Cell phones are increasingly using 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 several GB of mobile data. Now apps weigh more (it's not uncommon for apps and their updates to be over 100 MB in size), and streaming music and video is becoming more popular and with all this, you can easily use up your data limit in a matter of days.
An hour of watching a video on YouTube and you no longer have several gigabytes of traffic. And if you watch videos in HD format, 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 a lot, but imagine using these services every day for an hour, in a week you already get 840 MB. An hour a day for a month and you will already have spent 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 traffic with extra money, but who wants to pay? Before you pay for a more expensive plan or additional data package, we offer a few tricks to reduce your data transfer (and control).
How to view the amount of data being transferred
First of all, you need to check how much data is being transferred. If you don’t know how much traffic you use, it will be unclear how you need to change your data consumption structure.
The easiest way to check your data usage is through your cellular provider's web portal. If you never use up your limit, it might be worth upgrading to a cheaper plan. If you never fit into your allotted traffic package, 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 something like this:
If you scroll down, you will see the mobile data usage of the apps, 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 through WiFi connection. You can always “hang” on YouTube while connected to Wi-Fi, but this will not appear in the statistics. If you want to see statistics on data usage via Wi-Fi, then press the menu button and select “Show Wi-Fi traffic”.
It's worth noting that you will need to enter your billing cycle here in order to accurately calculate your data usage. Since your data will be reset on the first day of the new cycle, it will not matter what you used the month before, 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 set a limit by adjusting the slider on the graph at which transmission mobile traffic will be disabled. Don't forget to enable the "Mobile traffic limit" option.
Once the limit is reached, mobile traffic will not be transmitted until you turn it on again.
How to control your data usage
There are two types of traffic consumed: when the user is using the application and knows that it is running over the Internet, and data usage in the background. When watching a video or downloading new album, You consume a data package if you use mobile data and not Wi-Fi Internet. Obviously, in order to use less data you need to stop streaming content and downloading files.
A less obvious data transfer is “background transfer”, which uses a large amount of traffic. Checking new messages in the VKontakte application client or checking new letters in email and other background processes constantly consume traffic. Let's figure out how to reduce background data consumption.
First, find out which applications are consuming data
First, let's figure out which apps actually use a lot of bandwidth. Go to Settings -> Data Transfer and see the apps using data. Click on one to see more information. Here we see normal data transfer and work in the background:
Now that you know which applications use the most data, you know what to optimize.
Using data saving in Android Nougat
In Android 7.0 Nougat appeared new feature with the self-explanatory title “Traffic Saving”. It allows you to limit background traffic consumption 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 panel and tap the gear icon to go to the settings menu.
In chapter " Wireless network» Click on the item “Data transfer”.
Under the traffic used, you will find the “Traffic Saving” option. This is where the fun begins.
The first thing to do is turn on the switch that is located at the top right. The new icon will appear 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 "Unlimited data access."
After this a list of all installed applications on your phone. Using the slider next to applications, you can add them to the white list, allowing background data transfer.
It is worth keeping in mind that this only applies 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 bandwidth. Look at the settings of this application, it may be worth reducing the number of notifications (for example, VKontakte) or disabling them completely. This will have a great impact not only on the traffic consumed, but also on battery drain.
True, not every application has such settings. There is another way...
Go to Settings -> Data transfer and click on the application. Turn on the "Limit background activity" switch.
Disable all background data transfer
If that's not enough, you can also turn off all background data with a single switch - this will reduce data usage in most cases, but it can also be inconvenient. From the data transfer item, click on the menu and select “Limit background. mode". This will turn off background data for all applications.
Disable background app updates
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 “Only via Wi-Fi” is selected in the “Auto-update applications” item.
Buy frequently used apps (to remove ads)
Applications are often offered in a free version with advertising and a paid version. The thing is, not only are ads annoying, but they also use up traffic. Therefore, if you want to reduce your traffic consumption, you can buy a paid version of a frequently used application.
Hello! Although the number of gigabytes (included) mobile operators in their tariffs) is growing every year, but the price, on the contrary, is falling, still not many can afford the full unlimited Internet on the device. And here, most likely, it’s 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 not be enough - when turned on, Apple’s mobile phone begins to wildly eat up traffic and eats up the entire available limit in a few hours. And here 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 even the battery is drained!).” Ay-ay-ay 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 simply 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 traffic on iPhone can go without your knowledge:
An experienced reader and user will say: “Yes, there are still plenty of places 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 loading, etc. they really eat up the entire cellular Internet - it’s impossible. If they use it, it is in very small quantities.
- And if you turn all this off, as suggested on many sites (the most brilliant advice I’ve come across is to turn off the Internet in the settings so that you don’t waste it), then why use an iPhone?
Therefore, we’ll try to make do with little expense - we’ll ban the iPhone from consuming the Internet on its own, but without much damage to us.
Updating or downloading programs from the App Store
Current applications and games can reach 2-3 gigabytes in volume and Apple company took care of saving traffic - officially download a program with a volume of more than 150 megabytes from App store it’s impossible (though we know). But at the same time, there are a large number of programs with a volume less than this threshold (150 MB). And it is they who can devour your Internet package.
Here we're talking about not so much about downloading (you see what you are downloading), but about independently updating these programs via the cellular network. Therefore, such an update needs to be disabled:
That's it, now programs will stop using the cellular network for their updates, and will do this only via Wi-Fi.
How to find out which application is consuming traffic on iPhone
Installed programs, in addition to simply updating their version, can also consume the Internet in order to perform their normal functions. Therefore, if you really feel that megabytes are running away, it makes sense to check - maybe some application is too greedy? You can do this:
Just in case, remember this point so that in the future you won’t be surprised why cards (for example) refuse to work and update their data.
Sending “official information” can also waste internet
In fact, of course, this option does not consume so much Mobile Internet I myself have not encountered this, but I have seen several stories that talk about this particular “glitch” or failure, when this same service information was constantly sent. Therefore, I decided to include this item here - disabling its sending would definitely not be superfluous. How to do it?
As we see in the explanation, this information is sent daily, and does not bear any special burden other than helping Apple improve its products. Therefore, if you turn off its transmission, then nothing bad will happen, and traffic (even if small) will be saved.
“Help with Wi-Fi” – traffic on iPhone leaks very quickly
“Wonderful” option, which for some reason is enabled by default. Its essence is that if your Wi-Fi signal does not work, but the cellular network can provide better speed– Wi-Fi will automatically turn off and data transfer will go through the SIM card.
Not long ago I fell for this bait myself - I sat watching videos on YouTube and didn’t bother anyone. There's something the iPad didn't like about 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 blissful 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.
Syncing iCloud services 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 have already discussed the principles of its operation). So, synchronization (loading and unloading 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? By the time it downloads, all traffic will go away.
Yes, and ordinary programs can store their data there. And who knows how much they will load there? But the good thing is that all this can be turned off:
After this, 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 performing all points:
- Firstly, it will not cause much damage to the functionality of the iPhone.
- Secondly, it will help save traffic and the Internet will not disappear to no one knows where.
P.S. Write in the comments if even after doing all these steps your iPhone is still too power hungry.
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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 partnership article with Yota, Bumaga explains 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 you have spent. In addition, there you can see which applications consume the most traffic.
How much internet do users spend on average?
Now users, depending on their region of residence, spend on average 10-15 GB of mobile traffic per month, Yota says. According to the operator, a year ago 10 GB was the upper limit, but now it is rather the minimum amount that smartphone users spend.
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.
Where does the most traffic go?
First of all, for downloading and sharing media files on social networks and instant messengers. For example, sending one photo to WhatsApp will take about 3-5 MB of traffic. Text weighs the least - a simple text page on the Internet will require about 60-70 KB.
Which apps take up the most traffic?
Some of the most traffic-intensive applications are streaming applications (for example, online games, YouTube) and social networks (Instagram, VKontakte). Each month, if actively used, each social network takes about 2-3 GB of traffic.
The size of the application itself and updates for it will partly depend on the phone model: applications for modern smartphones tend to be heavier. Additionally, newer smartphones with higher camera specs may spend more bandwidth on file sharing as the image or video quality will be higher (unless you compress the files before transferring).
How much traffic is consumed when you sit at a laptop via mobile Internet?
If you distribute the Internet to your computer to check email, send files or chat on social networks, then your traffic consumption will not increase significantly: you perform all the same actions on your smartphone. However, if, for example, you have automatic software updates enabled on your laptop, then they can “eat up” a lot of mobile traffic.
How to reduce the amount of internet you use?
You can limit the amount of traffic you spend, for example, through your smartphone settings. You can disable 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 only allowed when connected to Wi-Fi. In addition, you can also disable autoplay of videos on social networks (this feature is available, in particular, on Facebook and Twitter) when you use the application via the mobile Internet. But, for example, if you simply close applications and put them out of the background, this will not lead to serious traffic savings.
How to use unlimited applications and save on mobile Internet?
Mobile operators offer different options for those who regularly need mobile Internet. For example, Yota subscribers can activate an unlimited tariff for individual applications: for example, if you spend 3 GB per month on Facebook or instant messengers, you can activate the options for unlimited social networks. Then, even if you spend a large amount of traffic on social networks, you will not go beyond the 5 or 10 GB package.
You can also use applications unlimitedly if you connect to the mobile Internet via a laptop. In addition, in case of unexpected 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, it's still too expensive not to count every gigabyte spent on social media or other content outside of your home Wi-Fi range. Therefore, it is worth knowing how to save valuable traffic and not overspend it.
Ways to save traffic
First, let's remember a few useful settings and services on the phone. Here are a few useful tips how to save traffic:
It is worth noting that the above methods do not have much effect on reducing traffic consumption. At best, you can save a few hundred megabytes if the user is not keen on streaming videos or listening to music in the background. Subtle management is much more effective 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 located in the parameters of the operating system itself. Fine-tuning mobile traffic consumption consists of the following actions:
- Control over data consumption of specific applications installed on the phone.
- Limiting the monthly volume of mobile Internet use.
- Limiting downloads of updates.
- Advanced settings for the “Traffic Saving” mode.
We will have to talk about each of them in more detail.
Configuring access for individual applications
Background processes in a mobile OS not only drain the phone's battery, but also exchange small packets of data with the developer's servers. This happens especially often with messengers or clients. social networks. Therefore, you need to know how to restrict access to certain applications to the mobile Internet.
This is done like this:
Specifically, Youtube also has its own saving settings, which can be 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 launched. The last setting is very useful, since the higher the video resolution (quality), the more traffic it consumes during playback.
Setting a monthly limit
A useful feature that helps you not to worry about traffic overuse. After the specified number of gigabytes has passed, 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 using only 2 gigabytes.
Downloading updates
Another significant expense for mobile traffic is constant updates of applications installed on the phone. This option can be disabled, thereby limiting its operation only Wi-Fi networks. This is quite easy to do:
Here you can also choose to limit the downloading of new applications by similarly configuring the “Download applications” item. These actions will help save quite a large amount of traffic.
Configuring the “Traffic Saving” behavior
The default settings of this mode are not entirely suitable for those users who actively correspond on social networks or instant messengers. It cuts down the background activity of all programs so much that notifications when receiving new messages may not arrive at all. Therefore, it is possible to fine-tune it. This is done like this:
After configuration, even when muting background Internet connections is turned on, applications added to exceptions will freely exchange data packets with servers.
How to disable traffic usage warnings?
If the user does not want to receive warnings about how much traffic he has already used, they can be easily turned off. The setting is located in the same place as setting the mobile traffic usage limit. To disable it, you need to:
It is worth noting that the smartphone and the operator count traffic differently. Some are taken into account according to the tariff (rounded up - up to 100kb), some may be provided with various benefits. 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 consumption that the company providing the services takes into account. This way 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 metered wired Internet. Nowadays, unlimited wired Internet is supplied by reasonable prices. And here unlimited tariffs providers that supply wireless Internet may not yet be affordable for everyone. How to save money cash, working with a metered Internet connection? In addition to consciously refusing unnecessary operations of downloading files and visiting web resources, you can save Internet traffic by using various ways and browser tools. What kind of methods and what kind of tools are these - 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 constructive missions - they block ads and save money for metered Internet users. The ad blocking feature can be implemented in any browser that supports installing extensions. However, ad blockers on individual sites will have to be disabled. Thus, some media resources will not allow access to free video viewing until the ad blocker is disabled for their sites. Popular ad blockers include, etc.
1.2. Traffic compression mode
Especially for slow Internet connections, some browsers provide traffic compression modes. These are modes in which traffic passes through the servers of the technology provider, and on user devices, site pages are 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 also when working with low-power computers and slow sites. Traffic compression modes are also 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 country where the site is blocked, access to it will be open. Traffic compression modes are preinstalled 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 configure 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. Locking images
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 the speed of opening sites, but also as a method of focusing attention on useful information, not pictures. Blocking images is usually provided in the browser settings, but for these purposes it is better to install a special extension with convenient access to the toolbar. For Chromium browsers and “successors” of the Gecko engine, this extension is Chrome HTML Content Blocker, it implements buttons on the browser toolbar to block images, as well as other types of content. The extension can be installed in the Opera stores (for itself and Yandex Browser), Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
2 Which of the methods described above for saving Internet traffic are implemented in popular browsers and how to use these methods?
2.Opera
The Opera browser comes with two effective traffic compression tools on board. In its settings (section “Basic”) you can activate the standard ad blocker.
3 And use the Opera Turbo function, a traffic compression technology patented by Opera Software.
4 As part 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 of traffic compression mode in the “Sites” section of Opera’s settings. Image blocking can also be configured here.
5 3. Yandex.Browser
With the permission of Opera Software, Opera Turbo technology has been developed to collect the best from other browsers - Yandex.Browser. The traffic compression mode in Yandex Browser is called “Turbo” mode. This mode automatically activates 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 ads, just aggressive ones.
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 Google technology in the Chrome browser and its clones appears after installing the “Traffic Saving” extension. To enable it, you must activate the “Traffic saving” checkbox.
10 Without installing special extensions, you can block Adobe Flash and images in 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 built on Chromium and supports the installation of Chrome extensions. You can implement the traffic compression mode in this browser using the same “Traffic Saving” extension. Vivaldi is notable for its built-in features and effects for web pages, including:
- image blocker;
13 - banner blocker and reading mode.
14 The reading mode on board Vivaldi can be used as a tool for saving traffic, since when activated for each individual site, the article materials of such a site will always open in reading mode - a book format cleared of web elements. You can configure Adobe Flash blocking in Vivaldi settings, in the “Web pages” section.
6. Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox does not have its own data compression technology, nor one implemented through extensions. But this is at the time of writing. There have been experimental "Internet accelerator" extensions throughout the browser's history, and there may be more in the future. On this moment You can save traffic when working with Firefox using extensions - ad blockers and other content blockers (Content Blocker), in particular, the mentioned HTML Content Blocker.
Have a great day!
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