Enable/Disable Data Network

This is a widget to enable/disable the data network by simply clicking the widget icon. This widget is completely free with no ads. I tried other similar widgets but never found one I liked so I decided to create one myself.

Note: this functionality no longer works on Android 5 due to a change by Google. As such only Android v4.4 and lower are supported.

Clicking the widget does the same thing as going into Settings -> Wireless and Networks -> Mobile Networks and changing the setting yourself. See screenshots of the setting from various versions of android below.

For those of us on a limited data plan, a widget like this is very convenient for turning the data connection on and off.

The data network setting will be changed regardless of the presence of a wifi signal. If the phone is currently on wifi, clicking the widget icon will still enable/disable the data network but this does not affect the use of the wifi connection.

The data network can also be enabled/disabled by sending an SMS. You must enable this feature in the settings if you want to use it (it defaults to off). In the settings you can set a custom “command phrase” that you will send in the SMS (the default is “data”). Send an SMS to your device with either “data enable” or “data disable” as the text to enable or disable the data network. If you set your own command phrase, then include that instead, e.g. “my command enable”. On Android versions before 4.4 the SMS texts will not be visible after they are received. However on Android 4.4 (KitKat) the text messages will be visible in the inbox (this cannot be changed).

Note: The widget does not actively monitor the data network setting (to use less resources), so if the data network option is changed manually or by some other means, the widget icon may not be accurate (e.g. the widget shows the green 'enabled' arrows but the data network is actually disabled). If this is ever the case, the next time you click the widget icon it will toggle the setting and update the icon appropriately.