What Consumes Data on Your Cell Phone?

When selecting the best data-geared package from your mobile provider, you might think you’ll get the most out of your money. After all, it’s not that important to have unlimited calls and texts when you can have unlimited data. People don’t call each other often enough these days, and sometimes it’s just easier to send a text anyways. Plus, you can get a lot of work done on your phone during your travel commute. It’s no wonder why people look at the amount of data as a deciding factor when selecting a mobile phone plan.

What Uses the Most Data on Your Plan?

So, where does all of that unlimited data on your cell phone actually go? It may surprise you but surfing the Web doesn’t take as much data as you’d think (up to 2.5MB to download one web page). Therefore, you may ask yourself whether your provider is deceiving you and what exactly consumes all of your mobile data.

Videos. YouTube and TikTok, as the top free video platforms today, rank first in our list of applications that consume the most mobile data. Even when you’re watching HD videos or reducing the resolution to the bare minimum, YouTube and TikTok still take a lot of your time and data. People of all ages are used to watching videos during their free time, whether it’s on the way to school or work, during breaks, or in long lines.

Streaming platforms. Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and other streaming platforms take as much traffic as videos from YouTube, especially when they’re loaded and watched in their entirety.

Music. Music apps that allow you to listen to music online, and even those that allow you to download songs can be big culprits of data consumption. Apps like SoundCloud, Apple Music, Spotify, and Google Play Music, hold the top positions for iPhones and Androids.

Online games. Both simple games (like Diamonds, Candy Crush, or Pokémon Go) and more complex ones (like Fortnite and Minecraft) play a big role in the lives of young people. They also play a big role in using up your mobile phone data.

Social networks. Apps for communication and sharing, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter also consume a lot of data. Skype, Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, Viber, and WhatsApp download or store all the videos and photos shared through them. These VoIP apps also enable you to call a person by using data rather than your plan minutes.

Tip #1. Many providers offer these so-called unlimited data packages. You get a certain amount of data (30-50GB on average) which may seem endless initially. However, after you hit your data limit for the month, your Internet speed will be throttled. Be sure to read all the conditions of your mobile phone plan very carefully.

Tip #2. Using your mobile phone as a hotspot for other devices may reduce your remaining data significantly. Try to use Wi-Fi whenever possible to avoid extra charges and untimely data termination.

What Uses Data on iPhone?

Among the top data consumption apps for iPhone, you’ll find Google Maps, Spotify, as well as many social networking and photo and video editing apps. To check the amount of data you’ve used, go to Settings >Cellular or Mobile Data.

Here are some ways to reduce data consumption on iPhone:

• In settings, you can limit your app download and update options to using Wi-Fi instead of data. Go to Settings >General >Software Update.
• You can control the updates and synchronization of background apps by going to Settings >General and by adjusting each app.
• You can also set the video quality for YouTube to minimize data losses. The data usage will be low by default, but it’ll be enough for watching funny videos on your phone.

What Uses Data on Android?

Social networking applications, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter hold the leading positions in Google Play Market. To check the amount of data you’re using, go to Settings >Wireless Networks/Networks and Internet >Data Usage or Mobile Data. You can also check by going to Settings >Connections >Data Usage. You can set time alerts when reaching a certain data limit. You can also download various data-compressing apps for Androids and switch off background data usage.

To reduce data consumption, we also recommend that you:

1. Pay attention to mail synchronization.
2. Not leave GPS and navigation turned on all the time. You can download an offline map from Google Maps.
3. Use mobile versions of websites.
   
   

Unless you have an actual unlimited data package, find out what uses most of the data on your phone and learn how to save it right now. Use our tips for Android and iPhone to save data on your device and get the most out of your plan.