We can share our iPhone’s internet connection with a Mac, an iPad or another device so that it can get online. It is an extremely useful feature that, however, uses our phone’s data allowance and, in certain circumstances—especially if we share the connection with several people—leads us to the inevitable question: who is using our gigabytes? Let’s look at how we can see how much data each device connected to our iPhone is using.
Personal Hotspot data usage, much easier to check
If we use our iPhone to share an internet connection with our Mac, connect an iPad while travelling or temporarily give family members access, being able to quickly understand how much data each connection is using can be very useful. Assuming we are running iOS 26.4 or later, these are the steps we need to follow:
- We open the Settings app on our iPhone.
- We go into Personal Hotspot.
- Below Maximise Compatibility, we tap Data Usage.
Here we will see the connected devices, the amount of data each one has used and the total amount of data consumed through the hotspot. Apple devices running iOS 26.4 or macOS 26.4 will appear individually by name, while Android devices, Windows PCs and Apple devices running earlier versions will be grouped under Other Devices.
How to start a new tracking period
If we want to measure usage from a specific date, for example the beginning of our billing cycle, we can open Settings, go into Mobile Data and tap Reset Statistics. This also resets the Personal Hotspot figures, allowing us to start a new tracking period with the counters showing the exact usage for the current month.
At Hanaringo, we specialise in Apple and offer personalised training and technical support for individuals and businesses. During our sessions, carried out by telephone and with remote access to the screen, we cover everything from initial setup and iCloud to managing our Photos library, storage, accounts, social media, security, privacy and complete technical support.
One subject that often comes up in these sessions is keeping track of the mobile data included in our plan. In this context, we look at how to preserve our mobile data and make use of Low Data Mode, among other options. And if we use our iPhone to let other devices connect to the internet, finding out who is using our data when we share the internet from our iPhone is as easy as we have just seen.
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