Gone are the days when the only time you get to surf the internet is when you’re at home or inside a computer shop. Now, you can practically browse social media, watch movies or videos online, play games, book a car, or even pay your bills online whenever you please—all thanks to the existence of mobile/pocket data.
The only tricky part? You’ll have to keep a close eye on your mobile data usage. Otherwise, your excessive data consumption can cause your bills to rise quickly. Among the most used apps today are Facebook, Youtube, TikTok, Snapchat, and Spotify—all of which contribute to draining your mobile data.
Here’s a serious question: Is your mobile data usage healthy? A sure sign that you’re on the right track is that you never exceed your data limit. If you find yourself always having to pay more than the price of your original data plan, then it’s time to re-examine how you spend your mobile data across different apps.
Here are a few tips on how you can control how much mobile data you use up every day:
Be aware of your data limit.
We cannot stress this enough. It’s easy to get carried away with watching Instagram stories, watching Youtube videos, or playing online games especially when you have so much time in your hands. Pro-tip: You can actually set your phone’s data limit so that it will automatically switch off as soon as you’ve reached your data threshold. Voila! No more unforeseen increase in your phone bills.
Use the Wi-Fi when available.
This is the most obvious alternative to using mobile data. When using Wi-Fi, make sure that you turn off your mobile data. This will keep your phone from unintentionally disconnecting from the Wi-Fi and reconnecting to your mobile data. Limit the use of your mobile data only when you’re outside. Maximize the use of Wi-Fi whenever possible but remember that free and public Wi-Fi isn’t as secure as your home Wi-Fi so it’s also best to stay alert.
Find out which apps consume the most data.
The best way to track your mobile data usage is by knowing which apps you use the most. This will give you an idea as to which apps specifically are draining your mobile data. If you’re using an iPhone, you can check this by going to your Settings, then choosing ‘Cellular.’ Here, you’ll immediately be given a list of apps—starting with the app that consumes the most data. Take note though that this list does not accurately reflect your “current” mobile data usage. It will only show you how much data you’ve consumed since you last reset the settings. On the other hand, if you’re using an Android phone, you can go to Settings then click on ‘Mobile Network’ then ‘Data Usage.’
Adjust your app’s settings.
Once you’ve managed to track down where your data goes, it’s time to make some adjustments to those apps. Although these apps consume lots of data, there are a few workarounds you can do so that you don’t completely have to stop using them. Facebook, for example, has a data saver mode that lets you disable video auto-play and the free mode which does not display the photos on your timeline. For Youtube and Netflix, you can always lower the video quality so you won’t use up too much data. Meanwhile, on Spotify, you have the option to download songs or playlists when using your home Wi-Fi so you can listen to them offline when you leave your house.
Close apps when not in use.
Make it a habit to exit your apps when you’re not using them. Remember, even if you’re not on these apps, chances are that they’re still running on your phone. There are also instances when these apps do an auto-update so it’s best to disable that setting. The same goes for your mobile hotspot. Always see to it that it is off as other devices that have access to your hotspot may automatically connect to it and drain your data. You may also just choose to turn off your mobile data entirely to ensure that you don’t use up your data unknowingly.
Use a mobile data tracker app.
Managing and tracking your mobile data usage also takes up time. To make your life easier, there are several data management apps that you can download which will help you not only track your data usage but also send you an alert when you’re about to exceed your data limit. Smart Communications Inc. has its own app called MySmart which allows Smart subscribers to stay on top of their mobile data usage across all their devices by providing them real-time data on their consumption.
Remember to keep these tips in mind so you can enjoy longer hours of social media browsing, online gaming, and video or music streaming on your mobile phones. Happy surfing!
