A bug in iOS 13.3 is causing some users' iPhones to record huge data usage behind the scenes. To make matters worse, Apple does not appear to have a fix in place.

The issue came to light when Forbes' Gordon Kelly compiled multiple reports from various users about the bug from the iOS subreddit. It is not clear why iPhones with the latest software are using so much data in the background, but the data consumed appears to be reflected in the uninstalled apps tally within iOS' cellular data settings.

For some users, the data usage of uninstalled apps is ticking up ridiculous numbers. One user reported 1.2 GB just minutes after resetting the data counter, while another provided a screenshot showing 579 MB. And it's not just the illusion that data is being used. Several people noted that they were reaching the data limits imposed by their respective carriers faster than normal. One Verizon customer said that the majority of his data falls into the audio and video streaming categories.

The purpose of the data counter for uninstalled apps is to record the amount of data used by a particular app that is no longer on the device during a billing cycle. say you download Snapchat, use 100MB, and then delete it from your phone. iOS will attribute that 100MB of data to the uninstalled app, at least until the next billing cycle begins.

The problem with this particular bug is that there is not enough information to know where the data came from. It is possible that the uninstalled app still exists on the device and is running recklessly in the background. It is also possible that data is being transmitted by a system service or another downloaded app, but is being diverted to the uninstalled count for some reason.

Furthermore, some people are quoting only a few dozen megabytes, while others are seeing their counters exceed several hundred. No one knows what the cause is, but it is nonetheless disastrous for some people - especially at a time when people need to rely on ever more consistent Internet service.

Apple has been aware of this issue for several weeks, according to several users who contacted the company's support team. However, the beta version of iOS 13.4, the next significant iOS update scheduled to drop in the next few days, does not appear to address this issue according to users who have installed that version. It is possible that this will change before 13.4 becomes final, but it is too early to tell.

Unfortunately, if your iPhone is suffering from this mysterious data bug, there is not much we can recommend to you. Turning off mobile data might stop it, but a phone without mobile data is as useless as a brick. It may be best to at least help people understand that the data bug is not intentional and that this problem is somewhat widespread. We will update this article with any additional news.