Our mobile phone is one modern convenience most of us depend a lot on.
As you well know, mobile devices have evolved into pocket-sized computers; capable of messaging, web surfing, video conferencing, gaming, photography, GPS navigation, social networking, fitness tracking and handling work documents. Oh, and they let you make calls, too!
Most fun things you can do on and with a smartphone today requires ‘data’; hence you are likely to be on a monthly plan with your carrier. With that platform you a given a certain number of megabytes (Mb) or gigabytes (Gb) to use up within that period.
If you find yourself close to your limit or going over, the following are some tips and tricks to help you maximize data usage on your mobile device.
Be sure to properly close all apps when not in use, because they might be running in the background and thus using up data (and battery). With iPhone, for instance, double-tap the Home button and swipe up to close apps; Android users can usually press and hold the Home button and swipe apps to the right to close them (on new Samsung phones, tap the lower-left icon to close open apps).
Try to limit apps that have regularly ‘pushed’ content – such as mail apps, stock quotes, weather updates, live sport scores or any such thing. If not done, your smartphone will use up data on an ongoing basis. The more apps you have that require online updates, the more data you will consume.
Try to save the activities that eat up a lot of data, like streaming video, for periods when you are in a Wi-Fi network area at home, or at the office. Do you really need to watch YouTube videos while in line at the supermarket? No, you can do that while on your computer at home.
While it is tempting, try not to create a personal hotspot with your smartphone, and then wirelessly tether a laptop or tablet to it to get online, as it can eat up your data. And yes, using a USB cable to tether your phone to your laptop also uses up the same amount of data.
If you need to do any major email correspondence, extensive web surfing, streaming or downloading, ask yourself if it can wait until you get to a computer. Just because you can do it on a smartphone does not mean you should, especially over cellular connectivity.
In your email settings, turn off “Push” mail if you really don’t need to know whenever an email comes in right away. Then, when in a Wi-Fi hotspot, “pull” it all down. On a related note, enter your email settings to choose “View only,” rather than downloading full attachments.
Prior to download and use, try to find apps that use less data by doing your research. For instance, a GPS navigation app called CoPilot Live Premium HD does not use up any data at all, whereas Google Maps and Apple Maps do eat up data while you are getting directions.
Instant Messaging (IM) programs are affordable solutions for friends who want to keep in touch. Programs like WhatsApp, BBM, Kik or Facebook Messenger use little data, they are fast and reliable, and they offer advantages over texting (such as getting a confirmation when a message has been delivered and read).
Do not update apps over the air if you can do it on your computer and then synchronize the updates to your smartphone via a USB cable. You may want to charge up your phone via your computer’s port anyway, perhaps before you go to sleep, therefore sync apps over the cable instead of downloading them over cellular connectivity.
When traveling to another country, be sure you are well aware of their roaming rates as it will be significantly higher (and on top of) your existing data plan. Some carriers offer various travel plans, so be sure to consider one to avoid a nasty surprise on your bill. When in doubt, disable data roaming in the Options/Settings section of your smartphone!
Chima Michael Oleru
