | No continuously visible readout on stock Android; some manufacturer skins add one | Live up/down figure in the status bar and notification area |
| How much of my monthly allowance is left? | Warning and limit settings exist, and vary by device | Quota plus billing cycle start day, shown as an amount and a percentage |
| Which day did the spike happen on? | Usually a chart for the current cycle | A day-by-day table with Wi‑Fi and mobile in separate columns |
| Which app caused it, on that specific day? | Per-app figures are normally for the whole cycle | Open any past day and see the apps that were active on it |
| What is my phone connected to at this moment? | Not exposed in settings | List of open connections with remote address and state |
| Is this host reachable, and how slow is it? | Not available without another tool | Ping watch list with round trip time per host |
Figures the app reports come from Android’s own network statistics, so they can differ slightly from what your carrier bills. The FAQ explains why.
Pricing
What it costs, stated plainly
Free to install
Downloading and using Data Monitor costs nothing. There is no subscription, no trial that turns into a charge, and no account to create.
The Google Play listing carries a Contains ads badge: the free version is funded by advertising shown inside the app.
Optional one-off purchases
The listing also carries an In-app purchases badge, priced by Google Play at $2.99–$4.49 per item. The developer describes the paid part as “Widgets, selected modules”.
These are purchases, not a subscription, and everything described on the features list above works without buying anything. Prices are set on Google Play and shown in your own currency there — treat the figures on this page as indicative.
Payments, refunds and purchase history are handled entirely by Google Play. This website never takes a payment and has no way to see what you have bought.
Permissions and data
What the app asks for, and why
A network monitor has to ask for permissions that look alarming out of context. Here is the honest version, with the reason for each one. The full list, as declared to Google, is on the Play listing under Data safety and App permissions.
| Permission | Why a network monitor needs it |
|---|---|
| Location (approximate and precise) | Android requires location permission before any app is allowed to scan for nearby Wi‑Fi networks or read details of the network you are on. That is what the Wi‑Fi scanner uses it for. Note separately that the listing declares approximate location as shared for advertising — see below. |
| Wi-Fi connection information | Reads which network you are attached to so that traffic can be attributed to Wi‑Fi rather than mobile. |
| Phone status and identity | Used to tell the mobile connection apart from Wi‑Fi and to notice when the network type changes mid-session. |
| Retrieve running apps | Needed to attribute transfer figures to individual apps rather than showing one device-wide number. |
| Full network access, view network connections | Reads the connection state and the list of open connections, and lets the ping watcher reach the hosts you add. |
| Run at startup, prevent sleeping, vibrate | Keeps the meter counting after a reboot, keeps it updating while the screen is on, and drives optional alerts. |
The part people should read twice
In its Google Play Data safety declaration the developer states that the app collects no data itself, and at the same time that data may be shared with third parties in six categories: approximate location, other personal info, device or other IDs, app interactions and installed apps, purchase history, and crash logs. The first five are declared as shared for advertising or marketing, crash logs for analytics.
In plain terms: the app itself is not building a profile of you, but the advertising it is funded by behaves like advertising. If that trade is not one you want to make, this is the moment to know about it rather than after installing. How this site treats the same question · more in the FAQ
FAQ
Common questions
Does the meter drain the battery?
It has to stay awake to count, so it is not free. In practice the cost is small compared with the screen and with whatever is doing the transferring. If battery life matters more to you than a live readout, the usage history still works with the status-bar meter turned off.
Will the numbers match my carrier’s bill exactly?
No, and no app on the phone can promise that. The app reads Android’s own network statistics, while your carrier counts at its end and may round, may count protocol overhead differently, and may exclude zero-rated services. Treat it as a close estimate and an early warning, not as an invoice. Longer answer.
Does it work without a network connection?
The measuring and the history do, because they read local statistics. The ping watcher and the advertising obviously need a connection.
Why does a data monitor want location permission?
Because Android ties Wi‑Fi scanning to location permission: an app cannot list nearby networks without it. Separately, the Play listing declares approximate location as shared for advertising, which is a different matter and worth reading about above.
Is there an iPhone version?
No. Data Monitor is an Android app. iOS does not give apps the system-wide traffic statistics this kind of tool is built on, so there is no equivalent to publish.
Install Data Monitor
Free to install from Google Play, with ads and optional purchases. Installed from Google Play only — this site never asks you to sideload an APK.