Key Takeaways
- To save mobile data, turn on data saver mode by heading into Settings > Mobile Network > Data Usage > Data Saving and enabling the “Data Saving” toggle.
- Use your favorite apps’ lite versions that consume less data compared to their standard versions.
- Other ways include disabling data for select apps, disabling auto-media download, streaming content in lower quality, turning off cloud backups, and using maps in offline mode.
If you’re on a limited mobile data plan, it makes sense to conserve data usage on your phone. As an Android user, you have various ways to save data on your device. I’ll show you how to make a few setting tweaks to changing app options to conserve data usage.
1 Use Data Saver Mode
Most Android phones have a data saver mode that turns off data-hogging services, allowing you to save data. This mode usually turns off background data for installed apps and deactivates the ability to enable the personal hotspot.
Enabling data saver mode will prevent your apps from syncing data, which means you won’t get new messages in your instant messaging apps until you turn off the mode.
To turn on data saver mode on your Android phone, head into Settings > Mobile Network > Data Usage. Scroll down and tap “Data Saving.” Turn on the “Data Saving” toggle and select “Turn On” in the prompt to enable the mode.
If you have apps that you don’t want to be restricted by this mode, add those apps as exceptions. Do that by tapping “Unrestricted Apps,” selecting “All” at the top, and enabling the toggles for the apps that are allowed to use mobile data in the background.
2 Use Your Favorite Apps’ Lite Versions
Many popular Android apps have their lite versions available on the Google Play Store. These apps are stripped-down versions of their standard versions, allowing you to save data while still being able to use your favorite platforms.
For example, you can get the Facebook Lite version to check your social feed while conserving data usage. Similarly, you can get Spotify Lite, Uber Lite, TikTok Lite, and even Outlook Lite for your tasks.
3 Disable Mobile Data for Select Apps
If you have certain data-hungry apps on your phone, you can prevent them from using the internet when you’re on mobile data. This way, these apps won’t use your cellular data and will only connect to the internet when you’re on a Wi-Fi network.
To make that happen, on your Android phone, head into Settings > Mobile Network > Data Usage > Network Access and tap an app on the list. From the open menu, choose “Wi-Fi” so the app only uses the internet when your phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network.
You’re done.
Many apps like WhatsApp automatically download media from your chats, using up your mobile data. You can actually prevent this by telling your apps not to download any media files when you’re on cellular data.
To do that in WhatsApp, launch the app, select the three dots in the top-right corner, and choose “Settings.”
Select “Storage and Data.” In the Media Auto-Download section, tap “When Using Mobile Data.” Untick all options so the app doesn’t download anything, and choose “OK.”
You’re done.
5 Stream Videos in Lower Quality
Many video streaming apps play videos in high quality by defaut. This uses more of your mobile data. You can get around that by making a change in your apps so they play videos in slightly reduced quality.
To do that in YouTube, launch the app and start playing a video. In the video’s top-right corner, tap the gear icon. Choose “Quality” and select “Data Saver.”
To manually choose the video playback resolution, tap “Advanced” and select a resolution, such as 360p.
6 Disable Cloud Backups on Mobile Data
If you use cloud storage apps like Google Drive, Dropbox, Google Photos, and so on, turn off the backup option when you’re on mobile data in these apps. Otherwise, these apps will continue to upload data from your phone to the cloud, using up your allowed mobile data.
To do that in Google Drive, for example, launch the app, select the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines), choose “Settings,” and enable “Transfer Files Only Over Wi-Fi.”
To make that change in Google Photos, launch the app, select the profile picture, choose Photos Settings > Backup, select “Mobile Data Usage,” and tap “No Data.”
You’re done.
7 Use Maps in Offline Mode
If you use a maps app like Google Maps for navigation, download the maps for the places you’ll be visiting beforehand to prevent the app from using mobile data. This allows you to navigate your chosen areas without having to download those areas’ maps on the go.
To do that, launch the Google Maps app when you’re on a Wi-Fi network. In the app, navigate to the area you want to download. Then, in the app’s top-right corner, tap your profile picture and choose “Offline Maps.”
On the Offline Maps page, choose “Select Your Own Map” and the app will highlight your navigated area. You can move the area if you want. When you’re ready, at the bottom, tap “Download” to start downloading the map.
When the map is downloaded, you can use it even when you’re offline.
The above methods help save data when you’re on a limited data plan. There are other tips, like not making many video calls, not browsing the web for a long period of time, and so on, to save data on your device. We hope the guide helps you.
