Are you loving your new iPhone but hating the fact that you keep going over your limit on your data plan? Well, there are a few things you can do to try and combat this issue and keep your data consumption under control.
Firstly, find out what is using up all your data allowance. To do this in iOS 10, go to Settings > Cellular and you will see all the apps you have stored on your phone and how much data each of them uses. Apps that are generally quite data-hungry include music and video streaming apps and some social media apps too.
Another way to save your data is to always use Wi-Fi wherever possible. One way to do this is by turning on, “Ask to Join Networks” under the Settings > Wi-Fi. Then, anytime there’s a Wi-Fi network available you’ll receive a notification. But be careful with this as it can drain your battery if in an area where there are several Wi-Fi signals being picked up. A better option may be to keep this setting turned off and set up any connections manually. To do this simply go to settings > Wi-Fi when you’re in a Wi-Fi area and join the network.
There are also settings on your phone that you can tweak to save data such as with app updates. Make sure any apps only update when connected with Wi-Fi. To do this go to Settings > iTunes and App Store, and turn off “Use Cellular Data”. You should also turn off iCloud Drive syncing when not connected via Wi-Fi by going to Settings > iCloud > iCloud Drive > turn off “Use Cellular Data” option. Next, check your background app refresh settings as this can drain your data. Under Settings > General > Background App Refresh then either turn it off or select the apps you want to restrict. Disabling background app refresh also helps reserve your battery life too.
Although Wi-Fi Assist is a handy little feature, it will also drain your data allowance by using your data plan if the Wi-Fi signal is weak. To enable or disable it, head to Settings > Cellular, then flick the toggle switch to whatever you decide. You should always try and stick to downloading via Wi-Fi rather than streaming too as you will notice a huge saving in your data usage if you do. Other things to adjust on your phone include your message settings. Instead of using hi-res all the time, why not turn on Low-Quality Image Mode. This will save you loads of data over a period of time when texting and chances are they will never even notice. Go to Settings > Messages > Low-Quality Image Mode and flick it on to save data now.
You should notice a huge difference already with what’s been mentioned, but there are still a couple more tricks up our sleeve that can help. The next one involves you taking another look at the apps that use the most data as you may find some of them like Facebook and Twitter will autoplay videos as you scroll through your feed, taking your data allowance with it as it plays. To stop this, head to Facebook and tap the blue menu icon in the lower right corner. Tap Settings > Account Settings > Videos and Photos > Autoplay, then select either “On Wi-Fi Connections Only” or “Never Autoplay videos.” On Twitter, tap the “Me” icon in the lower right corner, then Settings > Data and make the relevant changes. Lastly, you could always try using a different browser to the one you’re on. Safari comes pre-loaded on iOS, but you can easily change to another that has special settings for cutting down cellular data usage.
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