HOW TO REDUCE DATA USAGE ON YOUR MOBILE PHONE
In the
past, surfing the web used to be less expensive because we dealt mostly with
texts then. But
recently, video streaming services have been prevalent while we
surf the net and when we use social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram
which has thus skyrocketed mobile data usage.
This has
caused smartphone owners to constantly search for a remedy to high data
consumption by their devices, especially in recent times that there are multiple
‘data-hungry’ applications on which they expend their data, and also the data
connection rates are still quite high-priced in Nigeria, because our
smartphones are now being relied on as a first-hand source of news,
information, entertainment and increasingly help us stay interconnected to the world.
Kindly Follow
these steps to help you set up limits to keep an eye on your data usage and
learn some tips that will help you reduce data consumption
Apply
Caution When Using Video Streaming Apps And Social Platforms (Facebook,
Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, etc.)
Video
streaming can drain a large amount of your device’s data within a short time,
as well as using music streaming app and also viewing high-quality images. To
maximize your data usage, you need to use this app with caution. For instance,
Facebook and YouTube are two of the most heavily used data-draining apps on a
smartphone, so whenever the auto-play option is on just know you’re pumping money into Facebook &
Youtube’s bank accounts. You can decide to turn off the option completely
or set it to be turned on only when using Wi-Fi
STOP
AUTOPLAY ON FACEBOOK
On the
Facebook App, select the hamburger menu at the top right-hand corner
Scroll down
to SETTINGS & PRIVACY
Select
SETTINGS
Choose MEDIA
AND CONTACTS
STOP
AUTOPLAY ON YOUTUBE
Launch
the App, tap the icon at the top right-hand corner
Select SETTINGS
Choose AUTOPLAY
Youtube,
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram in recent times have become a data trap housing
lots of heavily-sized pictures and videos that are constantly demanded for. But
to minimize the amount of data used on these platforms, the developers have
provided options on the usage such as ‘stopping auto-play’ ‘data saver’. Though
these options will likely reduce the picture quality but be sure to spend less
data while using these apps.
HOW TO MINIMIZE DATA USAGE IN
YOUTUBE
To help
reduce data consumption while using the youtube app, restrict the HD video
quality only to when you’re browsing on WiFi, to do that:
Open
YouTube
Tap the
icon in the upper-right corner
Select SETTINGS
Tap GENERAL
HOW TO MINIMIZE DATA USAGE IN
FACEBOOK
Open
Facebook
Tap the
hamburger menu in the upper-right corner
Select Data Saver and toggle it on
(Optional)
Toggle it off automatically when on Wi-Fi
HOW TO MINIMIZE DATA USAGE IN
INSTAGRAM
Open
Instagram
Tap the
profile icon in the lower-right corner
Tap the
hamburger menu in the upper-right corner
Select SETTINGS
Tap ACCOUNT
HOW TO MINIMIZE DATA USAGE IN
TWITTER
Open
Twitter
Tap the
profile icon in the upper-left corner
Select
Settings and privacy
Tap Data
usage
USE WIFI WHEN POSSIBLE
Your
smartphone surely has the Wi-Fi feature. You can use this to reduce your data
consumption, when you find a secure WiFi network, you can just tweak your settings
for automatic connection so that once connected to the WiFi network, your
phone’s cellular data would be turned off and conserved. Downloading large
files and automatic app updates should be done when connected to a secure Wi-Fi
network. When your phone is set to automatically update apps, data consumption is
definitely going to be on the high side, therefore you need to disable
automatic update. Follow these steps:
Go to
Play Store and tap on Menu
Go to
Settings
Select ‘Auto-update
apps’.
Make sure you select “Auto-update apps over
Wi-Fi only.”
Otherwise,
you can choose “Do not auto-update apps,”
RESTRICT APPS BACKGROUND DATA USAGE
Whenever
you discover apps that keep consuming mobile data on your Android even when the
phone is not in use. Background data allows you to keep your apps under check. But
every app doesn’t need to use background data at all times. First check the
statistics of the apps running on your phone to decide the apps to restrict.
Select an
app, and you can see both the foreground and background data usage of that
particular app. Foreground data usage is the data consumed by the app when it
is actively used by you when open. Background data is the data consumed when
you are not using the app, and the app is running in the background. It
requires no action and occurs automatically.
Go to
Settings, Select Data Usage and you can see the statistics for which app is
consuming how much of data.
If you
find that background data is too high for an app and you don’t need the app to
stay in the background at all times, tap on “Restrict app background data.”
This ensures that the app will consume data only when it is opened and thereby
use less data.
Restricting
background data means to stop apps and other notifications that you don’t want
your mobile to use while you are using mobile data network. For example, if you
want to search something from your browser but don’t want to waste data on
other apps like Facebook or Gmail that run in the background and are always
ready to send you notifications, just restrict your background data and apps.
Be
careful! This may cause some apps to stop working – especially Google apps and
system apps.
To
restrict background data usage in your Android phone:
Go to Settings
Select
Data usage
Select MOBILE DATA USAGE
Choose the App you want to restrict its background data usage
Toogle off the option ALLOW BACKGROUND DATA USAGE
Select MOBILE DATA USAGE
Choose the App you want to restrict its background data usage
Toogle off the option ALLOW BACKGROUND DATA USAGE
Select
the settings button and restrict background data.
SET YOUR MOBILE DATA USAGE LIMIT
Go into
your Settings and select data usage, then you'll be able to see how much each
of your apps uses throughout the month. This way you can keep tabs on the
data-guzzling apps.
From your
settings, you can access the inbuilt data monitor that helps you keep an eye on
your data consumption per app. For apps that are heavily consuming data, you
can curtail the data consumption or uninstall them. You can then set a mobile
data limit such that when you expend the limit that was set. You’ll be alerted
of high data consumption or you can set your phone to automatically stop
browsing once you pass that limit. The setting can be changed though
CHANGE VIDEO QUALITY ON STREAMING SERVICES
Content
streaming is responsible for much of data consumption. HD video streaming, for
instance, can drain a sizeable amount of your device’s data within an hour. To view
a lower video resolution of a video being streamed on youtube, select the video,
at the upper right corner, select the three dots, go to QUALITY, from there you
can select the resolution in which the video will be viewed.
TURN OFF PUSH NOTIFICATIONS ON EMAIL/SOCIAL
PLATFORMS
Push
notifications refer to data automatically sent to your phone without user
interaction. Social media channels like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc., send
notifications, some can be necessary, others may not be so crucial. To keep
your data lasting for long, you need to disable push notifications, automatic
app updates when you don’t need them.
IN SUMMARY:
Download large files &
schedule your content streaming to when you are connected to a Wi-Fi
Turn off mobile data when not
required.
Turn off notifications for apps
that you don’t need to be notified.
If streaming content with your
mobile data, view the content in a lower resolution.
If you
find these ways to reduce data usage on Android helpful, Kindly drop your
reviews and suggestions in the comments section below. Also please visit Techtips 360 on youtube for more video tutorials
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