In recent years, cellular data used to be something we took for granted until carriers switched to tiered plans. Earlier, web surfing used to be mostly text-based as not much development happened in web technologies. Apps have become more data-hungry and are constantly pushing new versions for an update.
Now, video streaming services have gained widespread popularity, and social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have also integrated video services as a mainstream appeal.
It has become increasingly difficult to reduce data usage on Android. Worry less, iConnect is here to serve you better. We will show you how to make the best out of your precious megabytes.
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Let us show you some of the best tips for conserving data consumption and making your limited internet last longer, all without murdering your experience!
1. Restrict Background Data
Some apps just spend too much data, even when the smartphone is not in use. It’s actually one of the greatest features on Android, as background data allows you to keep everything updated and monitored while you are off doing other things. The deal here is that not every app needs to stay active at all times.
Go into Settings > Data Usage and select the app you want to restrict data for. In the stats, you will see two types of data: foreground and background. If you find background data is too high and you don’t need the app to stay active, simply toggle the switch that is labeled as “Restrict app background data”.
2. Update Apps Over Wi-fi Only
One of the most effective ways to reduce mobile data consumption is to disable automatic app updates in Play Store. Go to Play Store and tap on Menu>>Settings >>Auto-update apps.
Make sure that you select “Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only.” Alternatively, you can choose “Do not auto-update apps,” but it’s not recommended since you’ll have to remember from time to time to update your apps manually.
3. Use Data Compression In Chrome
Google Chrome is one of the most popular Android browsers. It has an inbuilt feature that can significantly reduce data consumption on Android.
When data compression is turned on, all of your traffic is passed through a proxy run by Google. Your data is compressed and optimized before being sent to your phone. This results in lower data consumption and also speeds up the loading of pages without any significant change in web content.
To use data compression, open Chrome, tap on the 3-dot menu on the upper right corner, tap on Settings, and scroll down to Data Saver. There you can tap on the upper right corner to toggle Data Saver on.
4. Optimize Account Sync Settings
Your account sync settings are set to auto-sync by default. Keep auto-sync disabled for data-hungry apps like Facebook and Google+, which use sync services to sync files like photos and videos, consuming a lot of data in the process.
Google constantly sync’s your data when a change is made. Most of these sync services might not be required. This background sync service affects both your data consumption and battery life.
To adjust your sync setting, go to Settings>>Accounts. There you can fine-tune sync settings for different apps. To optimize Google sync, tap on Google, and turn off the options you don’t require.
5. Turn Data Saver On
Turning data saver ON also implements Chrome’s Safe Browsing System to detect malicious pages and protect you from malware and harmful content. As you can see in the screenshot above, Chrome managed to save 17% of data over the period of one month.
You can revisit that settings panel in Chrome to see how much data you’ve saved over a period.
Wrapping up
So there you have it, guys! These are just some of my favorite tips for reducing data consumption without sacrificing your experience too much. I could give you many other tips, but they would deem your smartphone useless. I wanted to find a good balance. By using these techniques, you can enjoy your phone while also spending data responsibly.
Do you have any other tips you want to share? Are you planning to adopt any of these? Have you been applying them already? Hit the comments and let us know!