Nowadays apps and social networks consume a lot of data, luckily there are some simple actions that help us avoid running out of gigs in a short time
Nowadays smartphones are increasingly sophisticated and thanks to different applications we can do almost anything with the phone. The price you pay for this interactivity is having an Internet connection at your disposal.
Spotify, Instagram or Netflix, are just some of the apps that consume the data in your tariff plan. Luckily, to avoid being without a fast connection before the renewal of our monthly offer, we can monitor our data consumption in real time. How can we do this? Simple, just use the applications of our operators. On the Play Store or App Store we must download the official app of Wind/Tre, Tim or Vodafone, depending on the operator associated with our card. Once the app is installed we enter and check the Data Consumption section where we will see the Giga left and a detailed report on recent consumption.
How to check apps
As we said there are some apps that consume more than others. On the smartphone you can control those that "burn" the data of the tariff plan fastest and we can block them in time. To monitor the situation we need to go to Settings, then in the menu click on Wireless and networks and then on Data usage. In the page that will open we will get a complete report, almost always in order of consumption, of the various applications installed on the phone. WhatsApp, Facebook or Twitter, we'll almost always see social and messaging apps at the top of the list. If we don't want to deprive ourselves of constantly using these services we can also download the official "Lite" apps, that is, the lighter apps that consume less connection data.
Data Saving on Android Nougat
Google with Android Nougat, the latest version of its mobile operating system, has introduced a very easy-to-use feature for monitoring the data used each month. With this tool we will not only monitor the various applications that consume the most but we can also create blacklists and whitelists. In this way we can set a general limit, or a specific limit for each app, in order to block or not the use without Wi-Fi once the monthly threshold we set is exceeded. To access the function just go to Settings, then select Wireless and networks and finally click on Data Usage. Pressing on the icon with three vertical dots in the upper right corner will open a menu from which you can select Data Saver.
Previous Android versions
Not all Android smartphones have Nougat. So how can we do to limit data consumption and control the apps that consume the most on these devices. Simple. First we follow the steps described above and check which apps consume the most on our phone. To do this, go to Settings, then Wireless and Networks and finally Data Usage. At this point we decide which applications to block in the background. That is, to prevent them from reopening on their own. To activate the blocking let's go to Settings, and access again in the Data Usage section. Then click on the Other item. At this point a graph will show us how much data is used when the app is in the foreground and how much in the background. To activate the block, just select Disable background data in the app.
Beware of automatic updates
Google, to make the user experience easier, almost always sets automatic app updates by default. A convenient solution, but if updating 10 or 20 apps starts when we're out and about and with the data connection on we'll use up a lot of data of the monthly subscription. Updating apps is important, but it's always best to do it with Wi-Fi only. That's why it's best to go to the Google Play Store and set the Automatically update only with Wi-Fi connection.