Will an app use my mobile data?

 

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Will an app use my mobile data?

Opening up an app on a smartphone by tapping on it

What's coming up?

It’s always a good idea to make sure that your smartphone isn’t wasting your monthly mobile data allowance.

In this activity, you will learn how apps use data from the internet, and to check how much they’re using.

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How apps use data

Apps use data from the internet in two ways:

  • When installing or updating.
  • When downloading information from the internet. A maps app, for example, downloads data to show your location and provide directions.

That data comes to the apps on your device via a Wi-Fi network, or your smartphone’s mobile data plan. So, which one should you use?

An illustration showing a smartphone using the internet
A pie chart showing how much mobile data allowance has been used compared to how much the cheaper Wi-Fi data has been used by apps

What kind of data are your apps using?

Mobile data is expensive, so it’s best to use and update apps over Wi-Fi. But this isn’t always possible.

That’s why it’s good to know which apps use the most data, and limit their use when you’re out and about with your smart device.

Which apps use a lot of data on Apple devices?

Next is a video that will show you how to find out which apps on an Apple iPhone are using more data than others.

On the next slide, click the play button on the video to watch it. You can also click anywhere on the video to pause or restart it.

Check mobile data usage on an iPhone or iPad

This demonstration video is approximately 2 minutes and 36 seconds in duration. It demonstrates how to check how much mobile data your apps are using on an iPhone. There is text and animation on stage throughout the video.

Once the video starts, the intro panel fades and we see the screen is split into two parts. On the left-hand side is an animation of an iPhone. On the right-hand side, there is text displayed, which is the script for the voiceover track.

Voiceover: "You can check how much data your apps are using at any time. You can do this by using an option found in 'Settings'. Let's take a look at how to do this. Tap on the Settings icon."

The left-hand panel zooms in a little and highlights the Settings icon. We see the icon being tapped to open up the iPhone's settings panel.

Voiceover: "Tap on Mobile."

The left-hand panel highlights the Mobile option with a green circle, and we see this option being tapped to open the Mobile settings panel.

Voiceover: "Scroll down to 'MOBILE DATA'."

The left-hand panel scrolls the page down until we see the section we are looking for, which is highlighted with a green circle.

Voiceover: "You will see the total amount of mobile data used by all apps for the Current Period."

The left-hand panel highlights the location of the Current Period data, which is showing 8.9KB of data has been used so far in this period. We then scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to find the 'Reset Statistics' button.

Voiceover: "Scroll down to the bottom and you'll' see 'Reset Statistics'. You can press this to reset the counter. This is handy if you want to track how much mobile data has been used in a single day, for example. Underneath that is the date of the last reset."

The left-hand panel zooms in a little so we can read the last reset date. We then scroll up the page a little to check the current period, which shows the duration since the last reset. In this case it is showing 8 hours and 7 minutes since the last reset.

Voiceover: "The Current Period is the time spent on phone calls since that date."

The left-hand panel scrolls back to the top of the list to see some more options.

Voiceover: "There is also a list of apps, each with a switch next to them. The number next to the app name shows how much data that app has used in the current period."

The left-hand panel zooms in to look at how much data the Apple Watch app has used in the current period, which is showing 8.3MB of data used.

Voiceover: "The data is measured in Kilobytes (KB), Megabytes (MB - a thousand times a KB) or Gigabytes (GB - a thousand times a MB). In this example, the Watch app has used 8.3 megabytes of data."

Voiceover: "If you think some apps are using too much data, you can stop them from using more. To turn off data to an app, tap the green switch next to it. The app will not use mobile data until you switch it back on again."

The left-hand panel highlights the green switch alongside the Watch app and we see it being tapped to switch it off. The switch turns from green to grey, to indicate the Watch will no longer use mobile data until you switch it back on again.

Video ends.

Which apps use a lot of data on Android devices?

Next is a video that will show you how to find out which apps on an Android phone are using more data than others. The steps vary between different types of Android device, but should be close enough for you to follow along if your device is slightly different to our demonstration.

On the next slide, click the play button on the video to watch it. You can also click anywhere on the video to pause or restart it.

Check mobile data usage on an Android smartphone or tablet

This demonstration video is approximately 1 minute and 28 seconds in duration. It demonstrates how to check how much mobile data your apps are using on an Android smartphone. There is text and animation on stage throughout the video.

Once the video starts, the intro panel fades and we see the screen is split into two parts. On the left-hand side is an animation of a typical Android smartphone, such as a Samsung. On the right-hand side, there is text displayed, which is the script for the voiceover track.

Voiceover: "There is a way to check how much mobile data apps are using. The steps may vary between Android phone models, but most will be similar to the following example. Find the Settings app. Tap the Settings app icon. "

The left-hand panel shows the Settings app highlighted and tapped, then we scroll down the list of options to find the Network & Internet option.

Voiceover: "Tap the Network & Internet setting. On some phones, this may be called 'Connections & Wireless' or 'Networks'. It appears near the top of the list."

The left-hand panel shows the Network and Internet setting option being tapped, and then the Data Usage option is highlighted.

Voiceover: "Choose the setting called Data Usage."

The left-hand panel shows the Data Usage option being tapped, which opens another list of options, including Mobile data usage.

Voiceover: "Scroll down to Mobile Data usage and tap it. A list of your installed apps then appears. You should then be able to see which apps use mobile data and how much data they have used so far."

The left-hand panel shows the Mobile data usage option being tapped and we then see a list of apps that use mobile data, along with the amounts of data they use.

Video ends.

Well done!

You’ve completed the Will an app use all my data? activity.

Coming up next, if you have registered and are logged into the Be Connected website, you’ll now be able to take a short quiz to finish the Managing and deleting apps course.

If you’re not registered, you are now at the end of the course.

Enjoying a cuppa and a quick check of the cricket score on a smartphone app