An Audible bug is burning through some users' mobile data

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.

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.

If you’re having a similar issue, you could try disabling Android’s Background data toggle in Audible’s App info system settings. The toggle is found under the Mobile data usage heading.