The fact that there are more and more companies offering unlimited data speeds at a good price does not mean that all users have one. If you continue to enjoy a limited or prepaid rate, you will surely be particularly interested do not exceed the limit and save as much as possible. And that is precisely what we are here to talk about in this article.
And yes, using your mobile phone less is an option, even if that does not guarantee anything either. If you’re not careful, you might even run out of data. In any case, tell yourself that there is ways to save data without having to cut down on mobile usage. In this post we will see how to achieve this goal with an Android mobile.
Always have consumed data visible
This advice may seem obvious, but it is nonetheless important. Watching how much you consume is essential to know when you are approaching the limit. To do this, it is advisable to enter your operator’s application and consult it manually, although many of these applications integrate a widget that you can place on your home screen to always have the consumption visible.
In the same way, it is recommended to revisit the configuration you have established when your data rate runs out. And it is that several times additional bonuses that have an additional cost are automatically activated on the final invoice. Normally it’s disabled from the app, but if you can’t find the option, you can request it by calling customer service.
Set a reminder to remind you to turn on Wi-Fi
You have surely been on one occasion in an area with WiFi and yet you realized later that you had not activated it on your mobile. Preventing this would be as simple as creating a routine with Google Assistant, but unfortunately it’s not enabled. However, we can get a reminder when you get home with Google Keep
The popular Google notes application is very valid for this action, in front of create a note in which we write our opinion. For example, “Turn on Wi-Fi”. Already in the callback options You must click on “Choose a place” and put the location of your house there so that, as soon as you arrive, the alert is triggered.
It should be noted that you can create as many notes with warnings as places with WiFi you have predefined. Work, home of relatives and friends, etc. In this way, when the mobile detects that you are in these places, you will receive the alert that you have previously configured and you will not forget to activate WiFi. Of course, there should be a rating for each of these places.
Avoid internet downloads
Downloading a single photograph from a web page shouldn’t be a problem, although it might be if you download several regularly. Similarly, a single file can consume considerable data, always according to its weight. Therefore, unless strictly necessary,
Consume multimedia offline, much better than streaming
If you are used to listening music the podcastsee series or films of Netflix, HBO Max and other platforms with the mobile when you do not have WiFi (for example, in public transport), it will be convenient if you have the previously downloaded content.
All of these streaming platforms offer the ability to download content so you can play it later without consuming mobile data. Although, yes, you will have to download when you have a WiFi connection because otherwise it could be even worse than streaming it.
Limit downloads on WhatsApp
The most common is that you have configured the automatic download of photos, videos and audios on Whatsapp. This is the default configuration and it can be useful to save time when we enter a chat, without having to download them manually. However, this can be a problem if the connection you have is mobile data.
For this reason, it is convenient to access the settings of the application itself and change preferences. To do this, click on the three dots at the top right and go to Settings > Storage and data. Once here, you must go to the “Automatic download” section and modify the “Download with mobile data” configuration, unchecking all the possible options.
You can limit it to only do it with WiFi or directly never download content, which will also allow you to save space in the internal memory of the mobile. Also, these parameters are applicable to other messaging apps
Disable automatic updates
Almost every day a new version of one of our apps comes out. Whether we use them more or less, it is always worth keeping them up to date, since updates not only bring new features, but also fix many bugs. However, also there is a high data consumption when updated, as some updates can cost almost as much as a full app download.
Therefore, it is convenient to open Google Play to modify the parameters. You must click on your photo then go to Settings > network preferences. Once there, you should review and modify (if necessary) the “Automatically update applications” settings and, incidentally, also those of “Application download preferences” which appears just above. Here it is convenient for you to check everything by WiFi.
Do it if you use the mobile as GPS
We are not going to find out anything now if we start talking about the usefulness of GPS navigators for mobile phones, although it must be remembered that their prolonged use may terminate our data rate. But don’t worry, that doesn’t mean you can’t use these apps.
The vast majority, such as Google Maps or Waze, offer the possibility of download maps for offline use. You will be able to select different sections with WiFi to download, then you will be able to navigate in these areas without the mobile using the Internet for this. Of course, it is convenient to update them frequently.
Check which apps can access the internet
Whether a web browser or email application uses the internet connection is obvious and necessary. However, the same does not happen with other apps, as some are fully functional offline and yet connect to the internet. It is therefore convenient that remove internet access with data to those you consider not needing to connect or not strictly necessary when you don’t have WiFi.
It can be fixed from mobile settings and explore the different options of the mobile data panel. It’s usually located in panels called “Network Access”, where you can block an app from connecting to the internet with WiFi, mobile data, or both. By default, everything is configured so that they can always connect to the network.
Low data mode can be of great help to you
Although we have already seen the possibility of withdrawing Internet access with data from certain applications, the truth is that the essential ones will continue to consume data from your tariff. Therefore, it would be convenient to limit it with a reduced data modealso called “smart data mode”, “data backup mode” or similar depending on the manufacturer.
It will be found in Settings > Mobile data, either in the main panel or by entering the advanced options. The way this method of saving data is basically prevent background data consumption.
To see it clearly with a Example, if you use Twitter, when you enter you will have to wait for the feed to update, while if you have disabled this recording mode, the feed will already be ready. It somehow loses its usefulness, but it gains a lot if we’re not going to get into those apps.
Limit the data you can consume
If the previous two tweaks we’ve seen seem insufficient, you can always set a consumption limiteither daily or monthly. You may be able to ask your carrier for it or view it in their app settings. However, this option already appears on most mobiles.
All you need to do is enter the mobile settings again and access the mobile data network. If the option does not appear, you can use the search engine by typing “Data limit”. When you enter the option, you can not only set a maximum of GB or MBbut also timers or choose the preferred connection band.
Try connecting to 4G networks instead of 5G
Despite the advances in 5G that allow us to have higher speed in our connections, the truth is that it also means higher consumption than 4G. And not only the data, but also the battery.
So, if you have a mobile phone with 5G, you better try to favor using 4G as much as possible. After all, this connectivity is still the widest in terms of coverage and still offers enough speed for any action. Using 3G is no longer recommended for speed issues, so you should also not hit this limit for the purpose of saving data.
Table of Contents
