1. Turn on data compression on Chrome!
Most of you are probably Android
supporters. And hence, you are also likely
Chrome users. Did you know Google’s
popular browser has a feature that can
reduce data consumption significantly?
Google states this option should save you
about 50% in data. All without you even
feeling a difference. In fact, you may feel
some changes – browsing will get faster!
What Chrome’s data compression option
does is route all your web browsing
through Google’s servers. The Search Giant
then takes the website’s data, compresses it,
optimizes it for the smaller screen and
sends it back to your device.
All you have to do is open Chrome, tap on
the 3-dot menu button and selectSettings.
Click onData Saverand then toggle the
option in the top-right corner. You are
done!
2. Restrict background data
Some apps just spend too much data, even
when the smartphone is not in use. It’s
actually one of the greatest features on
Android, as background data allows you to
keep everything updated and monitored
while you are off doing other things. The
deal here is that not every app needs to
stay active at all times.
Go intoSettings > Data Usageand select the
app you want to restrict data for. In the
stats you will see two types of data:
foreground and background. If you find
background data is too high and you don’t
need the app to stay active, simple toggle
the switch that is labeled as “Restrict app
background data”.
3. Update apps only via WiFi
This one is a bit of an obvious one for
many of us, but plenty of users out there
continue updating their applications over
cellular connections. This is OK if you choose
to do it, but how many times have you
noticed all your apps were auto-updated
without your consent, spending all them
preciousGBs? Hopefully not too often, but if
this is an issue, we can show you how to
stop it from happening again.
Just open the Google Play Store and tap on
the hamburger menu button (three
horizontal lines parallel to each other). Hit
the Settings option and then select the
“Auto-update apps” button. Hit “Auto-
update apps over WiFi only”.
4. Keep an eye on your account syncing
settings
We love our active syncing and push
notifications, but having these also means
the phone has to keep checking servers for
any new content. You must also realize
many apps and services are set to keep
sync by default, and often we don’t even
use them!
This is why you should keep an eye on
your account syncing options. Just go
toSettings > Accounts. For the sake of
showcasing useless services, let’s just jump
into your Google accounts and select your
most used one. In my case, all toggles are
turned on, so I am syncing app data,
Calendar, Chrome, Contacts, Docs, Drive,
Gmail, Google Fit, Opinion Rewards, Photos,
Play Music, Google+, Keep, Slides and many
others. Now, I know for a fact I don’t use
about 20% of these, so I can turn them off
and save myself some precious data! Do the
same for other accounts, as well.
6. Avoid streaming content
As much as we hate it, it is the awesome
stuff that uses up the most data. This
includes streaming videos and music, as
well as looking through high quality images
or GIF files. Try to avoid these at all costs if
you really want to take care of your
internet usage.
Now, we know a smartphone is worthless
without your media, but there are ways to
stay entertained responsibly. Users can opt
for storing music and videos locally. If you
absolutely must stream, make sure you
jump into the settings and set quality at
lower rates. Likewise, you can decrease
resolution in YouTube and other video
streaming apps.
7. Cache everything, Whenever you can!
Certain apps allow for storing data locally.
These include popular ones like Google Maps
and Google Play Music. Make sure you cache
as much content as you can while you are
on a WiFi network. Then you can go out and
enjoy your content without spending any
of your precious data.
Source: AndroidAuthority.