Ways To Cut Down On Your Mobile Data Usage

We are a nation of people who can’t be without their phones. Whether that’s having it with us at work, having it in our hand when we’re watching telly so we can scroll in the next ad break or sleeping with it right beside our heads. But phone contracts can be pretty expensive now. My last contract for an iPhone was about £75 a month. Yes, it included the phone but it was mainly because I ended up with 100gb of data. I didn’t need that much data but I didn’t want to worry about running low as I use my phone ALL THE TIME! Here are some tips I’ve learnt on how to cut down on your mobile data usage so you can get a better deal on your contract.

Change your Instagram and Twitter to the use-less data function

When you initially get apps they’re going to use as much data as possible. And I know when I look at my mobile data usage Instagram is always right near the top. Yes, I use it a lot but it’s significantly higher than anything else.

You can change both your Instagram and Twitter to use less data. Yes, photos and videos will take a little longer to load, but it will cut down on your data massively. To do this on Twitter go to Settings, Privacy, and Data Usage. Then on Instagram go to the settings menu, accounts, mobile data use and click Use Less Data.

Cut back on your mobile data usage by stopping Facebook from auto-playing videos

Every time Facebook auto-plays a video it’s using your data so to cut down on your mobile data usage you can stop them from doing this. Plus how many times do you actually watch the video in your newsfeed? Exactly! And I don’t know about you but too many times videos have started auto-playing very loudly in situations I didn’t want.

To do this just head to Settings, Account Settings, and then Videos and Photos. You can select to turn off Autoplay or set it do only play when you’re connected to WiFi.

Download Spotify playlists rather than streaming music

Streaming music on the go with Spotify is amazing and can turn a dull train right into something bearable on a Monday morning. But streaming music can use up a lot of data and you’re relying on the signal which we know is intermittent on certain trains/ tubes. When you’re at home and connected to WiFi download any playlists you think you may want to listen to or that new album you’ve been meaning to give a go.

This means when you’re out and about you can listen to music you’ve downloaded and not use any data. Another win for cutting back on usage.

Cut down on your mobile data usage by switching your Spotify quality to normal and not automatic

When you are streaming music on Spotify you can change the quality from automatic to normal. On most pairs of headphones it’s likely you won’t even notice the difference, I didn’t really. But doing this will help you cut down on your mobile data usage if you do need to stream. You can even choose low quality if you’re really trying to save your data.

This is especially great when you’re out and about a lot and just need something to listen to. Just click Settings and Music Quality and you can select your choice. Having a play around with the different ones when you’re connected to WiFi and see whether you can really notice the difference.

Change your Youtube settings so videos only play in HD when you’re on Wifi

Where you’re cutting your data usage on other social media platforms you can do the same for YouTube. You can choose to only play videos in HD when you’re connected to WiFi. So when WiFi is available you’ll see the videos in all of their high definition quality. But when you’re using data you can limit it.

In the YouTube app go into Settings, General, and tap the switch on for Limit Mobile Data Usage.

Download Google Maps to use offline to save data

If you’re always going to new spots in town, or are heading on holiday and don’t want to use loads of data looking for directions you can download areas on Google Maps. Just open Google Maps, tap the menu icon at the side of the search bar and click offline maps.

When you do this you can drag an area you’d like to save and you can access it whenever and wherever you like without using data. You’ll still be able to search for directions but be warned it uses a lot of your phone’s storage. So delete any from trips you may no longer need.

Connect to Wifi whenever you can

Perhaps the easiest and best way to cut down on your mobile data usage is to connect to WiFi whenever you can. I’m really bad and even when I’m at home and can connect to good WiFi I don’t and I let my phone continue to use data. If there is WiFi make use of it as it’s available all over including restaurants, shops, public transport, airports, hotels and so many more.

Save your data for the moments when you have no other choice!

How much mobile data do you use?

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