How to monitor and limit your data usage on an Android phone

Introduction:

Smartphones are amazing tools that allow us to stay connected to the world in a million different ways, but the cost of all that connectivity can be high if we're not careful. Data usage is one of the most important factors to consider when it comes to minimizing our phone bills, and it's not always easy to keep track of how much data we're using. In this article, we'll teach you how to monitor and limit your data usage on an Android phone.

SET A DATA LIMIT

Whether you have an unlimited data plan or not, it's a good idea to keep an eye on your data usage. If you go over your monthly allotment, you could be paying a lot more for additional data. Luckily, Android has some built-in tools to help you do just that. You can have your phone issue a warning if you’re nearing your data limit before the end of your monthly billing cycle. You can even set a limit beyond which your phone won’t use mobile data at all. To set a data limit: Go to Settings > Network & internet > Internet and tap on the gear icon next to your carrier’s name. On the same page, you can toggle Set data limit on. This will turn off your mobile data completely when it hits whatever limit you set.

USE DATA SAVER MODE

Unless you have a much older version of Android (earlier than 8.0), your phone should come equipped with Data Saver mode, which kicks in when you’re not on Wi-Fi and ensures that only apps and services that are being actively used won’t be able to stream data in the background. It’s very easy to turn Data Saver mode on and off – just go into your phone’s settings and look for the Data Saver option. There may be specific apps that you want to allow to use background data, even when Data Saver mode is on. For example, you may want to get Twitter notifications no matter where you are, but don’t want Facebook to keep refreshing in the background. In that case, you can go into Facebook’s settings and disable Background Refresh for the app.

LIMIT DATA USAGE ON SPECIFIC APPS

If you're looking for a more granular way to limit your data usage, Android offers a Data Saver mode. This will limit all data usage on your phone, but you can be more specific and choose which apps shouldn't be restricted. To do this, go to Settings > Network & internet > Internet, Scroll down to and select Non-carrier data usage. You'll get a list of all the apps that are have used data over the last month and how much they have used. (You can change the period of time to look at by tapping on the time). From here, you can decide whether an app should be restricted or not.

Conclusion:

There are many ways to monitor and limit your data usage on an Android phone. By following the tips in this article, you can keep your data usage under control and avoid expensive overage charges.