Cell phones more and more people use mobile traffic. Read on and we'll show you how to manage your data.
Just a few years ago, it was almost unheard of to be able to transfer multiple GBs of mobile data. Now apps are more "weighty" (it's not uncommon for the apps themselves and their updates to be over 100MB in size), and music and video streaming is becoming more and more popular, and with all this, you can easily use the data limit in a matter of days.
An hour of watching videos on YouTube and now you no longer have several gigabytes of traffic. And if you watch HD video, then the traffic flows like water ... Do you use streaming music services such as Google Play Music or Spotify? You can spend about 120 MB per hour. It doesn't seem like much, but imagine using these services every day for an hour, you already get 840 MB in a week. An hour a day for a month and you will already spend about 3.2 GB. If you use a tariff plan with a 5 GB traffic package included, then in a month you will spend 65% of the limit only on music.
Of course, you can buy extra traffic with money, but who wants to pay? Before paying for a more expensive plan or for an additional data package, we offer a few tricks to reduce transmitted data (and control).
How to view the amount of data transferred
First of all, you need to check how much data is transferred. If you do not know how much traffic you use, it will not be clear how you need to change the structure of data consumption.
The easiest way to check your data usage is through your cellular provider's web portal. If you never use the limit, then it might be worth switching to a cheaper plan. If you never fit into the traffic package allotted to you, then you should definitely read the article further.
You can also view data consumption statistics on Android device. Go to Settings -> Data transfer. You will see a screen similar to this:
If you scroll down, you'll see the apps' mobile data usage, as seen in the second screenshot above. It's important to note that these graphs only show data sent over a cellular data connection, not over WiFi connection. You can always "hang out" on youtube by connecting to Wi-Fi, but this will not be displayed in the statistics. If you want to see Wi-Fi data usage statistics, press the menu button and select "Show Wi-Fi traffic".
It is worth noting that you will need to enter your billing cycle here in order to accurately calculate data usage. Since your data will be reset on the first day of a new cycle, it does not matter what you used a month earlier, so the result will not be distorted.
In addition to the graphs, you can set a traffic limit at which a warning will be shown to you, or you can set a limit by adjusting the slider on the graph at which the transmission mobile traffic will be disabled. Don't forget to turn on the "Mobile data limit" option.
After reaching the limit, mobile traffic will not be transmitted until you turn it on again.
How to control data usage
There are two types of traffic consumed: when the user is using the application and knows that it is working over the Internet, and data usage in the background. When watching a video or downloading new album, You are consuming a data package if you are using mobile data and not WiFi Internet. Obviously, in order to use less data, you need to stop streaming content and downloading files.
Less obvious data transfer is "background transfer" which uses a lot of traffic. Checking for new messages in the VKontakte application client or checking for new messages in email and other background processes constantly consume traffic. Let's see how to reduce background data consumption.
First, find out which applications are consuming data
First, let's look at which applications are actually using a lot of traffic. Go to Settings -> Data transfer and you will see the applications using data. Click on one of them to see more information. Here we see the normal data transfer and work in the background:
Now that you know which apps use the most data, you know what needs to be optimized.
Using Data Saver in Android Nougat
In Android 7.0 Nougat appeared new feature with the telling name "Traffic Saving". It allows you to limit the consumption of background traffic and provides the ability to maintain a "white list" of applications that are allowed to use data in the background.
To get started, pull down the notification bar and tap on the gear icon to access the settings menu.
In chapter " Wireless network» Click on Data Transfer.
Under the used traffic, you will find the option "Traffic saving". This is where the fun begins.
The first thing to do is turn on the switch located on the top right. The new icon will be displayed in the status bar, as well as to the left of the other data icons (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, cellular, etc.).
Remember that once you enable this, background data access will be restricted for all applications. To change this, click on Unrestricted Data Access.
After that, a list of all installed applications on your phone. By using the slider next to apps, you can whitelist them by allowing background data transfer.
It should be borne in mind that this applies only to mobile traffic and will not affect the Wi-Fi connection in any way.
Limit background data transfer
If you don't have Android Nougat, then you have other options.
Open an app that uses a lot of data. Look at the settings of this application, it may be worth reducing the number of notifications (for example, VKontakte) or turning them off completely. This will have a great effect not only on the consumed traffic, but also on battery discharge.
True, not every application has such settings. There is another way...
Go to Settings -> Data transfer and click on the app. Turn on the "Restrict background mode" toggle.
Disable all background data transfer
If that's not enough, you can also disable all background data transfer with a single toggle - this will reduce data usage in most cases, but it can also be inconvenient. From the data transfer point, click on the menu and select "Limit background. mode". This will turn off background data for all apps.
Disable Background App Refresh
Google understands how valuable mobile data is, so app updates will only happen automatically when you're on Wi-Fi by default. To check this, open the Google Play Store. Go to the settings and make sure that in the item "Auto-update applications" "Only via Wi-Fi" is selected.
Buy frequently used apps (to remove ads)
Apps are often offered in a free version with ads and a paid version. The fact is that ads are not only annoying, but they also use traffic. Therefore, if you want to reduce traffic consumption, you can buy a paid version of a frequently used application.
Hello! Although the number of gigabytes (included mobile operators into their tariffs) is growing every year, and the price, on the contrary, is falling, anyway, not many can afford to fully unlimited Internet on the device. Yes, and here it’s rather not a matter of “allowing”, but simply not many people need it. There is a conditional one gigabyte per month and it is enough - why pay more?
But in some cases (especially when switching to an iPhone from another device), these same gigabytes suddenly begin to be missed - when turned on, an Apple mobile phone starts wildly eating traffic and eats up the entire available limit in a few hours. And this is where the screams begin: “The iPhone is bad, I just inserted a SIM card - I don’t do anything, and the traffic goes away on its own (and the battery is running low too!)”. Ai-ai-ai and all that…:) Why is this happening? Believe me, not because the iPhone is bad and the company decided to ruin you. No.
The thing is that the iPhone, like any modern smartphone, has a number of settings that you just need to pay attention to in order to avoid such “arbitrariness” of your smartphone with your own Internet.
But first, a small list of where iPhone traffic can go without your knowledge:
An experienced reader and user will say: “Yes, there is still a lot where traffic can flow!”. And he will be right - mailbox updates, push notifications, browser, etc. all this also affects the number of gigabytes consumed, but:
- Say that push notifications, mail downloads, etc. downright strongly devour the entire cellular Internet - it is impossible. They use it, if at all, in very small quantities.
- And if you turn all this off, as they suggest on many sites (the most ingenious advice I have come across is turn off the Internet in the settings so that it does not waste you), then why the iPhone?
Therefore, let's try to get by with little bloodshed - we will prohibit the iPhone from consuming the Internet on its own, but without much damage to us.
Update or download apps from the App Store
Current applications and games can reach 2-3 gigabytes in size and Apple company took care of saving traffic - officially download the program with a volume of more than 150 megabytes from app store it is impossible (though we know something). But at the same time, there are a large number of programs with a volume less than this threshold (150 MB). And that's it they can devour your Internet package.
Here we are talking not so much about downloading (you see what you are downloading), but about updating these programs on your own via a cellular network. Therefore, such an update must be disabled:
That's it, now the programs will no longer use the cellular network for their update, and will only do it via Wi-Fi.
How to find out which application "eats" traffic on the iPhone
Installed programs, in addition to simply updating their version, can also consume the Internet in order to perform their usual functions. Therefore, if you really feel that megabytes are running away, it makes sense to check - or maybe some application is too “snacking”? You can do this:
Just in case, remember this moment so that in the future you will not be surprised why these cards (for example) refuse to work and update their data.
Sending "service information" can also waste the Internet
In fact, of course, this option does not consume so much Mobile Internet and I myself have not come across this, however, I have seen several stories that told about this particular “glitch”, or a failure, when this same service information was sent constantly. Therefore, I decided to include this item here - it will not be superfluous to disable sending it for sure. How to do it?
As we see in the explanation, this information is sent daily, and does not carry any special load, except for the fact that we help Apple improve products. Therefore, if you turn off its transmission, then nothing terrible will happen, and traffic (even if small) will be saved.
"Help with Wi-Fi" - traffic on the iPhone flows away very quickly
"Wonderful" option, which is enabled by default for some reason. Its essence is that if your Wi-Fi signal "does not pull", and the cellular network can provide best speed- Wi-Fi will automatically turn off and data transfer will go through the SIM card.
I myself fell for this bait not so long ago - I sat watching videos on YouTube, did not bother anyone. Here iPad did not like something in my Wi-Fi ( bad signal, insufficient speed) and he considered it necessary to turn it off (which is important - no notifications come!), And I, in happy ignorance, continued to enjoy the video via cellular communication. I came to my senses only after the operator sent an SMS message with the text: "Your Internet package is coming to an end."
Therefore, in my opinion, if you do not have an unlimited tariff, this option should be disabled immediately. How to do it:
I repeat, this option should be turned off in almost any case, so that there are no surprises with the disappearance of traffic.
iCloud services sync eats up mobile data
iCloud is really good and convenient, and backups are generally beyond praise. However, if you care about saving precious megabytes on your tariff, then in this case the "cloud" will have to be turned off.
We are now talking about iCloud Drive - this is a kind of cloud storage data (I already have about the principles of its operation). So, synchronization (loading and unloading of data) with this storage can occur according to cellular network. And it’s good if you sent a small object there, but what if it’s 100-200 megabytes? While it is downloading, all traffic will go away.
Yes, and ordinary programs can store their data there. And who knows how much they will load there? But it's good that all this can be turned off:
After that, the "cloud" will synchronize exclusively via Wi-Fi.
It would seem that each of the actions is quite simple and does not require much effort. But disabling and completing all items:
- Firstly, it will not cause much damage to the functionality of the iPhone.
- Secondly, it will help to save traffic and the Internet will not disappear anywhere.
P.S. Write in the comments if, even after performing all these steps, your iPhone is still too “gluttonous”.
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How much traffic do users spend on average, how to calculate the required amount of mobile Internet, which applications consume the most data and how can you save megabytes?
In a partner material with Yota, Paper tells how to choose a tariff for mobile Internet and how much traffic Facebook, Instagram and VKontakte take.
How to understand how much mobile Internet you need?
First, analyze how much traffic you spend on average and what it usually goes for. In any smartphone, there is a section in the settings that shows the total amount of data that you have spent. In addition, there you can see which applications receive the most traffic.
How much internet do users spend on average?
Now users, depending on the region of residence, spend on average 10-15 GB of mobile traffic per month, they say in Yota. According to the operator, a year ago 10 GB was the upper limit, but now it is rather the minimum amount spent by smartphone users.
According to the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, in the first quarter of 2017, Russian subscribers transferred 1.36 billion GB of data via mobile networks. This is 85% more than in the same period last year.
What gets the most traffic?
First of all, to download and share media files on social networks and instant messengers. For example, it will take about 3-5 MB of traffic to send one photo to WhatsApp. The text weighs the least - a simple text page on the Internet will require about 60-70 Kb.
Which apps get the most traffic?
Some of the most traffic-intensive applications are streaming applications (for example, online games, YouTube) and social networks (Instagram, VKontakte). In a month, each social network, if you actively use it, takes about 2-3 GB of traffic.
The size of the app itself and updates to it will partly depend on the phone model: apps for modern smartphones tend to be heavier. In addition, newer smartphones with higher camera settings may spend more data on file sharing, as the quality of images or videos will be higher (if you do not compress files before transferring).
Does a lot of traffic go away when you are sitting at a laptop via mobile Internet?
If you distribute the Internet to your computer to check mail, send files or chat on social networks, then the traffic consumption will not increase much: you perform all the same actions on your smartphone. However, if you, for example, have automatic software updates enabled on your laptop, then they can “eat” a lot of mobile traffic.
How to reduce the amount of internet you use?
You can limit the amount of traffic that you spend, for example, through the smartphone settings. You can turn off data transfer for specific applications so that they do not update and thus do not waste extra megabytes.
Make sure that automatic app updates are allowed only when connected to Wi-Fi. In addition, you can also disable autoplay videos in social networks (such a function is available, in particular, in Facebook and Twitter) when you use the application via mobile Internet. But, for example, if you just close applications and take them out of the background, this will not lead to serious traffic savings.
How to use apps unlimitedly and save money on mobile internet?
Mobile operators offer different options for those who regularly need mobile Internet. For example, Yota subscribers can connect an unlimited tariff for individual applications: for example, if you spend 3 GB per month on Facebook or messengers, you can connect unlimited social network options. Then, even spending a large amount of traffic on social networks, you will not go beyond a 5 or 10 GB package.
You can also use applications unlimitedly if you connect to the mobile Internet through a laptop. In addition, in case of unforeseen large expenses, you can add an additional 5 GB to the total package: this can be done through the operator's application an unlimited number of times.
Modern mobile networks are able to fully provide the phone user with stable and high-speed access to the Internet. The LTE or 4G standard allows you to watch streaming video from streaming services like YouTube or Netflix. But tariff plans today is still too expensive to not count every gigabyte spent on social networks or other content outside the range of home Wi-Fi. Therefore, it is worth knowing how to save valuable traffic and not overspend it.
Ways to save traffic
First, let's recall a few useful settings and services in the phone. Here are a few useful tips how to save traffic:
It is worth noting that the above ways not too much affect the reduction of traffic consumption. At best, you can save a few hundred megabytes if the user is not keen on streaming video or listening to music in the background. Much more effective is fine management mobile connection and all applications that consume data.
Advanced mobile traffic control
Here, too, it is quite possible to do without installing special applications, all settings and functions are in the parameters of the operating system itself. Fine-tuning the consumption of mobile traffic consists of the following actions:
- Control over the data consumption of specific applications installed on the phone.
- Limitation of the monthly volume of mobile Internet use.
- Restriction on downloading updates.
- Advanced setting of the "Traffic saving" mode.
Each of them will have to be told in more detail.
Configuring access for individual applications
Background processes in the mobile OS not only drain the battery of the phone, but also exchange small data packets with the servers of the developer company. This happens especially often with messengers or clients. social networks. Therefore, you need to know how to restrict access to the mobile Internet for certain applications.
It is done like this:
Specifically, Youtube also has its own savings settings, which are called up by tapping on “Application Settings” in the previous screenshot.
Here you can enable HD video playback only over Wi-Fi networks and control the quality of new videos that start. The last setting is very useful, because the higher the resolution of the video (quality), the more traffic it consumes during playback.
Setting a monthly limit
A useful feature that helps you not to worry about traffic overruns. After the specified number of gigabytes, the mobile Internet simply turns off and is not activated until the end of the specified time period comes or the user activates it manually.
You can set the limit like this:
As can be seen from the settings presented above, every month, from the 10th to the 10th, the user will be able to use only 5 gigabytes of mobile traffic. At the same time, he will receive a warning after spending only 2 gigabytes.
Download updates
Another significant item of mobile traffic costs is constant updates of applications installed on the phone. This option can be disabled, thereby limiting its operation to only Wi-Fi networks. It's pretty easy to do this:
Here you can also choose to limit the download of new applications by setting the “Download application” item in a similar way. These actions will help save a fairly large amount of traffic.
Setting the "Traffic saver" behavior
The default settings of this mode are not quite suitable for those users who actively chat in social networks or instant messengers. It cuts the background activity of all programs so much that notifications when new messages are received may not come at all. Therefore, it is possible to fine-tune it. It is done like this:
After setting, even if background muting is enabled, applications added to exceptions will freely exchange data packets with servers.
How to turn off traffic usage warnings?
If the user does not want to receive warnings about how much traffic he has already spent, they can be easily turned off. The setting is located in the same place as setting the limit for using mobile traffic. To turn it off, you need:
It is worth noting that the smartphone and the operator consider traffic in different ways. Some are taken into account according to the tariff (rounded up - up to 100kb), for some, various benefits can be provided. Therefore, it is better to use both the warning and the traffic limit in conjunction with an application from the operator, which will show the expense that the service provider takes into account. So the user will have the most complete control over the intensity of consumption of network content.
The concept of saving Internet traffic appeared during the existence of limited wired Internet. Nowadays, unlimited wired Internet is supplied by reasonable prices. And here unlimited tariffs providers supplying wireless Internet may not yet be affordable for everyone. How to save cash working with a metered internet connection? In addition to a conscious rejection of unnecessary operations for downloading files and visiting web resources, you can save Internet traffic using various ways and browser tools. What are these methods and what are these tools - more on that below.
1. Ways to save Internet traffic
1.1. Ad blockers
One of the effective ways to save traffic is ad blockers. Blocks with contextual advertising, especially if they are animated banners, usually make up the majority of Internet traffic. So ad blockers perform two whole constructive missions - they block ads and save money for users of limited Internet. The ad blocking function can be implemented in any browser that supports the installation of extensions. However, ad blockers on individual sites will have to be disabled. So, some media resources will not open access to free video viewing until the ad blocker is disabled for their sites. Among the popular ad blockers are, etc.
1.2. Traffic compression mode
Especially for a slow Internet connection, some browsers provide traffic compression modes. These are modes in which traffic passes through the technology provider's servers, and on users' devices, site pages are already displayed in a compressed form - with reduced image quality, blocked flash animation, etc. Traffic compression modes are useful not only in conditions slow internet, but still when working with low-powered computers and slow sites. Also, traffic compression modes are used as a way to access territorially blocked sites. Thus, traffic compression involves the mediation of the technology provider's servers, and they, accordingly, perform the same role as proxy or VPN servers. If the technology provider's servers are not located in the blocking country of the site, access to it will be allowed. Traffic compression modes are pre-installed in Opera and Yandex Browser. And in Google Chrome and browsers that support working with content from its store, the traffic saving mode can be implemented using a special extension.
1.3. Blocking the Adobe Flash Plugin
To save internet traffic, you can set up a permission request before using the Adobe Flash plugin. Without the user's permission, the flash animation player will not start and, accordingly, consume Internet traffic.
1.4. Image blocking
Blocking images on web pages is a last resort. Image blocking is, like ad blocking, an effective way to save traffic, plus it significantly speeds up web surfing, not only in terms of site opening speed, but also as a method of focusing on useful information, not pictures. Image blocking is usually provided in the browser settings, but for this purpose it is better to install a special extension with easy access on the toolbar. For Chromium browsers and "heirs" of the Gecko engine, this extension is Chrome HTML Content Blocker, it implements image blocking buttons on the toolbar of browsers, as well as other types of content. The extension can be installed in Opera stores (for itself and Yandex.Browser), Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
2 Which of the methods described above to save Internet traffic are implemented in popular browsers and how to use these methods?
2 Opera
The Opera browser comes with two powerful traffic compression tools on board. In its settings (section "Basic"), you can activate a regular ad blocker.
3 And use the Opera Turbo function, a traffic compression technology patented by Opera Software.
4 As part of the operation of Opera Turbo, flash content is blocked automatically and launched manually by the user. You can completely block Adobe Flash or configure its operation outside the traffic compression mode in the Sites settings section of Opera. Image blocking is also configured here.
5 3. Yandex.Browser
With the permission of Opera Software, Opera Turbo technology has equipped a collector of the best from other browsers - Yandex.Browser. The traffic compression mode in Yandex.Browser is called "Turbo" mode. This mode is automatically activated in conditions of a slow Internet connection. You can enable it yourself in the browser menu, and configure it in the "Turbo" section of the browser settings.
6 Yandex.Browser is equipped with its own ad blocker, but not all, but only aggressive.
7 On board, we will find a flash data blocker in the add-ons section
8 and an image blocker are among the features of the Protect panel.
9 4. Google Chrome
The traffic compression mode using technology from Google in the Chrome browser and its clones appears after installing the "Traffic Saver" extension. To enable it, you need to activate the "Traffic saving" checkbox.
10 Without installing special extensions, you can block Adobe Flash and images in the Chrome settings by clicking the "Show advanced settings" option and clicking the "Content settings" button in the "Personal data" section.
5. Vivaldi
The Vivaldi browser is based on Chromium and supports installation of extensions for Chrome. You can implement the traffic compression mode in this browser using the same "Traffic Saver" extension. Vivaldi is notable for its built-in features and effects for web pages, including:
- image blocker;
13 - banner blocker and read mode.
14 Reading mode on board Vivaldi can be used as a tool to save traffic, since when it is activated for each individual site, the article materials of such a site will constantly open in reading mode, a book format cleared of web elements. You can set up Adobe Flash blocking in the Vivaldi settings, in the "Web pages" section.
6 Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox does not have its own data compression technology, nor is it implemented through extensions. But that's at the time of writing. There have been experimental "web accelerator" extensions in the history of the browser, and there may be more in the future. On this moment You can save traffic when working with Firefox using extensions - blockers of ads and other content (Content Blocker), in particular, the mentioned HTML Content Blocker.
Have a great day!
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