But if you're on Android, you've got a little more wiggle room, thanks to plenty of data-restricting settings. With the proper configurations, you'll find yourself using data at a much slower rate -- so much so, perhaps, that you could even step down a tier.
Whether you're actively using them or not, apps love to eat up data. They're checking for updates, running ads, and refreshing your user content in the background. The good intentions are there, but most times, the conveniences these practices bring don't outweigh the depleted data reserves. It's time to tame those apps. Here, be sure that "Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only" is selected.
You also have the option to choose "Do not auto-update apps," but it's less preferable, since you'll have to remember to update apps manually. Configure in-app data settings To give you a fluid experience, many apps ping servers in the background to keep their content updated.
These conveniences are great, but they come at a cost, so dive into the app settings and disable the data-sucking options you don't absolutely need. Restrict background data Even apps that don't allow you to fine-tune data settings could still be loading background data. Then, tap an app to view its usage data, and take a look at the two numbers next to the pie chart. If you notice an app is using too much background data, scroll down to the bottom and check "Restrict background data.
As data constraints become a reality for most smartphone owners, developers are including options that make their apps less demanding. Don't let these options go unnoticed -- they'll save you heaps. Preload streaming-app content As we become increasingly frugal about cellular data usage, more apps offer caching or preloading , letting you download content on Wi-Fi and view it at any later time.
Spotify, for example, lets users download playlists. Similarly, YouTube preloads subscriptions and videos on your Watch Later list. Step 1. Go to Settings and navigate to Data Usage.
Step 2. Step 3. Tap on the app you want to restrict background data and disable Background data. Go to Settings and tap on General. Navigate to Background App Refresh. Here you can turn off background app refresh for all the apps by disabling the main button or even turn it off for the individual apps.
Apart from restricting background data, you can even toggle some app settings to minimize data consumption. Most of the popular apps come with such settings to save data consumption. Apps refresh in the background to regularly check for notifications.
Restricting background data means reducing your background data to a bare minimum. The Data usage section in Android Settings lets you view the amount of data used by each specific app. Open Settings , tap Network and internet , Data usage then App data usage.
In Android 11, open Settings , tap Network and internet , Mobile network , Data usage on some phones then App data usage. Scroll down to view a list of your Android apps sorted by data usage. Keep an eye out for the heaviest data users.
When you see an app whose background data you want to restrict, tap on it and then turn the Background data toggle to the off position. But if you're willing to switch to an alternate browser, you can still take back control. In the Firefox Android app , for instance, you can prevent autoplaying videos by tapping the "Site permissions" line within the browser's settings, then tapping "Autoplay" and changing it to either "Block audio and video" or "Block audio and video on cellular data only.
Next up is an easy fix: making your browser less of a data hog. Google's Chrome Android browser has an option called Lite Mode that routes pages through Google's servers so they're compressed when they reach you. Note, however, that it doesn't work with Chrome's Incognito Mode.
To try it out, go into Chrome's settings and look for the line labeled "Lite Mode. If you want even more data-saving tools, try Opera Mini. The browser offers its own form of remote page compression and provides a variety of settings to control how much optimization occurs. Chrome's Lite Mode feature can cut back significantly on your mobile data usage, while Opera Mini's equivalent allows you to customize its data-saving behavior. Got YouTube Music for your morning commute?
Head into the app's settings and look for the "Audio quality on mobile network" option. Try setting it to "Low" and then see if the more data-friendly audio quality is good enough for your ears. While you're in the settings, take a moment to confirm that the "Limit mobile data usage" and "Don't play music videos" options are activated.
YouTube Music isn't the only audio app with these sorts of options, of course. Spotify has an "Audio Quality" setting along with separate settings for streaming quality on both Wi-Fi and mobile data. Pandora has a single "Higher quality audio" toggle that you can turn off. And most other music and podcast services have some manner of similar controls.
Be sure to look through the settings of any such apps on your phone to make sure they're configured in the most data-efficient manner possible. While we're on the subject of streaming, open up the YouTube app and look in the "Video quality preferences" section of its settings.
There, you'll find an option to force the app to use "Data saver" quality whenever you're relying on mobile data. Next, back out to the main settings menu and select "Autoplay. The best way to cut back on mobile data streaming is to avoid it — and many multimedia apps make that easy to do. The trick is simply to download the content you want in advance, while you're connected to Wi-Fi, so it'll be locally stored and available whenever you're relying on mobile data.
And don't forget that if you subscribe to YouTube Premium or YouTube Music Premium, you also have the ability to download videos from YouTube for on-the-go viewing and that applies on your Chromebook , too, if you're crafty. You know what else can download data in advance and help you avoid expensive streaming?
Google Maps.
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