Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> asked
> Android keeps a record of traffic summaries dating back to when the
> phone was activated. I don't recall right now how to dig out that
> info, but I can find out if you want.

That's OK. I got the phone for free from T-Mobile around that time frame.
It's interesting how much more data I'm using on cellular now that I leave
cellular on all the time (I used to leave cellular off most of the time).

> I just tried the install. If it destroys my phone, it's your fault.

It's a rather nice utility. I like it a lot. It tells us how much data we've
used on cellular and on wifi from the beginning, and for each app. Nice.

It doesn't do what I asked - but it's still a damn good app nonetheless! :)

> You goofed during the install. The 2nd page, after allowing the app
> to have access to your data, it asks you to add it as a widget. You
> don't need to do that. It says:
> Tip: Swipe to the left to see more device usage statistics.
> You don't need to add the widget to have this app count your data.

I saw that when I installed it and figured that was just part of the demo.

Thanks for letting me know I don't need the widget as I like to keep my
homescreen clean and well organized, where unfortunately widgets don't
reside (for some reason) inside of folders.

They have to be on the homescreen.

Hence I only use widgets when I am forced to, such as that neat huge yellow
lightning bolt icon you see in my screenshots when I'm plugged in to power.
<https://github.com/maderski/Charging-Indicator>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=maderski.chargingindicator>

My tired old eyes can't see the miniscule lightning bolt in the corner of
the top right screen when the phone is powered up (only kids can see it).

When I'm driving, for example, and the charger cable comes loose, I hear it
beep (a custom sound) and then the indicator on the screen instantly goes
out - and when the charge comes back on - I hear a different beep - and then
the huge charging indicator goes back on. I could have added the battery
charge level also but I just wanted the instantaneous charge direction.

Here are some examples of how I'm seeing the instantaneous charge indicator
and battery capacity on the homescreen in large icons in the same way I'd
love to be able to see the cellular & wi-fi data transfers instantaneously.
<https://i.postimg.cc/qvHYTf3L/charging01.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/cL7z1D7N/charging02.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/CKFQRjJn/charging03.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/jSX2j0Mj/charging04.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/sXBgKBsB/charging05.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/8CCjC1VT/charging06.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/yNrWgwVc/charging07.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/gchrjS1L/charging08.jpg>

> I didn't add the widget and it does a nice job of showing monthly,
> weekly, daily, yearly, and total usage, nicely broken down between
> mobile and wi-fi. For total, I'm showing 1.12GB mobile and 16.55GB
> total. Nice.

Having personally tested probably a thousand apps over time (I'm guessing at
the number), I agree with you that this is a very nice "keeper" utility.

Just as with most battery charging apps, it's not what I asked for as it's
the integral and not the slope; but it's a very nice integrator indeed.

The trick now is to find an app that shows wifi & cellular signal slope
(not the integral).

> However, when I dive into the Settings, I find under "The secret
> settings":
> "Show app icon for pro version (paid version only)." I think this
> means we're stuck with using the widget unless we pay for the app.

I saw those "secret settings" too but I didn't understand why they were
called "secret" since there were only two, one of which is grayed out.
1. Remember tab (last visited tab and pages will be opened)
2. Show app icon for pro ver

Looking again, I saw in the "Notification settings" the options to:
Show notifications (on or off)
a. Internet speed meter (on or off)
b. Widget refresh (on or off)
c. Widget in status bar (on or off)

All are on by default on my setup but I don't see the widget in the status
bar (it might be there but anything in the status bar is already too small).

> However, that's not what it's doing. Even though I didn't create a
> widget, it still put an icon "Data counter widget" on my desktop.
> However, when I click the icon, it takes me to its "Add widget" page,
> which is easily bypassed. I did a "forced stop" from
> "Settings -> Apps -> Data Counter Widget"
> and it again sent me to the "Add widget" page. It seems that the
> author really wants users to create a widget. I wonder why?

I don't know why the author wants a widget, but AFAIK, on Android, if
something is a widget, it's an app which is "always running" (AFAIK).

Maybe the author wants the darn thing to always be running in the bg?
> As usual, I had to disarm all the notifications (except for the
> notification dot). However, I wanted to see what "Widget in status
> bar" did. So far nothing has appeared on the status bar. Weird.}

Ah, I'm responding serially, so you are seeing EXACTLY what I'm seeing.
I'll reboot so we can see if that matters for the missing status bar widget.

Hmmmmm..... I don't see any difference in the status bar icons yet...
Ah. I found the problem.

1. Bring up the app GUI & press "More..." on the bottom right.
2. Press "Pro version" on the top which gives you a checklist.
3. Notice the "Status bar widget" doesn't exist in the free version.

Likewise with the "Status bar Internet speed meter."

> So, I gave up and created a widget as instructed. Oddly, on the "Add
> Widget" page, it now shows:
> Data Plan
> Billing cycle
> Monthly, the 1st. Current cycle started October 1
> What data plan? The one with my cellular provider, or something that
> the authors contrived to bill me?

I took that to mean when your cellular bill rolls over.
I set mine to the 11th of the month (which you can see in the screenshots).
<https://i.postimg.cc/L8vjbvXD/data01.jpg>

I think it's innocuous.
I think it just means the calculations of data are based on that date.

> I looked through the reviews again,
> and there's no indication of any kind of scam, so it must be my
> PagePlus Cellular data plan, which does NOT start Oct 1.

I changed mine when I installed it as it was _asking_ me explicitly.
I'll check if that billing-cycle date can be changed after the fact.

> I couldn't
> find any place to change the billing cycle. Oh wait, I found it. In
> the middle of the first page, there's a "configure widget" button.

Yup. In the "Device usage" tab, middle of the page below the data rainbow is
"Configure Widget" whose first item on the list is "Billing cycle."

> That brings up some settings with includes the billing cycle and some
> look and feel stuff. It should be under "Settings". Since you found
> the "Enable roaming split" setting, you probably already know about
> the "Configure Widget" menu.

We both got to the same place which is proven by the fact that the "Enable
Roaming Split" option is in this section. I kind of like that option because
I'm always roaming, but I have no idea when I'm on a roaming tower.

That's _another_ thing I'd love an instantaneous view of, which is when I'm
on a T-Mobile tower for data, or when I'm roaming on someone else's tower.

> Argh. On every page, it displays a yellow box offering helpful
> suggestions. With six pages to display, the yellow box appears on all
> of them. The only way to get rid of the yellow box is to hit "X" on
> each page.

It's a nice app - but his settings GUI could use a bit of organization. :)
> This thing is definitely untested beta quality, but seems to have
> great promise.

Oh, I like it. I like it a lot. I instantly liked it when I ran it.
Thank you for finding it as I had not known something like this exists.

Its' perfect for the _integral_ of how much data we're using, per app or per
device, per billing cycle, per Wi-Fi or per cellular (even per roaming).

It's just not the instantaneous slope... (which is what I had wanted). :(

> I went looking for another app that does something similar. I can't
> find anything yet. Also, I couldn't find how to get access to the
> historical traffic data. I'll see what I can find (later).

Thanks. I'll see if I can find something that shows instantaneous use of
data, and whether it's wi-fi or cellular at that very instant.

> I doubt it if report anything in real time, as it happens. My
> guess(tm) is it updates all the databases once per day. It currently
> uses 16.34 MB of internal storage, which is about what I would expect
> for the size of the historical data.

I agree with you that this app is likely simply pulling the data out of the
canonical system database for such things (much like the battery charge
indication level is pulling the information out of the system files).

> Per your original question, it's difficult to tell which is the active
> network interface without first moving some data and checking the
> weird arc on the main page shows or by watching the counters. Not
> quite what you wanted, but close enough.

Hmmmmm... I still haven't figured out what the bi-colored arc rainbow is
telling me, but I agree there is a weird rainbow two-colored arc for "Wi-Fi"
and another for "Mobile" but I don't know what the heck it's telling me.
> Nice app. I think I'll keep it.

It's definitely an instant classic, aka, a keeper.

It reports the integration of how much data we use on cellular & wi-fi (and
roaming) on a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis for the entire device,
and for each individual app.

Thanks for finding this app, which I really like, even as it doesn't tell me
instantaneously (AFAICT so far) whether the device is using Wi-Fi or
cellular data.