Data Saving Challenge

Smartphones are capable of doing an incredible number of things now. A hell of a lot more than was even imaginable when smartphones first found a home in our pockets.

One of the downsides of this is the amount of data we now use. Mobile networks do offer packages with up to 20Gb of data but these can be a little pricey and might not fit everyones budget.

With costs rising, and data usage increasing, more and more people go over thier limit each month.

So at Y Gadget we have been looking at different way's you can save those precious megabytes and keep doing what you're doing.

Set Your Limit

If you're using an Android deivce, you can set a limit of how much data you can use in a month and set an alert for when you're getting close.

It is slightly different to set up on each individual device but it should be similar to the following; Settings>Network>Data Usage. Make sure you know what your data allowance and your bill date then change the settings accordingly. Set yourself a limit just below your allowance so you know when to cut back and look for public WiFi. Apps like 3G Watchdog work in a similar way, but offer more fine tuning than the stock tools.

Background Data

Aside fromt the apps you're probably aware of, there are dozens of apps running in the background using little bits of data all day long. Granted, they might only use a couple of hundred KB's over the course of the month but if you have a lot of apps then it will soon add up.

If there's an app that you don't want constantly refreshing and using data, you can select each one individualy and restrict their background usuage. Some of the apps using data will surprise you and restricting them won't make any difference to how they work.

Auto Play Videos

Those videos on Facebook and Twitter, that you see silently playing as you scroll through your timeline, are already buffered and streaming before you even press play. Think about the amount of times you scroll past a viral video on social media every day. Going in to the apps settings and turning Autoplay off or even just to 'On Wifi only' will amount to huge data savings every month.

Go to the Facebook and Twitter app now and look for 'autoplay' in settings.

Why Whatsapp?

We have all fallen in to a bit of a trap of sending messages through Whatsapp, Hangouts, and other messaging services which all use data instead of SMS. This is fine for sending pictures and videos as it will stop us running up a huge bill by sending multimedia messages. But each message we send and recieve is using a little bit more data each time. I wonder how many unused, free text messages we have left on each months tarrif. Shouldn't we put them to good use and use them first and formost then resort back to whatsapp when we run out of free texts?

iPhone users, unfortunately for you, iMessage is as much of a data sucker as whatsapp. We know you can't be without your precious iMessage but just be aware data saving won't be as easy.

Opera Max

Opera Max is an app available on Android that compresses websites, pictures, and even videos in order to save you data on both mobile and WiFi.

Once the app is installed it will work with apps such as Facebook, Twitter, instagram, YouTube, Netflix...you get the idea.

Opera claims to save you up to 50% of the data you normally use which will make all the difference if you find yourself getting cut off towards the end of the month.

It also gives usage statistics, which is nice. That way you can be sure the app is doing what it says on the tin.

Opera Mini and Opera Coast

Opera Max simply wouldn't work on iOS but that doesn't mean they have forgotten about iPhone and iOS users. Opera Mini is a powerful web browser available on Android and iOS that works in pretty much the same way as Opera Max but only for the web pages you browse and not for external apps like Netflix, YouTube, and Facebook.

Opera Coast is only available on iOS unfortunately. It's another browser but with a few nice touches. As well as a unique design for a web browser, smart searching, and built in protection, Coast will also suggest articles from your favourite sites, right on the home page.

TIP: If you're using iOS, running low on data, and desperately need to show somebody that MKBHD video...you can always go to the good old youtube.com website. Remember that? don't forget to scroll Facebook in the same way.

Public WiFi

WAIT! Don't dismiss this straight away. Public WiFi can be a God send and it doesn't have to be a chore signing in when you need to use it.

Cloud, BT and O2 WiFi all have an app available for iOS and Android that will sign you in automatically when you're in range. All you need to do is sign in to the app once. As soon as you're in range you will be able to watch and browse as normal.

A little known fact is that BT broadband hubs emit two singals. One just for your and the people in your home, and one for the public. Thousands of people in the UK will have one of the new BT Superhubs in thier homes, and with Virgin Media rolling out the same thing this year, public WiFi will blanket the majority of the UK.

Leave The Switch On

Long gone are the days where leaving WiFi and Bluetooth turned on would have a serious effect on your battery life. So, to be blunt, stop being paranoid and just leave it turned on. This may sound overly simple but how else are you going to automatically connect to public WiFi? And beyond that, we all have a million and one things to do every day. When we come home, we are usually preoccupied with so many over things that we might be home for a few hours before we remember to turn the wifi setting back on. Think of all those precious megabytes that have needlesly been wasted when you're broadband could have taken the hit instead.

Thanks for reading! As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and click the icons to share us with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+

Until next time…

#tips #data #mobile #apps #ios #android #operamini #operaMax