Sometimes your mobile device may be consuming a lot of mobile data and you might be asking yourself how easily can someone see the apps that are using the data, mostly.
I think it’s really important for anyone to check this out so that you can know if you frequently exceed your monthly data allowance (No applicable in Uganda) Luckily for iPhone users, iOS contains settings that can shed light on the elusive concept of data usage and show you which of your apps are using the most data.
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Checking for iOS
- Open Settings on your iPhone.
- Select Cellular.
- Scroll to the section with a list of your apps with toggle switches next to them.
- View the data used by these apps. The usage will be marked next to the app name, as seen in the screenshot below.
More iOS Settings to help you
WiFi Assist also can use cellular data if turned on. This feature uses the cellular data connection if the WiFi connection is poor. If you are on a limited data plan, it might be a good idea to turn this feature off to conserve cellular data usage.
This section in Settings also allows the ability to monitor call time. The call tracking feature can be useful if your cellular plan does not include unlimited talking.
Turning Cellular Data Off for Certain Apps
If you want to keep some apps away from using cellular data, simply turn the switch off next to the app. If the app requires an Internet connection, it will not work unless connected to WiFi while cellular data is turned off.
Apps that are quietly killing your data plan
Some apps in your phone use your data secretly without you noticing that, but the tally will be impactful at the end of a month when the sum is too large to hide. A better way is to stop data-hungry apps from using too much data in the first place.
The apps that use the most data typically are the apps that you use the most. For example, lots of people use Facebook, Twitter, Chrome, YouTube, If you use any of these apps daily, change these settings to reduce how much data they use.
On iPhone, you can check how much data each of your apps use by going to Settings > Cellular. For each the apps on the alphabetical list, you’ll see a small number listed below its title that shows how much data it has used. Scroll to the bottom to see when it started counting this data usage, which is likely either when you first activated your iPhone or installed the app in question.
At the bottom of the list, you can tap the Reset Statistics button to start a new count, which could be useful if you do this at the beginning of the month or your billing cycle and then set a reminder to check back 30 days later.
Also from this data-usage list, you can toggle off cellular access for any app, but since you probably want full access to all of your apps in between Wi-Fi networks, I have better ideas on how you can reduce your data usage. I used an iPhone to illustrate the following tips, but similar options are available for Android phones.
Stop auto-playing videos on Facebook
Checking Facebook every five minutes certainly eats into your data plan, but checking Facebook every five minutes while letting it auto-play videos is worse. Thankfully, you can limit auto-play videos to Wi-Fi only or disable them altogether. Here’s how:
- Open the Facebook app, tap the triple-line button in the lower-right corner and then tap Settings.
- Select Account Settings and then tap Videos and Photos.
- Tap Autoplay and then choose either On Wi-Fi Connections Only or Never Autoplay Videos.
Twitter: Stop auto-playing videos
If you spend large portions of your day on Twitter, its auto-play videos need to be addressed.
- Open the Twitter app, tap Me-button in the lower-right corner.
- Tap the gear icon at the top of your profile page and select Settings.
- Tap Data usage.
- Tap Video auto-play or just High-quality video and then choose either Wi-Fi only or Never.
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Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET
Stop pre-loading videos and photos on Instagram
Instagram, by now, is more than just photos. It has video, and it auto plays those videos. The app preloads videos so they start playing as soon as you encounter them in your feed.
Instagram has a vaguely worded setting that lets you prevent videos from preloading when you are on a cellular connection. Here’s what it is and where to find it:
- Open Instagram, head to your profile page and open settings.
- Tap Cellular Data Use.
- Tap to turn on the toggle switch for Use Less Data.
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Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET
This setting won’t prevent videos from autoplaying, but it will stop Instagram from preloading video when you are on a cellular connection. Instagram states that with this setting enabled, “videos may take longer to load over a cellular connection.” In my experience, however, I did not notice a delay with videos starting to play.
Enable Travel Mode on Snapchat
Like Instagram, Snapchat preload Stories and Snaps so that they immediately appear when you check your feed. Problem is: preloading uses a lot of data.
You can prevent preloading by enabling a semi-hidden feature called Travel Mode. It means that Snaps and Stories will take a bit longer to load, but your data plan will thank you.
- Launch the Snapchat app and swipe down to see the profile screen.
- In the upper-right corner, tap the gear icon.
- Scroll down and tap Manage and then tap to turn on Travel Mode.
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Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET
Change Wi-Fi-only settings for YouTube
The good news with YouTube and your monthly data limit are YouTube don’t autoplay videos. The bad news, of course, is it does nothing but play videos, which can quickly run up your data use when you stray from a Wi-Fi signal.
YouTube offers a setting that plays HD video only when you are on Wi-Fi.
- Open the YouTube, tap the account profile button in the upper-right corner and tap Settings.
- Tap to turn on the toggle switch for Play HD on Wi-Fi only.
- While you are in settings, scroll down and tap to turn on the toggle switch for Upload over Wi-Fi only if you are a YouTube auteur that regularly uploads videos.
While we’re on the YouTube data-saving topic, the YouTube app has settings you may want to enable. Open settings and tap to enable Stream via Wi-Fi only to prevent data-charge-incurring rock blocks.
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Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET
Set video quality Netflix
You likely use Netflix on a larger device than your phone when you are home and connected to Wi-Fi, but for those times where you need to continue your binge-watching ways on a cellular connection, you can lower the video quality.
- Open the Netflix app, tap the triple-line button in the top left, scroll down and tap App Settings.
- Tap Cellular Data Usage and toggle off Set Automatically.
- Select either Low or Medium to watch lower-quality streams when on cellular.
Netflix estimates that you can watch 4 hours per GB for the Low setting, 2 hours per GB for Medium, and 1 hour per GB for High.
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Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET