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An Audible bug is burning through some users’ mobile data

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Why This Matters

The Audible app on Android is experiencing a critical bug that causes excessive mobile data consumption, potentially draining users' data plans unexpectedly. This issue highlights the importance of robust app testing and user awareness in preventing costly surprises, especially as more consumers rely on streaming services for entertainment. Addressing such bugs is vital for maintaining user trust and ensuring seamless, data-efficient experiences in the digital age.

Key Takeaways

Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority

TL;DR The Audible app on Android is using unexpectedly large amounts of mobile data for some users.

This behavior is apparently being caused by a bug in version 26.19.13 of the app.

Audible is aware of the issue, but we don’t have a timeline for any potential fix.

The Audible app is using an inordinate amount of data on Android. User reports are circulating that the audiobook service is eating up gigabytes of mobile data, even when configured to only stream or download content over Wi-Fi.

PiunikaWeb has rounded up several of these reports. Mobile data usage varies, with users reporting up to 17 gigabytes of unexpected data consumption over a period of days. Audible says the issue is being caused by a bug.

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Per a customer service interaction shared by one affected user, the unwarranted data use is down to “a cloud syncing and license verification glitch” that means the Audible app can’t tell when users have audiobooks downloaded to their devices. This has been causing the app to download content over mobile connections repeatedly, apparently even when users have configured their app to only download over Wi-Fi.

These problems are apparently being caused by version 26.19.13 of the Audible app. In another customer service interaction shared by an affected user, a support agent says that “this build is bypassing the internal ‘Wi-Fi Only’ toggles” and repeatedly streaming data in the background, even when audiobooks are already stored locally.

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