If you are on a limited data plan, you may be feeling the pinch with modern websites getting heavier with lots of media to load, among other things. However, if you are using an Android device, there are a lot of things you can do to lower the data usage. While there are some other root-dependent apps that will cut down on data usage drastically, non-rooted users have more than enough options to reduce data consumption on Android.
Reduce Data Usage Using These Apps
Opera Browser
As an ex-Symbian user, I’ve been a long time Opera user. While on Symbian, Opera Mini was the only way to browse the web without losing hair, Android has a lot of options. However, none of them are as good as Opera when it comes to data savings. Opera Turbo, the browser’s built-in data saving feature, can help reduce data consumption (while browsing the internet in Opera) by more than 80%.Chrome Data Saver
Chrome got a data saver feature a year or so ago. The option to enable Data Saver feature is available in Settings. While it won’t save as much data as Opera Turbo, it is still good enough. Since it does not compress data as much as Opera Turbo, images are of better quality than in Opera.Opera Max – Data Saver
If you want to continue to enjoy data savings system-wide without hampering your smartphone usage, you can try Opera Max. By routing the traffic through a VPN, Opera Max will help you save data across all your apps and games. Whether you are streaming a video or viewing images, Opera Max will compress them (depending on your settings) and help you to cut down on your data usage.Other Ways to Reduce Data Usage
Play Local Music
I have never been a big fan of streaming music – not only does it kill the battery faster, it also ends up eating a lot of data. Try to store some of your favourite albums on your phone. Alternately, you can download a playlist when connected to Wi-Fi and play it offline when on the move.Download Maps for Offline use
Google Maps was recently updated with true offline maps and navigation. I’ve been a big fan of Here Maps for its offline maps feature, but with Google Maps also supporting it now, you have more than one option!
Disable App Auto-updates
I always make it a point to disable auto-update of apps. Not only does it help in saving precious data, it is also a lot more interesting to read changelogs of app and game updates.Restrict Background Data
Finally, if you are really running out of your data allowance and don’t want apps to eat it up in the background, you can go into Settings -> Data Usage and enable “Restrict Background Data”. Apps won’t be able to use mobile data in the background with this enabled.Are there any other apps or ways that you use to reduce data usage? Let us know in the comments.