10 Best Ways to Reduce Data Usage on iPhone

10 Best Ways to Reduce Data Usage on iPhone.

Your iPhone is consuming more data than before. You know this because you keep exceeding your data limits by incurring extra charges on your mobile data bill almost every month.

Read :Â how to reduce Other storage on iPhone

This guide shows you how to reduce data usage on your iPhone by changing some system and app settings. You’ll also learn how to use the data saving features of some apps to reduce the amount of data your iPhone consumes.

1. Enable Low Data Mode

Low Data Mode is a feature that reduces data consumption on devices running iOS 13 or later. This feature achieves this by temporarily pausing large data processing processes such as automatic updates and downloads, data synchronization, and other background tasks.

Low data mode may reduce the quality of streaming content. Follow these steps to turn on low data mode for mobile data on your iPhone.

Go to Settings and tap Cellular (or Mobile Data). Select Cellular Options (or Mobile Data Options). Turn on Low Data Mode. li>

If your iPhone and carrier support a 5G connection, go to Settings > Cellular (or Mobile Data) > Cellular Options (or Mobile Data Options) > Data Mode and turn on “Low data mode”.

For a dual SIM iPhone, go to Settings > Cellular (or Mobile Data), select your SIM/data number, and turn on low data mode.

2. Disable Cellular Data for Unneeded Apps

View the list of apps using mobile data and turn off data access for apps you rarely or never use.

Go to Settings > Cellular Data (or Mobile Data) and navigate to the Cellular Data section.

iOS lists apps in descending order of data consumption (i.e. from highest to lowest). View data usage statistics and switch cellular or mobile data for apps that work great offline without internet access.

3. Disable Wi-Fi Assist

Wi-Fi Assist is an iOS feature that makes sure your iPhone stays connected to the internet when you have a poor or slow Wi-Fi connection. Let’s say your iPhone won’t load webpages or play music when connected to a Wi-Fi network, iOS will automatically switch to cellular data.

While this is a great feature, it can cause your iPhone to use more cellular data than usual. Wi-Fi Assist is enabled by default in iOS. Go to your iPhone’s settings menu and disable this feature if you have a restricted or restricted cellular plan.

Go to Settings > Cellular (or Mobile Data), scroll down the page and turn off Wi-Fi Assistance. You should see a preview of how much cellular data Wi-Fi Assist has consumed.

4. Disable Mobile Data Usage for iCloud Drive

A Wi-Fi connection is best suited for data synchronization operations. Don’t share files from iCloud Drive using a cellular connection unless you have an unlimited cellular plan. Check the settings menu and make sure your iPhone isn’t transferring files to iCloud Drive using mobile data.

Open the Settings app, tap Cellular (or Mobile Data), scroll all the way down, and turn off iCloud Drive.

5. Disable Background App Refresh for Cellular Data

Background app refresh allows apps to get new data and fresh content while they are paused in the background. While background app refresh has its benefits, this feature results in increased cellular data usage and battery drain issues.

Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh > Background App Refresh and select Wi-Fi.

This will limit the use of background data to connect to the cellular network and reduce overall data consumption.

6. Disable Automatic App Updates & Downloads for Cellular Data

If you have multiple devices linked to your Apple ID, iOS can automatically download apps and purchases made on other devices to your iPhone. Similarly, the App Store automatically updates apps in the background using mobile data.

Check your App Store settings to make sure these actions are using Wi-Fi and not mobile data.

Go to Settings > App Store and turn off Automatic Downloads under Cellular Data.

Then prevent the App Store from automatically playing app preview videos using cellular data. Click Autoplay Video and select Wi-Fi Only.

7. Change Download Settings for Audio Streaming Apps

If you’re streaming or purchasing content from Apple Music or Podcasts, make sure apps aren’t downloading content in the background using mobile data.

Go to Settings > Podcasts > Cellular Downloads and turn off Allow Over Cellular and Turn On When Subscribed under Automatic Downloads.

For Apple Music, open Settings, tap Music, and turn off Automatic Downloads.

If you prefer the Spotify music app, lowering your streaming quality can save you bandwidth. Open Spotify, go to the “Settings” menu, select “Sound Quality” and select “Low” or “Normal” under “Cellular Streaming”.

8. Enable Low Power Mode

The main purpose of Low Power Mode is to extend the battery life of your iPhone. However, this feature also disables data-intensive processes such as auto-uploads, iCloud Photos, background app refresh, etc., thereby reducing data usage.

Open Settings, select Battery, and turn on Low Power Mode. Better yet, open the iPhone Control Center and tap the battery icon.

9. Configure Your Apps to Use Less Data

Sometimes third-party instant messaging apps automatically download media using cellular data. Check your messaging app settings to make sure that automatic media downloads only happen over Wi-Fi.

For example, in WhatsApp, go to Settings > Storage & Data and make sure that “Automatic media download” is set to “Wi-Fi” for all media types.

We also recommend that you turn on less call data. This is an option that reduces data consumption for voice and video calls.

On Facebook, tap the menu icon, go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Multimedia, select Data Saver in the Video Quality settings. Also, set the app to automatically play videos over Wi-Fi only.

Twitter also has a data saver feature that reduces data usage by downloading lower quality images and turning off automatic video playback.

Open the Twitter Settings & Privacy menu, go to Accessibility, Display & Languages â€‹â€‹> Data Usage, and turn on Data Saver.

High quality streaming uses a lot of data. So reduce the playback quality in your streaming apps specifically for mobile data.

On YouTube, go to Settings > Video Quality Settings > On Mobile Networks and select Data Saver. Check out this guide to minimizing your YouTube data usage for more tips.

Do this for frequently used applications. Check the settings menu for save data options, visit the app support website, or contact the developers for help.

10. Turn Off Cellular Data (When Not In Use)

Turn off cellular data if you don’t need it. For example, when you are playing an offline game, reading a book, or going to bed. Do this for a few days or weeks and see the results.