All over a sudden, you have just realized your phone is using so much data than it used to. It’s more common for android devices to use to much data nowadays given the many features and apps available on them . Many users are left wondering why their android phone is using so much Data .
However, Don’t Worry .
In this step by step tutorial , we are going to show you how to restrict data usage on android . This article will also take you through steps on how to stop apps from using data in background .
Contents
How to check your data usage .
Before you even think of restricting data usage on your android device, you at least need to check data usage from your android device . To check your month’s data usage on any android device. Navigate to Settings > Wireless & Networks > Data Usage. You’ll see a screen that looks something like the first screen Below:
In the second screen shot below, you can see data usage for particular apps on your android device . However, these charts only show you data usage sent through mobile data connection and not your WIFI connection .
So if you want to see your your WIFI data usage as well . Navigate to Menu ( three vertical dots in the right corner ) and select “Show Wi-Fi Usage ” .
With all the data usage metrics, you can monitor and set data warnings by adjusting the slide bar to your your liking . This can create an alert or warning when you reach a certain limit of your data usage . Besides all the above, you can enable “Set Mobile Data Limit” and then use the orange slider to specify at which point data should be cutoff .
How to restrict Data Usage on Android on Android
There are two common data usages, one is foreground or user driven data consumption which includes activities such as downloading , watch videos on YouTube . The other less obvious way is background data that apps use to run a lot of background details of the app . Downloading of whatsapp video status , Facebook updating , automatic app updating and others are more popular here . Let’s take a look at how we can stop apps from using data in background .
Check Social Apps Data Usage
Social media apps use the most data on many android devices more especially if not properly configured . Social media platforms such as Facebook drain a lot of battery usage and data usage by sending a lot of notifications in background . Android phone users with Google+, this app also uses a lot of data auto-backup your photos and videos online.
So how can you stop social media apps from using a lot of data ?
Under settings in your social media apps, check to ensure that nothing is set to automatic updating or at least set them to only when connected to a WI-Fi connection. Set the intervals of your apps to only sync data every few hours instead of every 15 minutes.
Connect to Wi-Fi whenever available
This is the technique is use to restrict data usage on my android device . Whenever am around campus, i make sure that i connect to the nearest Wi-Fi network . I can do this for when am at restaurant , Hotel or any other business that supplies Wi-Fi . This helps me save on a lot of my mobile data usage . This habit can also help you save a lot on battery usage .
Check Data Syncing Intervals
There are a lot messaging apps on android nowadays . Whatsapp, Snap-chat and Facebook Messenger are the most commonly used messaging apps. These apps need constant sending and receiving data back and forth. It can add up to a lot after you and a friend swap a few photos and videos back and forth a few times.
So how do you control data Syncing on android ?
Have a look under “Settings” > “Accounts” and set your email, calendar, and contact apps to sync data every few hours or set them to only sync when connected to Wi-Fi. Also, keep messaging to a minimum while you’re not connected to Wi-Fi most especially if you’re running into data cap issues. More importantly, disable any messaging services that you might not be using.
With that you’ll be able to restrict data usage on android .
Purchase your favorite apps (to remove ads )
There is no wonderful app that’s free of charge . Almost all developers what to at least to earn something from their sweat . Most free version apps come with a lot of ads . So here’s the things : Ads are not only annoying but also consume a lot of data . It’s better you purchase a premium version ( which costs from $0.99 and a few bucks ) rather than pay hefty i long run . That’s if you use app a lot .
Disable Auto Update Apps
Have you ever wondered how quick your mobile data has been used up with out even doing anything. Well, this one of the major causes . Always make sure that Google Play store is not automatically setup to update your apps while on cellular data . To stop this, Navigate to play store , then tap the menu in the upper left corner . Select “Settings” and make sure that “Auto-update apps” setting is set to “Do not auto-update apps” or “Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only“.
Turn Off All Background Data
If that isn’t enough, you can also turn off all background data with the flip of one switch. This reduces your data usage in most instances, but it can also be inconvenient as it doesn’t differentiate between data sippers and data hogs. From the Data Usage menu you can press the menu button and check “Restrict Background Data”. This will turn off background data for all applications.
Use Streaming Apps with offline Modes
If you’re a great fun of streaming online, i would recommend you use apps that allows users to pre-cache data while on Wi-Fi and use it later on their cellular data connection . Apps such Spotify , Slacker radio all have offline mode to helps users to avoid hitting their data caps .