Do you leave the house and turn off the internet on your phone? You don't have to do this, but…

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From time to time, I hear from friends that when they go out of range of a Wi-Fi network, they turn off mobile data. This is not the best solution, because without a permanent connection to the network, it is hard to call a smartphone an ideal communication tool. And what if you want to save a data package?

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You don't have to turn off mobile internet!

Orange and other operators provide users with fast mobile internet in LTE technology. The data packages offered in individual tariffs are growing year by year. They are still not really substantial in every case. Some users try to use them sparingly (e.g. people using prepaid offers).

There are even extreme cases. Some turn off mobile internet as soon as they go out of Wi-Fi range. In this way, the user temporarily cuts off from notifications from Internet services (email, social networking sites or messengers), and does not solve any problem in this way.

If you want to save data, you should first look at the applications that use the most data. The more so that they include those programs without which most young users cannot imagine a smartphone.

Facebook devours more than you think

Social services make it much easier to share your thoughts or interesting photos or videos with your friends. Therefore, the creators of Facebook focused on a good exposure of video materials. Not only are they widely promoted in user streams, they are automatically loaded in the background and played as soon as they appear on the screen.

Source: flickr.com

Facebook app data saver is simple but hidden in settings

This process alone consumes a lot of data. Even when the user turns on the mobile internet for a moment to check "what's new on Facebook". To prevent automatic loading of data, while in the mobile network, select the "Application Settings" option in the Facebook application and go to the "Automatic Play" tab. In this one, just select the "Only using Wi-Fi" option.

People who don't care about higher resolution photos can immediately select the "Data saver" tab in Facebook settings - and enable this feature. This also prevents the video from autoplaying.

What about Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat?

The same is true for other social media services. They load photos and videos in the background to make them instantly available to the user. In the case of Twitter, to prevent this, go to the application settings and select the "Data usage" option. In it, you can turn off not only autoplay, but also generating previews of photos or jumping to higher quality recordings.

In the Instagram mobile application, you can turn on the "Use less data" mode - it is located in the "Cellular data usage" tab in the settings. Thanks to it, photos and videos will not be automatically loaded in the background.

Default photo description for the home page Source: flickr.com, photo: Andreas Eldh

Contrary to appearances, Twitter can also "eat" itself

Snapchat offers a similar option. In the application settings, find the "Manage preferences" tab, and then select "Data transfer saving mode". This will prevent Snaps and Stories from loading automatically. You will need to touch them to view the content.

Messenger can also eat its own

The basic Messenger application also has a big appetite for data. The more so that it offers access to a large number of additional functions, including broadcasts shared by friends. How to reduce the amount of data downloaded?

The simplest option is to install Messenger Lite. This is a simplified version of the program that takes much less data. Of course, it does not give access to many options (there are no floating contact icons), but it will work for people who use the application mainly for communication.

YouTube in HD quality is not the best option

Speaking of data saving than you can forget about YouTube, which tries to automatically switch to HD quality as soon as it detects a good quality link. Unfortunately, the difference in the amount of data downloaded is colossal.

Default photo description for the homepage Source: WP.PL

Disabling HD quality in YouTube is essential if we want to save data

It is worth visiting the settings of the YouTube mobile application and going to the "General" tab. In it, you can enable the "Limit mobile data" function (HD mode only in Wi-Fi networks), while deactivating "Autoplay". This should significantly affect the amount of data downloaded.

People who like to upload to YouTube from time to time should choose the Wi-Fi only upload option. It can also be found in the "General" tab.

You don't have to give up streaming

It may seem that saving mobile data and streaming movies, series or music do not go hand in hand. That's true. But that doesn't mean users can't enjoy the benefits of Netflix, Spoitfy or Tidal.

In the settings of each of these services you can find options to choose the quality of streamed content - the higher the quality, the more data, of course. So it's worth remembering to use low-quality video in Netflix or standard-quality audio files in Spotify or Tidal in cellular mode.

Default photo description for the homepage Source: Press materials

You don't have to give up streaming, but it's worth reducing the quality

Each of the mentioned services also allows you to download selected content and play them offline. You can download files in the selected quality in advance on a Wi-Fi network. And watch them later without having to use the data from the mobile package.

What about other programs?

Of course, these are just basic examples. The data saving option can be found in many other popular applications, such as WhatsApp. When using a browser, it is worth remembering that mobile websites weigh less than their full versions known from computers. In addition, selected content can be downloaded in Chrome or sent to programs that will allow you to read the article at a later time - such as Pocket.

Mobile systems also include functions for monitoring data transfer consumption by individual applications. Thanks to them, you can see which programs are downloading too much data in the background and turn them off when you go out of Wi-Fi range.

Some manufacturers add their own services of this type. The creators of Facebook recommend, for example, Protect Free VPN+Data Manager for monitoring. Another noteworthy application is DataEye (Save Mobile Data). Taking a moment to organize the settings of selected programs is a better solution than turning off mobile data. After all, why deprive yourself of the option to synchronize emails or instant messaging chats?

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