Constantly using up your mobile data or having to spend an extortionate amount to buy extra? Here are some helpful tips and tricks to help stretch your data further and avoid running into any surcharges.
The majority of these tips are all about looking at and adjusting your settings to ensure they are optimised for your actual use and not just eating through your data. So, open up your settings and get ready to make some adjustments…
Firstly, social media often eats the largest proportion of data, Business Insider found that if you spend an hour a day on social media over a cellular network, you could be using 2.7 GB of data a month. That figure increases if you are using social media platforms for video watching such as Tik Tok, Youtube and IGTV. That leads us to our first tip…
Turn off Video Autoplay!
This can be done in the app’s settings. For Facebook you simply need to go to your account settings, tap video and then turn Autoplay off. Do this for all the apps you use on a regular basis but don’t always want the videos to play – Instagram is another good one to consider as video content on that platform is becoming more popular with the addition of Reels.
Enable WiFi only downloads and updates
Our phones try to make things as easy as possible for us by making things automated without us even knowing. This is great when we’re on our home WiFi and not using data but when we’re using our data it probably isn’t essential that Clash of Clans or Minecraft run an update. You can either turn off auto-updates all together or simply allow updates to only be done over WiFi. To do this go to the Google Play or App Store settings.
Similarly, don’t try to download apps whilst you aren’t connected to WiFi as this is a very easy way to eat up your data. There are settings in both the Apple and Android app store to control this as well.
Get Specific with the apps you allow on data
Even if you don’t have apps open they may be running in the background, unknowingly using your data. You can restrict this by disabling them from using data in the app settings of your device – plus this is a great way to stop getting adverts on games that don’t require a stable connection.
As well as restricting background data you can also turn off push notifications for the apps you don’t care about. Not only will this declutter your screen and save battery but it will also stop apps from using data to send pointless notifications. Do this by going into settings and adjusting the apps and notifications settings.
Switch to Voxi!
Is the majority of your data being used by social media? Consider switching to a SIM provider, such as Voxi, that doesn’t use your data when on apps like Snapchat and Instagram. These are great options if you’re on a sim only contract or are looking to change providers. Using a service like this with one of our refurbished iPhones makes for a true budget device!
