By
<https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/ULocZmGSkb42mDwp6RWniw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgSJkgP0TKaH
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xpdmluZyZlbWM9ZWRpdF9zbF8yMDIwMDMwOSZjYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0zMyZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD0xNj
U5MiZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTIyMDEyJnVzZXJfaWQ9YjVhYTIwN2YwZGMzN2MyYTMwOWM5NmQ3NTRlZT
YxZTkmcmVnaV9pZD0xMDgwNTQ1MDgyMDIwMDMwOVcDbnl0QgoAIyAUZl4UkvB4Uhpzd2lzc21hdH
RzdG9ybUB5YWhvby5jby51a1gEAAAAAA~~> Whitson Gordon
When I signed my family up for our cellphone plan, I thought it contained
more than enough data for us. How could any person possibly go over 5
gigabytes in one month?
Then I got a notification saying one of our lines was over the limit, and I
would need to purchase an extra gigabyte for $10 to keep going. I shrugged
it off, bought it and went on with my life . until two days later, when I
got the same notification again.
It turns out, my wife had disconnected from our house's Wi-Fi without
realizing it, and racked up a surprising amount of data watching Instagram
stories - not something you would consider an obvious culprit, but it's
actually quite the data muncher.
If this story sounds all too familiar and you're dead set against shelling
out for an unlimited plan, your phone offers a few tools to help you cut
back.
First: Connect to Wi-Fi Whenever Possible
Let's start with the most obvious, but most important tip: connect to Wi-Fi,
especially when you're at home.
OK, that may sound too painfully obvious to put in this article, but look at
your phone right now: Are you connected to Wi-Fi? I'm shocked by how often I
ask this simple question to friends and family only to find that they
weren't actually connected, even at their own home. (They're often equally
shocked.) Make sure that little Wi-Fi icon shows up at the top of your phone
whenever you're near a network. By connecting to Wi-Fi at home and work, you
can eliminate a huge amount of data usage without changing your behavior at
all. Just remember that free, public Wi-Fi isn't as secure as the Wi-Fi at
home, so
<https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/MZl8OI6OEjb03zLlkiRvGQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgS
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y1wYXktdGhlLXByaWNlLWZvci1mcmVlLXdpLWZpLmh0bWw_dGU9MSZubD1zbWFydGVyLWxpdmluZ
yZlbWM9ZWRpdF9zbF8yMDIwMDMwOSZjYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0zMyZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD0xNjU5MiZzZ
WdtZW50X2lkPTIyMDEyJnVzZXJfaWQ9YjVhYTIwN2YwZGMzN2MyYTMwOWM5NmQ3NTRlZTYxZTkmc
mVnaV9pZD0xMDgwNTQ1MDgyMDIwMDMwOVcDbnl0QgoAIyAUZl4UkvB4Uhpzd2lzc21hdHRzdG9yb
UB5YWhvby5jby51a1gEAAAAAA~~> check out these tips to stay safe while you're
out and about.
<https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/rTTsBTSVbXW1Y7J81cvGGA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgSJkgP0RtaH
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oAIyAUZl4UkvB4Uhpzd2lzc21hdHRzdG9ybUB5YWhvby5jby51a1gEAAAAAA~~>
<https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/n7SlOqmYIDpwkrQcBTAm7A~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgSJkgP0RtaH
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oAIyAUZl4UkvB4Uhpzd2lzc21hdHRzdG9ybUB5YWhvby5jby51a1gEAAAAAA~~>
<https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/d4i1m_nhIFGk4nOHoumzVA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgSJkgP0RtaH
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NMJm09YjVhYTIwN2YwZGMzN2MyYTMwOWM5NmQ3NTRlZTYxZTkmcD1TTF8yMDIwMDMwOVcDbnl0Qg
oAIyAUZl4UkvB4Uhpzd2lzc21hdHRzdG9ybUB5YWhvby5jby51a1gEAAAAAA~~>
See Which Apps Are Using the Most Data
Next, it's time to drill down and see where that data is going. Sometimes,
it's obvious: If you just spent three days in bed bingeing Netflix on your
phone, you can bet money that's your culprit. In other cases, you may not
know where all those gigabytes went, and you'll need to hunt down the
biggest data hogs.
If you're using an iPhone, open the Settings app and head to the Cellular
section. Scroll down, and you'll see a list of apps under the Cellular Data
heading, in order from heaviest to lightest data usage. Under each app,
you'll see how much data it has used in the "current period."
Here's where things get confusing: Your "current period" isn't your current
billing period. Instead, it is reporting all the data you've used since you
last reset these settings. So if you haven't manually reset them in a while
(or ever), there is a good chance you aren't getting useful information
here. Scroll down to the very bottom, tap Reset Statistics and go about your
life for another few days. Then you can come back to this screen and see
which app is using the most data. (Note: If you see a large amount of data
under the
<https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/CIxg4COgdAFdWz1rP9JOEg~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgSJkgP0TJaH
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kyJnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MjIwMTImdXNlcl9pZD1iNWFhMjA3ZjBkYzM3YzJhMzA5Yzk2ZDc1NGVlNj
FlOSZyZWdpX2lkPTEwODA1NDUwODIwMjAwMzA5VwNueXRCCgAjIBRmXhSS8HhSGnN3aXNzbWF0dH
N0b3JtQHlhaG9vLmNvLnVrWAQAAAAA> Wi-Fi Assist option on this page, you may
want to turn it off - this feature is designed to fall back on cellular data
when Wi-Fi is weak, but can backfire in rare instances when you are
connected to Wi-Fi.)
If you're using a phone with Google's Android software, open the Settings
app and head to Network & Internet > Mobile Network > App Data Usage. (This
location may vary depending on your phone - on Samsung devices, for example,
you will find it under Settings > Connections > Data Usage > Mobile Data
Usage.) You will see a graph of your data usage over the last month, along
with the apps that have used the most data. If your billing cycle ends on a
different day of the month (mine, for example, ends on the fifth), you can
tap the gear icon to adjust the cycle date. You can also set an alert after
a certain amount of data usage, so you aren't caught off guard.
<https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/H22tJi7JyuQd8SGbaUjoqA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgSJkgP0RtaH
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oAIyAUZl4UkvB4Uhpzd2lzc21hdHRzdG9ybUB5YWhvby5jby51a1gEAAAAAA~~>
<https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/gJ9pFOw93qmZBu_Go39Z3A~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgSJkgP0RtaH
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oAIyAUZl4UkvB4Uhpzd2lzc21hdHRzdG9ybUB5YWhvby5jby51a1gEAAAAAA~~>
<https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/7ItFOrokPcbGPyxiSUEHbA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgSJkgP0RtaH
R0cHM6Ly9saXZlaW50ZW50Lm5ld3lvcmt0aW1lc2luZm8uY29tL2NsaWNrP3M9MjQyNjczJmxpPV
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oAIyAUZl4UkvB4Uhpzd2lzc21hdHRzdG9ybUB5YWhvby5jby51a1gEAAAAAA~~>
Tweak Your Apps' Settings
Once you have an idea of the worst offenders, figure out ways to dial back
their data usage. Here are some common culprits and how you can curb their
appetite.
* Dropbox, Google Photos and iCloud Photos: If you take a lot of
photos and video, some apps allow you to automatically back those photos up
as you go. By default, they shouldn't back up your photos unless you're on
Wi-Fi, but if you have changed these settings in the past, they may be
eating up your data (remember, uploading counts against your data too).
Check the app's settings and turn off uploads while on cellular.
* Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: Many social networking apps have
the ability to auto-play videos as you scroll through your feed, which can
use data quickly. If you find this happening in your favorite social app,
head to the app's settings and look for the auto-playing video option - set
it to Wi-Fi only, or turn it off altogether.
* YouTube, Netflix and other video players: You probably already know
watching videos can blow through your data, but you don't have to cut
yourself off cold turkey. For a compromise, look through your binge-watching
app of choice for an option to lower the video quality. If you can stand to
watch videos in standard definition (480 pixels or below) instead of HD (720
pixels and above), you'll use less data.
* Spotify, Podcasts and other audio apps: While audio doesn't use up
nearly as much data as video, you can still chug through your allotment if
you jam from sunup to sundown. Streaming apps like Spotify allow you to
download playlists at home for offline listening. Use these features as much
as possible: Next time you're on Wi-Fi, download your favorite playlists and
grab podcast episodes before you leave home.
* App updates: It's a good idea to keep your apps up-to-date, but
letting automatic updates run wild on cellular data isn't really necessary.
On the iPhone, head to Settings > Your Name > iTunes & App Stores, and turn
Automatic Downloads off under Cellular Data. On Android, open the Google
Play Store, tap the three lines in the upper left corner, and head to
Settings > Auto-Update Apps and choose Over Wi-Fi Only.
If the app in question doesn't have a setting that does what you want, you
may be able to limit it at the operating system level. On the iPhone, head
to Settings, scroll down to the app in question and turn off Background App
Refresh, which will limit it from using data in the background. Or, from
that Settings > Cellular screen, you can toggle the switch next to any given
app to prevent it from using cellular data at all, allowing it to work only
over Wi-Fi.
Android users can tap on an app from the Mobile Data Usage screen to turn
off background data.
<https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/7nT4lGj4y2ShjjFoW4QTIA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgSJkgP0RtaH
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<https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/lhN-rQRohgDLs4mzlpAeMA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgSJkgP0RtaH
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