Just a few years ago, it was rare for mobile phones to consume multiple gigabyte of data. But today, music and video streaming, as well as, the download and update of data-hungry apps that may exceed 100MB in size can wind up GB in a matter of days.
The increasing use of sophisticated phones, the popularity of such video streaming apps like Netflix and YouTube, and the addiction to social network such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, has led to an ever soaring increase in data usage. As a result, consumers see their data explode astronomically.
Understandably, we can't do away with the Internet since our phones will be useless without it. Therefore, we need to know how to manage our data to prevent it from being throttled. The tips below may be able to help do just that.
How to Manage Your Internet Data Usage on Your Android Device
Set up a data limit. Android provides an option for you to monitor your data usage and set a limit and alerts to warn you when you about to go over the limit you set. It will turn off your data when it reaches the limit you set. Moreover, the functionality can also show you which app is using how much data. To check and set up your data usage:
- Open your phone Settings
- Look for Network & Internet (or Connections in Samsung) T
- ap on Data Usage
- You'll see a table showing your data usage for a specific period of time. Look for Set Data Limit and enable it.
- Move the red line to specify where you want your data to be cut off, and move the black line to specify when to send alert if you are nearing your data limit.
Turn On Data Saver. Android first introduced the data saver on Android 7 Nougat in order to limit the use of background data by apps. It also whitelist anything that want to have unrestricted access. To get started:
- Open Settings.
- Select the Network option.
- Open Wireless & Networks or Sim cards and mobile network.
- Select Data usage.
- Tap Data Saver.
- Turn on the Data Saver button. This will restrict background data access for all apps.
- If you want to choose which app to grant unlimited data access, tap on the Unrestricted Data Access.
- You will now be presented with a list of apps currently installed on your phone. Select the apps you want to grant background data access by activating their respective buttons.
Turn Off Software Update. When your phone's software update is automatically enabled, it will start updating in the background on its own when you are on mobile data. This can trigger a high data consumption. So turn it off at all times and, whenever possible, use WiFi for updating your device's software.
Disable Auto-Update Apps. You should turn off all auto apps update option to prevent it from automatically updating your phone's apps in the background, thereby wasting precious data. Instead, choose for yourself what apps you want to update and do so either with WiFi or manually. To disable the auto updates:
- Visit the Google playstore.
- Tap your email logo at the top right of the screen.
- A menu box will appear. Scroll down to Settings and tap it.
- Select Network Preferences.
- At the drop down, tap Auto-update Apps.
- A box with options will appear. Choose Over WiFi Only. Or you can simply choose Don’t Auto-update (Mind you, by selecting this you may lose out on important updates for some apps since you will not be receiving any updates).
Use Only the Mobile Versions of Websites. When you are browsing, you should make use of a site's mobile version rather than the desktop one if possible as it is less data-consuming. To do this, just open a browser and type www.m. before the site name. For example, www.m.facebook.com
Control the Push Notifications. Push notifications are the messages that are automatically sent to your phone. This can at times be annoying if you aren't interested in the messages. And it is also data hogger. To to control the influx of notifications, you will have to manage it or disable it. To do that:
- Go to Settings.
- Look for App & Notifications or Sound & Notifications and tap it.
- Select Notification.
- Tap on Do Not Disturb.
- Tap Notifications.
- Check on the No Visuals or Sound from notifications button beside it. Or can choose Custom to manage how you want your notifications.
Here is another method you can try is to:
- Go to Settings.
- Select Apps.
- Open one of the apps that constantly sends you notifications and that always consumes too data.
- Disable or uncheck Show Notifications.
Compress your data. There are a number of sites that can waste a lot of data through too much ads and there are those that are not optimized for mobile use and so use up a lot of mobile data. To avoid these problems, you will need to make use of browsers that can compress data before they are downloaded on your smartphone and other devices. This will not only limit your data usage, but it will go as far as extending reducing your monthly cellular data usage, thereby, extending your data plan. Google Chrome and Opera mini are examples of such browsers that offer data compression.
If you’re using Chrome:
- Open the app.
- Tap the three-dot menu at the top right.
- Select Settings.
- Choose Lite Mode.
- Enable the lite mode button and it will automatically compress pages before downloading them.
If you are using Opera Mini:
- Open the app.
- Tap at the Opera red logo at the bottom right of the app.
- Select Data Savings.
- Tap under the Settings option and you will be presented with four options - Automatic, Extreme, High, and Off.
- It will recommended that you go for High which will save data while preserving website functionality. But if you can't decide, then choose Automatic.
Use Streaming Apps With Offline Options. Video streaming is the biggest data waster. For example, just watching Netflix or YouTube on HD video for an hour can gobble up to about 3GB of your data. Even streaming high-quality music on Spotify can take huge chunk off your data.
Many streaming service apps are now adding offline modes that allow users to download videos or playlists over Wi-Fi to use later when they are offline. You should take advantage of this offering as it could save you a lot of data consumption. But remember, you will need some space to store your data.
Limit the Sharing of High Resolutions Images. Many high-end smartphones come with up to 12-megapixel camera that can take pictures that reach up to 50mb in size. So you will need to be careful when sharing such images as they are capable of consuming lots of data.
Try to Make Use of Wi-Fi. Unless it's really necessary, try your best not to download huge files like movies using mobile data. Instead, save them until you can find any free Wi-Fi network around that you can use for the download. You can find many of such Wi-Fi hotpots at work or certain public places like restaurants. When you’re in somewhere new, always check to see if you are in range of free Wi-Fi. This will save you a lot data usage. However, if you are going to risk connecting to public Wi-Fi, it will be advisable that you use a VPN for protection from hackers.
Restrict Background Data. Many apps may run in the background without your knowledge even though you are not using them, thereby draining your data usage. You can check which apps are killing your data while running in the background by going into Settings and then Apps. You will see a list of apps you've downloaded. Swipe the screen to left until you come to a list of apps that are currently running. Tap on the apps that you are not using and select the Stop button to close it.
Another method is to:
- Enter Settings.
- Select Network & Internet or Network Connection.
- Select Sim cards and mobile network.
- Tap on Data Usage.
- Tap on an app listed there.
- If you find that the app is taking a lot of data while running in the background, look for Restrict Background Data and enable it.
- But, if you prefer to turn off all background data, you can do that by opening the menu button and enabling Restrict Background Data. Though this will reduce your data usage dramatically, it can cause some apps not to work well unless connected online since it cannot tell which apps are data data wasters and which are data savers.
Set Up Maps for Offline Use. Navigation apps can suck up a huge chunk of your data if you use them daily whenever you are looking for a place you plan to go or are constantly trying to find directions while driving. The smart thing for you to do is to download the map ahead of time when you are Wi-Fi connected. To do this:
- Open your Google Maps app.
- Make sure you are connected, and search for a place you want to download.
- Tap the name or address of the place at the bottom of the screen.
- When the three-dot menu appears at the upper right, tap and find Download Offline Map.
Turn Off Your Accounts Auto-sync. When the auto-sync is enabled, it will automatically copy any account changes you make on the web to your device. Some accounts will automatically copy any changes you make on your phone to the web. You need to turn it off because some apps like Facebook use it to sync heavy files. But this would mean that you won't be receiving notifications for updates and you will have to sync apps manually. To disable the auto-sync:
- Open Settings.
- Look for Accounts or Users and Accounts, and tap it.
- Pull down the menu and checkmark the Auto-Sync to disable it.
Turn Off Mobile Data When You Don't Need It. Some people have a penchant of leaving their mobile data on when they are not using it. It may be that they are lazy or have forgotten to turn off the data or they are expecting an urgent message which can only received when connected online. But you need to avoid such an unnecessary waste of data that could better be saved for later use. This you should do by simply pulling down the notification panel on your android phone and toggle the mobile data option to off.
Purchase Apps to Get Rid of Ads. Many apps come with both a free version with ads or a paid version that is ad-free. The ads are how app developers earn their daily bread. So if you want their apps for free, you will have to put up with the ads. But ads are not only annoying, they can also burn precious data. You can do yourself a favour by upgrading your app from the free to the paid one which usually doesn't cost much. If you do, you'll find that it is well worth the money.
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