Netflix app new update allows you to control your mobile data usage, Google Play Music, Snapchat too offer an option to reduce mobile data usage. Unless you're a stickler for audio or video quality, enabling the lowest quality setting in a music or video app will likely go unnoticed. Travel Mode in Snapchat doesn't reduce the overall quality, but it does stop the app from preloading stories and other content within the app.

Hey Tech fans and lovers, today you will get to know the different ways to reduce Data Usage in your Android phone(s). There are several ways and to how much expensive data is in Kenya we all have to know this. Before we start note that individual data savings will vary and also it varies between ISPs, but these several ways does cut my data usage in half. You can adapt these tips for the apps you use the most or your particular usage habits. Let’s do this!

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Restrict Background Data

My very first option and the easiest way to save data is to tell your apps (or the Android system itself) to restrict background data. This works in all Android Smartphone from Donut v1.6  to Marshmallow v6.0 although settings have changed through time background data settings is here to stay. Background data is all that internet traffic that goes on when you're not actually using an app: email syncing, feeds updating, weather widgets and so on. With Background Data option off you have the powers to tell your phone what is allowed to use your mobile data bundles and at what time.

You can also tell the Android system to restrict background data in Settings > Data usage > Restrict Background Data or for individual apps in Settings > Apps (depending on which version of Android you have). You can also change your sync settings for Google services in Settings > Accounts > Google > select the account and then un-check the services you don't want to sync automatically.

Disable Auto-Updating apps

Another huge huge drain of your data allowance comes from the occasional bout of Google Play app updating. If you have the Play Store set to auto-update apps, even over a data connection, this could be chewing its way through your allowance every month without you even knowing.

To check, go to the Play Store and swipe out the left-hand navigation drawer. Tap Settings and at the top, you'll see Auto-Update Apps. Tap this and make sure you either have it set to 'Do not auto-update apps' or 'Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only'. To manage individual apps, go to My Apps, select an app and then tap the overflow menu to check, or un-check Auto-Update.

Compress Chrome Pages

If you use Chrome for all your web traffic, this tip alone can save you 30-35 percent of your mobile browser data consumption. The Data Saver option compresses web pages before loading them in your browser.

Using Data Saver does slow things down a tiny bit, but you quickly get used to it and a moment's delay is worth it when your data lasts so much longer. Just launch Chrome, tap the three dots in the top right-hand corner, go down to Settings and then to Data Saver. Keep an eye on the graph to see your data savings grow.

Opera video compression

The Opera for Android browser now has a very useful video compression option, which can save you a load of data if you're frequently watching videos on the go. To use it, simply download the Opera browser, go to Settings > Data savings and tick the box that says Video compression. 
This setting not only saves you data, but also means that videos are more likely to load faster.

 Reduce streaming quality

Netflix app new update allows you to control your mobile data usage, Google Play Music, Snapchat too offer an option to reduce mobile data usage. Unless you're a stickler for audio or video quality, enabling the lowest quality setting in a music or video app will likely go unnoticed. Travel Mode in Snapchat doesn't reduce the overall quality, but it does stop the app from preloading stories and other content within the app.

The option to restrict preloading content or lower the overall streaming quality isn't limited to these three apps; make sure to look through the Settings section of apps like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for similar options.

Stop using the Facebook app

Facebook's mobile site uses far less data, doesn't run in the background, and will still send you alerts for new comments or posts. The Facebook app consumers a huge amount of data, not to mention its high resource use and battery drain.

 Store music and movies offline

Streaming services like YouTube, Spotify, Vine and other video and music sites drains a lot of data. When using an unlimited WiFi connection, download content and store in your Android device or upload your most played music from your PC to your phone so that that tune or album you're constantly listening to at the gym or on the way to work is always available offline, you'll use much less data by playing it from your phone directory and listening to it offline, than endlessly streaming it from the web.

It won't require as much space on your phone and it's easy to get rid of or replace later. If you can curb your streaming cravings, even just a little, you'll see a huge reduction in data consumption.

Identify and limit/uninstall high data consuming apps

Apart from disabling Background Data you can also identify individual apps that use up a lot of your data then limit them or just uninstalling them if you don't use them. 

Take WhatsApp or Gmail, for example. On my phone, WhatsApp has downloaded 81.55 MB of chats in the background. If I felt I didn't use the app enough to justify that much data use, I could remove the app, limit how often it syncs by disabling its background data feature or prevent it from downloading either images, videos, documents and audio or just stop all and in Gmail I stop sync and download of attachments of which would highly reduce my data consumption.

Navigate on Google Maps offline

Google Maps can use up quite a bit of your mobile data if you're not careful, but thankfully it is possible to use Google Maps offline.

Use Google Docs offline

Google Maps isn't the only Google app you can use offline. If you want to make edits to important documents without it using up your mobile data, you can.

Avoid browsing huge websites

What I mean by huge websites are those websites that have a lot of high quality pictures, gifs and adverts mostly motion pictures and videos.