pages
If you use Chrome for all your web traffic, this
tip alone can save you 30-35 percent of your
mobile browser data consumption. The Data
Saver option compresses web pages before
loading them in your browser.
Using Data Saver does slow things down a tiny
bit, but you quickly get used to it and a
moment's delay is worth it when your data
lasts so much longer. Just launch Chrome, tap
the three dots in the top right-hand corner, go
down to Settings and then to Data Saver. Keep
an eye on the graph to see your data savings
grow.
2. Use Opera's video
compression
The Opera for Android browser now has a
very useful video compression option, which
can save you a load of data if you're
frequently watching videos on the go. To use
it, simply download the Opera browser, go to
Settings > Data savings and tick the box that
says Video compression.
This setting not only saves you data, but also
means that videos are more likely to load
faster.
3. Ditch the Facebook
app :-
It's pretty well known among Android that the Facebook app is one of
the biggest consumers of data, not to mention
its high resource use and battery drain. So
why not replace it with something less
demanding?
Even Facebook Lite uses lots of mobile data. So why not
try a web app or Chrome shortcut? / © ANDROIDPIT
There are lots of alternate Facebook apps but
many of those are just as hungry as the
official version. Even Facebook Lite, which
claims to reduce data consumption by 50
percent, still chews through hundreds of
MB in a month.
So why not try Tinfoil for Facebook, which is
simply a web app that displays the Facebook
website (you can still get push notifications by
using IFTTT and Pushbullet). Or you could
simply create a Chrome shortcut in your web
browser. Just open Facebook in Chrome, open
the overflow menu and select Add to Home
Screen.
4. Make use of offline
apps, games and
services
Some apps and games require constant
internet access to function: this can be simply
a security measure or because they constantly
need to retrieve data. There are some apps
and games that don't require internet access
at all after the initial download.
5. Restrict background
data
The easiest way to save data is to tell your
apps (or the Android system itself) to restrict
background data. Background data is all that
internet traffic that goes on when you're not
actually using an app: email syncing, feeds
updating, weather widgets and so on.
You can also tell the Android system to
restrict background data in Settings > Data
usage > Restrict Background Data or for
individual apps in Settings > Apps (depending
on which version of Android you have). You
can also change your sync settings for Google
services in Settings > Accounts > Google >
select the account and then un-check the
services you don't want to sync automatically.
6. Disable auto-updating
apps
Another huge drain of your data allowance
comes from the occasional bout of Google
Play app updating. If you have the Play Store
set to auto-update apps, even over a data
connection, this could be chewing its way
through your allowance every month without
you even knowing.
To check, go to the Play Store and swipe out
the left-hand navigation drawer. Tap Settings
and at the top, you'll see Auto-Update Apps.
Tap this and make sure you either have it set
to 'Do not auto-update apps' or 'Auto-update
apps over Wi-Fi only'. To manage individual
apps, go to My Apps, select an app and then
tap the overflow menu to check, or un-check
Auto-Update.
7. Identify and limit/
remove high consuming
apps
In Settings > Data usage you can get a look at
the apps which are consuming the most data
both in the foreground and the background.
This can be really useful for knowing which
apps you should restrict.
Take Gmail, for example. On my phone, it has
downloaded 451 MB of emails in the
background. If I felt I didn't use the app
enough to justify that much data use, I could
remove the app, limit how often it syncs or
prevent it from downloading attachments, all
of which would reduce data consumption.
9. Don't upload,
download or send
pictures or videos
A single minute of high definition footage
captured on a modern smartphone can take
up as much as 200 MB of data. Single photos
can easily exceed 40 MB. Don't even think
about uploading these to Facebook, or
downloading pictures and videos from friends,
unless your mobile data plan can handle it. This tips will be impossible to undergo because we all like uploading pictures.
10. Make use of Wi-Fi
hotspots:-
Open Wi-Fi networks are a great way to save
data when you're out and about. More
restaurants and eateries are providing Wi-Fi
connectivity all the time and these hotspots
are easy to find on your Android device.
In your Wi-Fi menu (easily found with a two-
finger downward swipe from the top of your
phone on Lollipop/Marshmallow) any Wi-Fi
access point which does not feature a lock icon
is 'open' and has the potential to be accessed
without entering any details or passcodes.
Simply tap one such hotspot when you see it
to connect.
There is a potential for people to 'listen in' on
your online interactions over these networks
– but this just means you should exercise
caution. Don't enter sensitive information in
such situations, or access private
material. Or if do wish to do this, you
could make use of a VPN app to keep you
private and secure.
11. Share photos, videos
and other files via
Bluetooth
As we mentioned in point 10, just receiving
photos and videos can consume a lot of data.
But transfers over mobile network isn't the
only way to send files. Thanks to the magic of
Bluetooth, you can quickly and easily send
relatively large files to others in your vicinity
without using any data at all.
Of course, proximity is one of the limitations
of Bluetooth, but when the intended recipient
is close by, this could be a huge data saver.
To send something via Bluetooth you must
navigate to the item you wish to send and
then hit the share button ( looks like this) or
select share from the options menu. The way
to do it will depend on the item you are
sending.
Next, select the Bluetooth icon. If your
Bluetooth isn't enabled, you may be
prompted to enable it. Finally, you must
select the destination device from a list of
nearby Bluetooth-enabled gadgets. Note that
the destination device must also have
Bluetooth enabled, and you must know its
name to find it in the list.
Sent from Me2You