More and more people are now going mobile when they want to connect to the internet. So, it’s no surprise that mobile data usage has increased significantly in the past few years. If you’re also a mobile user, you surely have noticed that apps today can gobble up your mobile data quickly.
Social media and streaming apps are mostly the culprits when you run out of mobile data. But, aside from those apps, there are also other things to blame. That’s why you should know how to keep your data usage at a minimum. Read this list to learn how to reduce your mobile data usage on your Android smartphone.
Restrict App Background Data
Even if your phone screen is off or you’re not connected to the internet, some applications on your phone consume mobile data. So, if you want to save your mobile data, it’s a must to restrict background data on some apps installed on your phone.
Navigate to the Settings of your smartphone, and then tap Data Usage. Here you’ll have a view of the stats on how each app uses foreground and background data. Foreground data means data used when you’re presently using a particular app. Background data usage is when an app uses data even if it’s not opened to monitor and update the app.
Choose “Restrict Background Data” to ensure that the mobile application only uses data when it’s opened. This helps you to save mobile data significantly.
Avoid Using Streaming Apps Too Often
Video and music streaming apps consume most of your mobile data. So, make sure to minimize your use of streaming apps, especially if you’re not on Wi-Fi. It’s also advised to download music and video content on your phone instead of streaming them.
You can also lower the quality or resolution of the video or music you’re streaming to ensure that your mobile data usage rate is not that high. If you run out of mobile data, don’t forget to mobile top up to get you connected to the internet.
Set a Limit on Your Mobile Data Usage
Most of the time, you don’t know that you’re already using too much data in a month, and this can cost you a significant amount of money. That’s why there should be a limit on the amount of data you use monthly.
For that, you only need to go to your phone’s Settings and select Data Usage>>Data Limit. This allows you to set a limit on your monthly data consumption. When you reach the maximum threshold of data usage, you can choose to disconnect from the network.
Compress Data on Google Chrome
Many Android users set Google Chrome as their default web browser. The good thing with Google Chrome is that it has a feature where you can lower your mobile data usage. This feature is called data compression.
When you activate data compression, A Google-run proxy strains the traffic and compresses the data before sending them to your smartphone. Aside from saving significantly on your mobile data usage, data compression also increases the speed of loading pages.
You can turn on data compression by heading over to the triple dot menu of your Google Chrome browser. Then, choose Settings and activate the Data Saver.
Eliminate Malware from Your Android Phone
Malware can really eat up your mobile data and slows down the performance of your smartphone. That’s why you should scan your smartphone regularly using an antivirus mobile application. You can find many excellent antivirus apps on Google Play Store that you can download and use.
Takeaway
Limit your monthly data consumption, restrict background data, avoid using streaming apps too often, activate Google Chrome’s data compression feature, and get rid of your malware from your phone. These are the ways to save mobile data significantly.
