Netflix lets you locally store much of itsĬatalog, but some titles are restricted to
Videos are a sure way to hit your limit, so download as much as youĬan for offline viewing.Avid podcast listeners know those episode downloads can add up.ĭownload the latest episodes of your favorite shows whenever youĬonnect to Wi-Fi, and you can disable downloads over cellular.Playlists for offline access, then stick to those tunes on yourīeware-you can only save 3,333 songs offline, so if you're a music glutton, you'd be better off with Google Play Music or Apple You use a music-streaming service, save your favorite albums and Bingeing on streaming media is the quickest way to hit your cap.Mode, and you can control which apps can tap into your data.Įven with all of those system-wide settings turned on, you've probably got some data-intensive apps that can zap your monthly data. Mode.With this on, apps will either switch into low-data mode or no-data When you know you're close to hitting your limit, turn on Data Saver You're on a family plan, set your limit a bit below your threshold toīecause you probably won't be the only one using the data (even Then toggle the sliders for the limit and warning. On Data Usage, set the duration to match your monthly billing cycle,
Go into your Android phone's Settings, tap Stop you from going over your plan's allotment, and you won't have to The first-andīest-thing to do is set a data usage limit on your Android. Much fine-tuning to keep pesky apps in check. Turn off "background app refresh." This stops apps from keeping theirįeeds up to date even when you're not looking at them.Īndroid users have a couple extra options, and won't have to do as Your next billing cycle, go into the settings for individual apps and If you've already done all that and are still just squeezing by until Off cellular data for your worst offenders and any other apps that You're there, you can see which apps are using the most data. Scroll down to the Photos app, and toggle the slider to off.
Your next move should be to make sure your photos only backup to Your apps might also be updating over cellular data, which canīurn through your allotment pretty quickly. (You should change them even if you're on an unlimited plan-use too much data and your carrier can throttle your connection, making pages and apps load at a mind-numbingly slow pace.)Īutomatically switches your phone to a cellular data connection when Find the following settings and change them. Left unchanged, those settings can cause your phone to slurp up all of your plan's allowed data even if you're swiping and tapping conservatively. Also there is the option to turn off the WiFi Assist in Settings >Mobile/Cellular > Mobile/Cellular Data.Smartphones ship with default settings, some of which are over-reliant on cellular data. You can also restrict background data for individual apps in Settings > Mobile/Cellular > Cellular Data. You can set the Apple system to restrict background data usage in Settings > General > Background App Refresh. 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. If the background data is enabled, select the button to turn it off. You can also restrict background data for individual apps in Settings > Apps (depending on which version of Android you have). You can set the Android system to restrict background data usage in Settings > Data usage > Turn on Data Saver. Here are some steps to restrict background data usage: However, when your data is turned back on, your apps will immediately resume using background data. Now that you have turned your mobile data off, you will save on data usage and charges. Turning off data when you're not using it will help you to avoid unexpected background data charges.Ĭlick on the Android / Apple icon below for more details: Android You can find out which apps are using background data by viewing data usage in your phone's settings. Background data is data that your apps are constantly using, it could be when your phone is in your pocket or even when you are asleep! Some apps - such as MyDigicel - do not incur a charge for this background data.
If your data is turned on, then you may be charged for background data. To help reduce data usage on your device, here is some useful information about background data.