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ZDNET Highlights
- Be careful if you have limited mobile data.
- This feature can save you money.
- You control whether apps can use data in the background.
For some people, the idea of saving and controlling data usage on a phone isn’t really a problem. If you don’t have an unlimited data plan, that’s a different story. I’ve been in situations like this before where my phone warns me that I’ve gone over 2GB of data (I don’t remember how much data my plan gives me). When that happens, I put on the brakes.
When such incidents happen, I’m glad Android makes it easy for me to take control of data usage. Along with stopping Android apps from running in the background, you’ll have more control over what you can enjoy than you thought.
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If this sounds like something you could use, read on, and I’ll show you how easy it is.
How to Use Data Saver Mode on Android
The first thing you’ll want to do is enable Data Saver mode, which prevents certain apps from sending and/or receiving data in the background. What does it mean? For example, if Data Saver is enabled and you visit a website in your browser, images will not load until you tap them. Additionally, video and audio will not play automatically.
Here’s how you enable the Data Saver feature.
Open the Settings app by pulling down the notification shade twice and then tapping on the gear icon at the bottom right. Another option is to open the app drawer, find Settings launcher and tap on it.
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From within the Settings app, go to “Network & Internet.” On that page, find and tap Data Saver. Note: On some Android phones, this feature is found in Settings > “Mobile Networks”.
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Always remember to turn off Data Saver when not needed.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
On the resulting page, tap the On/Off switch to use Data Saver until it appears in the On position.
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At this point, Android will restrict background data usage, so you shouldn’t worry so much about going over your limit.
How to Control Background Data Usage on Android
Here’s the kicker. When you enable Data Saver, every app you install will be subject to its restrictions. This is great, but you may find apps that don’t work properly. When this happens, you’ll need to allow that app to bypass that data usage restriction.
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This is quite simple. On the Data Saver page, you’ll see an option labeled “Unrestricted mobile data.” Tap that entry.
You should now see a list of all the apps installed on your phone. Scroll through that list, find the app that needs to ignore the restriction, and tap the corresponding On/Off slider until it moves to the On position.
Make sure to enable all apps that will work properly without enabling the Data Saver feature.
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One thing to keep in mind is to disable Data Saver when you’re not in danger of exceeding your data limit.
And that’s all there is to saving data and controlling data usage on Android.
