LATEST TIPS TO REDUCE & MANAGE MOBILE DATA USAGE IN 2019/2020

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

Select AUTO-PLAY and Choose when the videos should auto-play.

            STOP AUTOPLAY ON YOUTUBE

Launch the App, tap the icon at the top right-hand corner

Select SETTINGS

Choose AUTOPLAY

Toggle to turn off the option

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

Toggle “Limit Mobile data usage”

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

Select Cellular Data Use and toggle it on

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

Toggle the Data saver box on

 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 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