How to Reduce Android’s Data Usage – Guide
People are addicted to social networking sites, cloud storage is increasing in popularity and more and more people tend to use streaming apps like YouTube and Netflix. Believe it or not, your smartphone is literally useless without an internet connection. The ongoing lockdown situation due to Covid-19 has added a new dimension to this. Internet consumption has skyrocketed across the world in the past year. However, unlimited data plans have apparently disappeared and users are stuck with limited usage data plan options. Although you can exercise some control over your mobile data usage, you still run the risk of overusing it and getting hit by high data usage rates. This can be more frustrating than it sounds and can take the fun out of using your Android phone. In the current scenario, not only is it important to stay connected, but we can all use some much-needed extra liquidity. Despite all this, Android users still have reason to celebrate; You can still limit data usage with the correct configuration of your device. You might be surprised that with just a little tweaking of your phone settings, you will use your mobile data much more slowly.
How to Reduce Data Usage on Android
To switch off Mobile Data when not in use
There are times when you don’t use your phone for a certain period of time, such as while you are driving or sleeping or in a meeting. All you need to do is access your Android’s notification panel phone and turn the mobile data option disabled as shown in the image. You can turn the mobile data off to avoid excessive data usage at these times, in case you are not expecting an urgent email, which you will not be able to check if you are not logged in or online.
Use Wi-Fi to update apps
Visit the Play Store on your Android phone and then go to Settings and enable the Automatically update apps option. Make sure the option “Automatically update apps over Wi-Fi only” is selected or highlighted as shown in the image here. You also have the option of not updating apps automatically. However, in this case, you have to update the apps manually, which can be time-consuming and sometimes even frustrating. Also, you might not think about updating the apps and you might miss important updates for some apps that might be critical.
Restrict background data
There are apps running in the background eating up your mobile data without you knowing. On newer versions of Android, such as Ice Cream Sandwich and later versions, you can check which apps are using how much data by going to the Data Usage option in Settings and clicking on an individual app listed there. Take a deep breath and look at the numbers next to the pie chart. The number next to “Foreground” refers to the data being used while you are actually using the app, and the number next to “Background” is the amount of data being used while the application is running in the background. You can check these stats for individual apps, and if you find that a specific app is using more data than it would like while it is running in the background, go to “Limit Background Data” and check the box next to it.
Preload heavy content
People are becoming more and more demanding mobile data usage on your android phones. As a result, many apps have started offering caching and allow you to download data via WiFi earlier and make it available later when you are offline or using mobile Dice. Spotify and YouTube are two such apps that let you download playlists or videos in your watch list later. Most apps that use large amounts of data, offer preloading, the only thing you should know is to look for the right place to find it. You can easily access the settings menu and find it for apps like YouTube on most Android phones using Android Ice-Cream-Sandwich or later versions. This can save large chunks of mobile data and can help reduce your monthly fee mobile data usage and can lead to tons of savings in the long run.
Keep a tab on data usage
Android gives you the option to track your mobile or use of cellular data. It really is a bliss in adversity. The data usage option allows you to track your usage and see which app was using how much data. It also lets you set a threshold on data usage and alerts when data usage reaches a certain predefined stage. You can configure your Android phone to warn you when your data usage reaches the 80% threshold and shut down mobile data completely when it reaches 100%. Although the data usage option on your Android phone may account for data differently from your carrier, it still keeps you up updated on your approximate data usage and prevents you from exceeding your limit.
Download large files over Wi-Fi only
Unless absolutely necessary, you should refrain from downloading large files such as music and videos while using mobile Dice. Instead, you should save these files for download later when you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network. You’d be doing yourself a favor by doing so, and it would go a long way toward avoiding overusing mobile Dice.
Prepare maps for offline use when traveling
Google Maps now lets you cache maps on your Android phone. Although downloading a map takes some time and data, once downloaded it is available for offline use and navigation. You can download maps while connected to Wi-Fi to reduce data usage when traveling. You just need to zoom in on the part of the map you want to cache and type “ok maps” in the search bar and the map will be cached for offline use. You can also use browser apps that run offline, like Sygic, and avoid the hassle of using a mobile data connection for navigation on the go or remember to check Maps for offline use whenever you want to travel Download or cache your Android phone.
Use data compression
Some websites are not mobile-friendly and can eat up much of yours mobile data, while some websites may consume your data with heavy advertising. You can avoid these problems by using browsers that allow Android phone the data is compressed before it is downloaded to your device or device, which significantly reduces data usage. While compression can sometimes sacrifice quality, it still goes a long way in saving valuable cellular data, thus helping to reduce monthly cellular data usage. Opera and Chrome are examples of browsers that offer data compression.
Adjust account sync settings
Check your account’s sync settings. You’ve probably set it to sync automatically. You need to keep auto sync turned off for some apps like Facebook and Google+ as they use it to sync large files like photos and videos.
Final note
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