≡× MENU

• Interior
• Windows
• Walls
• Projects
• Buildings

How to reduce mobile traffic on Android. Mobile Internet Traffic - How to Find out and Save

Watching streaming videos, listening to music online, surfing websites, monitoring email and social networks are things that owners of modern gadgets cannot do without. However, the extensive capabilities of your phone sometimes come to naught, because mobile operators continue to introduce traffic restrictions in order to siphon money from subscribers. For this reason, saving expensive megabytes is not only possible, but even necessary!

Disabling auto updates

If you use 3G or LTE technologies for network access and want to save on mobile Internet, the first thing you need to do is disable automatic software updates on your smartphone!

Android operating system:

• go to Google Play;
• swipe to open the left side panel;
• click "Settings";
• In the “Auto-update applications” column, select the “Only via Wi-Fi network” option.

iOS operating system:

• click system settings;
• open the AppStore item;
• Disable the “Cellular Data” button by first going to the “Updates” section in the “Automatic Downloads” menu.

Note! Phones that function without operating system, this procedure is not needed, because software updates on such devices occur only by flashing them or by purposefully downloading installation files from the Internet. This also applies to subscribers who download network data via EDGE/GPRS. In this case, online markets will independently block application upgrades due to a slow connection.

Traffic limiting

In order to fully control the use of network traffic by system and third-party programs, you will need to set the required limit in accordance with the tariff plan.

On an Android smartphone, you can limit data transfer as follows:

• go to “Settings”;
• then select the “Data Use” sub-item;
• Click “Set limit” and indicate the allowed number of megabytes.

In turn, in order to perform similar manipulations on the iPhone, you will have to download a third-party application from the AppStore. The free Traffic Monitor utility is just one of these.

Removing widgets

Currently, the Android OS and a number of less popular ones are burdened with the problem of power-hungry widgets. mobile platforms. However, it can be quickly resolved by simply deleting the information block from the desktop.

Statistics show that when performing one-time views of the content of interest in the browser, significantly less traffic is required compared to requests from a widget that craves uninterrupted connection to the Internet.

Refusal to sync

Again, regardless of how you access the network - LTE, 3G or legacy EDGE, your smartphone regularly synchronizes available applications with remote servers. In order to avoid this and save money accordingly, you just need to disable it:

• Android: “System settings – Accounts – Turn off synchronization/Wi-Fi only”;
• iOS: step No. 1 “System settings – iCloud Drive – turn off Cellular data”, step No. 2 “System settings – iTunes, AppStore – turn off Cellular data”.

Compressing traffic via browser

How is traffic compression done? It's very simple. When you view web pages with the optimized data reception function, they initially undergo software reduction on the remote servers of the company of the browser you are using, and only then appear on your display. The process itself takes hundredths of a second, so there can be no talk of any freezes.

Google Chrome

To enable compression in the Google Chrome browser, you need to follow the following algorithm:

“Go to Chrome – Settings – Data Saver – On.”

Opera

Multiplatform browsers Opera and Opera Mini save up to 75% of network data - an absolute record for this market segment software. Traffic compression is set in them by default, so even the average user should not have any problems using the above web browsers. However, be prepared for the fact that it is not possible to watch streaming videos in the mini version, with the only exception being videos on YouTube.

Safari

Unfortunately, the Safari browser does not have a function that allows you to compress downloaded content online. But thanks to the Reading List option, you can save the sites you need while in Wi-Fi range, and then view the downloaded content anywhere and at any time convenient for you without using a mobile Internet connection.

However, keep in mind that you won’t be able to download videos this way, just like music.

TextOnly

The underground utility TextOnly is designed to remove text from a web page, allowing you to save more than 90% of expensive 3G traffic. However, it’s hard to call this full-fledged Internet surfing.

It is obvious that TextOnly will become especially useful to students or schoolchildren who need to quickly download a cheat sheet without being distracted by third-party information.

Music and video

Today we can state the fact that most modern smartphones have at their disposal not even one, but several gigabytes of RAM. As for ROM storage, 128 gigabyte has not been the ultimate dream for a long time. Why not take advantage of this?

Using Wi-Fi, download your favorite music, videos and other multimedia materials directly in the browser tab, then minimize and expand it when you have the opportunity to watch or listen to the saved content. In this case, you do not have to pay your mobile operator for access to the network.

Satellite positioning

Applications that navigate without using the Internet are expensive, and programs such as Yandex. Maps and Google Maps at first glance cannot do without network traffic, but that’s the point at first glance.

Instructions for downloading maps to implement satellite positioning offline:

• Yandex: “Yandex. Maps – Menu – Download map – Select city – Select map type – Download”;
• Google: “Google Maps – Menu – Your Places – Download Map Area – Select Map – Download.”

So, despite the abundance of opportunities to save traffic, perhaps the most effective way remains - turning off data transfer. Therefore, do not be lazy to turn off the Internet at those moments when you do not need it. After all, to do this, you just need to click on the corresponding icon in the control panel of your smartphone or uncheck the necessary box in the network settings menu of an ordinary phone.

Cellular networks provide faster and faster access to the World Wide Web, and traffic consumption by mobile devices is only growing. However mobile internet is still not a cheap pleasure: many people still use tariffs with 4 GB of traffic, and many people travel, and the Internet while traveling is much more expensive.
In this article, we will look at seven ways to save mobile traffic, from the simplest ones available in the Android settings, to means of compressing transmitted data, a complete ban on data transfer, and completely unobvious approaches, such as installing an ad blocker.

1. Standard Android tools

Some simple steps will help reduce the amount of data transferred.

1. Go to the Play Store settings and in the “Auto-update applications” option, select “Never”. Uncheck the box next to “Availability of updates”.
2. Go to Settings → Location and turn off Location History.
3. “Settings → Accounts”, “Menu” button, uncheck “Auto-sync data”. Internet usage will noticeably decrease, but mail and application notifications will stop coming.
4. Now go back to settings and go to “Data Transfer”. Click "Menu" and select "Limit background activity." As a result, the battery life of the smartphone will increase and Internet consumption will decrease, but notifications from instant messengers will no longer be received. Therefore more the right decision will go through the list, find not very important applications and limit their access to background data and/or data on cellular networks.
5. Open Google Settings and go to Security. I don’t recommend disabling “Check for security problems,” but unchecking the “Anti-malware” checkbox would be the right decision. At your own peril and risk, you can disable “Remote device search” and “Remote blocking”.
6. In the same “Google Settings”, go to “Data Management” (at the bottom of the list) and set “Application Data Update” to “Wi-Fi Only”.
7. Go back and open Search & Google Now. Go to the “Personal Data” section and turn off “Send statistics”. In the “Voice search → Offline speech recognition” menu, download the package for offline recognition and disable its auto-update or select “Only via Wi-Fi”. You can also go to the “Feed” section and turn it off. The Ribbon is the left screen of the Google Start or home screen of the Google app. Here you can disable “Screen Search” (Google Now on tap). Well, at the very bottom, turn off the “Recommended applications” item.
8. Don’t forget to turn off auto-checking and auto-downloading updates in “Settings → About phone.”

2. Get rid of advertising

Oddly enough, one way to reduce traffic consumption is to block ads. The indispensable AdAway program will help with this. It completely denies access to ad servers, blocking it at the system level. In other words, when an application accesses an address that is in its database, the request goes nowhere. By the way, activity tracking services (those that monitor user actions) are also blocked. The application requires root permissions (and S-OFF on HTC) to run.

When the blocking is enabled, problems may arise with the operation of some applications for making money on advertising (for example, NewApp, AdvertApp, CoinsUP - the latter did not show anything at all until recently). Other incompatibilities are also possible: six months ago, the Weather Underground application did not work due to AdAway. IN latest versions everything was fine (either Weather Underground changed something, or AdAway corrected the host addresses).

3. Saving using your browser

There are not so many browsers with a built-in data saving mode. I selected five and tested them by opening seven web pages.

Firefox

Used for benchmark testing. There is no saving mode here.

Consumption: 13.33 MB

Opera Mini

The most economical browser. Allows you to save up to 90% of traffic (on average up to 70–80%). The data is compressed so much that you can browse the Internet on Edge or even GPRS networks. It all works by using its own engine, which represents web pages not as text, but as binary code. And Opera servers are responsible for converting pages into this code. Plus a built-in ad blocker, video and image compression.

There is also a super-saving mode, which includes aggressive compression methods, which in some cases break pages. For example, the Eldorado store website did not open at all in this mode, YouTube opened in the WAP version, the map could not be viewed on the OpenStreetMap website, and the article from xakep.ru opened with distortions. With the super economy mode turned off, these problems disappear.

Consumption: 12 MB

Opera

It differs from the Mini version in a different interface and the absence of a super-saving mode. But it works faster.

Consumption: 12.15 MB

Chrome

This browser also has a data saver, but no ad blocker. According to the developers, savings average 20–40% depending on the content. But in practice, in almost a month I saved as much as 4%.

To activate, you need to go to settings and enable the “Traffic saving” item. There are no settings, statistics on saved megabytes can only be assessed by traffic, there are no statistics on sites, there is no ad blocker and there is no support for extensions (for installing the blocker).

The saving mode itself works completely unnoticed. The quality of the pictures does not suffer, and the page loading speed remains almost unchanged. That is, Chrome was and remains one of the fastest browsers. And he turned out to be the most gluttonous.

Consumption: 15.5 MB

Puffin

Desktop versions of YouTube and Play Store sites opened instead of mobile ones. But the savings are obvious.

Consumption: 5 MB

4. Lazy reading services

Pocket lets you save articles to read “for later.” And he has interesting property, which will help save traffic. When adding an article (no matter from a PC or mobile device), if there is a Wi-Fi connection, it is immediately downloaded to the device and becomes available for reading offline. Only the text and images from the article are saved, and all other garbage is deleted, and it becomes possible to change the font size and background.

Pocket has a competitor - Instapaper. In terms of functionality and quality of work, it is almost identical.

5. Auto-sync files over Wi-Fi

If you often use Dropbox and other services to access your files from your smartphone, pay attention to
FolderSync. It can synchronize selected folders with a smartphone immediately when files are changed and only when connected to Wi-Fi. So you never have to download files to your smartphone using mobile network, if you forgot to do this while at home.

6. Completely disconnect applications from the Internet

AFWall+ allows you to disconnect selected applications from the Internet. You can unlink both installed applications and system services, such as ADB. Unlike the built-in restrictor in Android, AFWall blocks access not only in the background, but also in the active mode. You can also use it to give Internet access to only one application in the system. This feature will certainly appeal to users who pay per megabyte (hello, roaming!).

In CyanogenMod 13, you can restrict network access through “Settings → Privacy → Protected Mode.” This feature has not yet been added to CM 14.1.

AFWall+: A True Firewall for Android

7. Data compressors

The market has several very unique applications. They create a VPN tunnel, compressing traffic along the way. Two striking examples: Opera Max and Onavo Extend. Their developers promise up to 50% savings. But we won’t take their word for it and will conduct our own test.

So, the amount of transmitted traffic without savers:

• Websites: 14.62 MB (five pieces)
• YouTube 173 MB (1080p video)

The changes became noticeable immediately: the time it took to open sites increased due to some pause after clicking on a link. And the pages themselves began to load a little longer. The video on YouTube (more precisely, the advertisement before it) took a very long time to load. Moreover, the download speed was almost zero. But what’s most interesting is that Opera Max itself consumed 12.5 MB.

• Websites: 11.59 MB
• YouTube 3 MB (video did not start)

Onavo Extend

The situation here is almost the same. Everything became slower, although not as much as in the case of Opera. And the video started without problems in 1080p. Total:

• Websites: 14.73 MB
• YouTube 171 MB

We track and control internet consumption

The standard traffic manager in Android (Settings → Data transfer) is very convenient and quite functional. For most users who use tariffs with a monthly Internet limit, this will be enough. However, I recommend that others use the analogue from the Play Store. Yes, and third-party applications show much more useful information. - Xposed module showing data transfer speed. It can be perfectly customized and consumes virtually no battery power.

Are unlimited tariffs so unlimited?

The line of postpaid tariffs “Everything” from Beeline, “Infinitely Black” from Tele2, “Smart Unlimited” from MTS and some other tariffs, according to the operator, offer a full unlimited internet on a smartphone. Is it possible to blindly believe these loud promises? Is everything really so rosy and the Internet will soon become completely free?

It's actually not that simple. Everyone knows about restrictions on torrents and using a smartphone as an access point, and in addition, often after reaching a certain amount of data received, the speed is limited.

As a study of many forums has shown, almost all operators with so-called unlimited speeds reduce the speed after reaching 30 GB in 3G networks (up to 512 Kbps), and in 4G it’s different for everyone. However, people downloaded 700 GB per month (you have to try...) from some companies without cutting the speed.

The author on Tele2 used about 170 GB of 4G Internet last month and there were no restrictions. And after reaching the 100 GB threshold, almost any operator will probably begin to analyze your traffic and apply restriction methods if you use the Internet too intensively. Long questions and pestering of the operator really confirmed this: “When a subscriber creates a large load on the network, the speed may be limited until the day the statistics on the server are reset.” But they seem to have an honest unlimited limit.

Conclusion

As you have already seen, the most effective way save traffic - buy a more expensive tariff. And all super compressors not only degrade the quality and make the Internet more sluggish, but they also don’t always save as much as possible. But if there is no way out, then they will help you save something.

Last updated by at February 9, 2017.

You can guess about the hidden dangers that every user of the Android operating system is exposed to, the monthly leak of Internet traffic, incomprehensible megabytes of data sent by background applications and processes.

Fortunately, Google developers have provided a number of tools for Android users related to data saving and these tools are available to users, which is very good.

So if you feel like your Android device spends more internet traffic than you need, or you just want more control over your use of Internet information, get these five simple tips and use them as you wish.

1. Use traffic compression in the Chrome browser.

Hidden in the Settings menu of the Chrome browser is an excellent Internet traffic saving feature. Enabling this feature will allow the browser to compress all incoming traffic, as a result, the volume of incoming traffic from the Internet is reduced, and the quality remains virtually unchanged compared to normal browsing. This can shave off a lot of data from your monthly traffic, putting it to good use. To activate this option, you just need to go to Chrome settings, find Traffic compression at the bottom of the list of settings, and activate this switch function.

2. Turn off synchronization of data you don't use.

An excellent way to save Internet traffic is to disable data synchronization, while you will also save battery power. Most Android device users connect to them various accounts of Internet services, social networks and services. Many accounts require regular synchronization of information. Let's look at the example of a Google account. To work with accounts, you need to go to Settings - Accounts - Google. Next, disable those account settings items that you do not use. For example, a calendar, documents, photos, tables, notes.

We do the same for all other accounts.

3. Set a limit on the amount of traffic used.

Android Data Transfer menu, a real goldmine for various options saving and traffic control. First of all, you need to set the maximum monthly Internet traffic limit and warning threshold using horizontal limiters.

Then click the three dots button and select the "Limit background data" option. As a result, applications will curb their appetite for traffic, and you will receive significant savings. Fans of social networks should not use this item, otherwise you will only be able to receive messages and notifications when you activate the application!

And finally, look at which of the applications you don’t use are absorbing Internet traffic, draw conclusions and delete them.

4. Update applications only via Wi-Fi.

This advice is quite obvious. Do not use your Internet connection through a cellular operator for automatic installation app updates! It’s much faster and more productive to do this using a Wi-Fi connection!

So, open the Google Play application, open the Settings menu (pull to the right) and select Auto-update applications. Select "Turn off automatic app updates" or "Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only."

5. Use of area maps offline.

This tip will be useful for those who are going on a trip. Download all map data to the Google Maps app on your device before you hit the road! It's very easy. Simply open the Google Maps app and enter the name of the place you intend to visit into the search bar. When the result is displayed, click on it and expand the map to required size and detail. Then select properties (“three dot menu”), and click “Save offline maps”. You did it!

I hope these simple tips will allow you to save traffic, money and time.

It happens that a month’s supply of Internet traffic “flies away” in a few days. Therefore, today we will tell you what to do to ensure that the traffic limit is not exceeded.

Why is it important to limit Android data transfer?

If you don't have unlimited internet on your phone or don't always have Wi-Fi at hand, it's very easy to exceed the monthly limit of your internet plan, which can lead to increased costs. In this article we will tell you how to reduce the amount of traffic consumed on Android to a minimum.

When choosing a tariff plan for a phone, the user cannot immediately predict how much data he will download. It's very easy to underestimate your Internet traffic consumption, especially since many devices have 4G support.

Traffic is lost not only when watching videos on YouTube or chatting on Facebook. Many applications run in the background and require a constant Internet connection.

• For example, email, because the application may send a refresh request every few minutes to check for new messages.
• Application updates also eat up a lot of traffic, but in Google Play you can configure the download of updates only when there is a Wi-Fi connection.

I'm glad that applications that consume Internet traffic are easily monitored. Smartphones with Android OS have tools with which you can ensure that you do not exceed the limits of your tariff plan, and also set a limit on the Internet traffic used. Or you can turn off the Internet altogether. Today you will learn how to reduce Internet traffic consumption on your device to a minimum, and not go beyond the limits of your tariff plan.

How to make apps update only when connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi

how to save Internet traffic by disabling auto-update via mobile network

Very simple. You just need to launch the Google Play application, click on the icon in the form of three horizontal lines in the upper left corner, then go to “Settings”. Next, in “General”, find the item “Automatic application updates” and set it to “only via Wi-Fi”.

How to completely turn off your Internet connection

Go to “Settings”, click on the “Data transfer” item and near the line “Mobile traffic” change the position of the switch from on to off. Any existing Internet connection will be terminated.

Note: The Internet will still be available when connected via Wi-Fi, and you will also be able to use all online applications.

How to save the amount of traffic used

Those who need to set a monthly (or for any other period of time) limit on the traffic consumed by an Android smartphone, and also enable a notification when approaching the limit, will need to again follow the well-known direction: “Settings” → “Data transfer”. Here we set a limit on mobile traffic in accordance with the tariff package of our operator.

You can also look at the graph showing the amount of traffic used per month. We set the maximum allowable amount of data for a month, and if you approach the limit of the Internet traffic package, the system will notify you about this.

Reducing the amount of mobile traffic consumed

Those who simply want to reduce Internet traffic consumption on Android to a minimum will need to block background data transfer in the settings of each downloaded application.

Let’s again follow the well-trodden path, namely “Settings” → “Data transfer”, go down below and see the traffic consumption from applications.

To prohibit background data transfer, select the application and click on the “Limit background” option. Please note: Selected apps will now only update over Wi-Fi. For example, if you set such a restriction on WhatsApp, Facebook or Gmail, notifications about new messages will not be displayed until the application itself is launched.

Especially in order to save Internet traffic, social network Twitter recently introduced a lightweight version of itself - Twitter Lite, and also added a traffic saving mode to its application. It is claimed to reduce traffic consumption by up to 70% by blurring image previews.

Now mobile Internet is relatively inexpensive, but this is not a reason to throw it away left and right. Full unlimited service still costs a pretty penny, and many operators, by the way, are already giving up such luxury.

Most of the available tariffs are conditionally unlimited, that is, they provide a certain and rather limited amount of traffic per day or month. If you exceed the limit, the speed will drop to the level of a dial-up modem and it will become impossible to use the Internet.

Perhaps you do not fit into the volume provided under the tariff or are dangerously close to the limit. Perhaps you want to keep some traffic reserve so that you can use it when urgently needed. In any case, it is useful to be able to save megabytes, and now we will tell you how to do this.

Get rid of pest apps

Increased traffic consumption is not always related to your appetite. Often the unjustified gluttony of individual applications is to blame. Such scoundrels sit in the background and constantly transmit and send something. You can find them using a standard tool that is built into any current version of Android.

1. Go to Android settings.
2. Select Data Transfer.
3. Select Mobile Data Transfer.

Here you will see a general graph of mobile traffic consumption, and below it - a rating of the most voracious residents of the system.

To curb the ardor of an individual application, tap on it and turn off the background mode. After this, the sly one will not be able to receive and send data in the background.

The problem is that in order to identify scoundrels, you need to understand what the normal Internet consumption is for a particular application. Obviously, the browser, music and video streaming services, as well as maps are capable of eating hundreds of megabytes, but offline-oriented and working with a small amount of data have nothing on this list.

Set up a warning and traffic limit

1. Go to Android settings.
2. Select Data Transfer.
3. Select "Payment Cycle".

The billing cycle is the date when the subscription fee is charged. Usually a new Internet package is given on the same day. Specify it so that the system knows the date the traffic counter was reset.

1. Enable "Alert Settings".
2. Select Alerts.
3. Specify the amount of traffic upon reaching which the system will notify you about it.

If you want to strictly limit traffic consumption, enable “Set traffic limit” and specify the value, upon reaching which the system will turn off the mobile Internet.

Disable app updates via mobile network

1. Go to the Google Play app store settings.
2. Select Auto-update apps.
3. Select the "Wi-Fi Only" option.

Enable data saving in Android

1. Go to Android settings.
2. Select Data Transfer.
3. Select Data Saver.

After enabling traffic saving mode, the system will prohibit background data traffic for most applications, which will significantly reduce overall traffic consumption. To allow data sharing in the background for individual applications in economy mode, tap on the appropriate item.

Save data with Opera Max

In fact, the Opera Max application does the same thing as the built-in Android mode saving traffic, that is, it blocks background data, but at the same time it looks a little nicer and more visual.

Enable data saving in individual applications

Any normal developer, if his application works with potentially large amounts of data, can optimize traffic consumption using settings. For example, almost all Google tools can save precious megabytes of mobile Internet.

Google Chrome

1. Go to Google Chrome settings.
2. Select Data Saver.

In addition to Google Chrome, the traffic saving mode is provided in the Opera browser.

YouTube

1. Go to YouTube settings.
2. Select General.
3. Turn on the “Traffic Saving” mode.

Google Maps

1. Go to Google Maps settings.
2. Turn on “Wi-Fi only” and follow the “Your offline maps” link.

Offline maps allow you to save hundreds of megabytes of traffic. Be sure to download the area where you live and don’t forget to add areas you plan to visit in the near future.

1. Click Other Area.
2. Use pan and zoom gestures to select the area to download and click Download.
3. Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner of the Downloaded Areas menu.
4. Select "Download Settings" and select "Wi-Fi Only".

Google Press

1. Go to Google Press settings.
2. Select Data Saver Mode and select On.
3. In the "Download" section, turn on the "Wi-Fi only" mode.

Google Photos

1. Go to Google Photos settings.
2. Find the “Use mobile internet” section and disable the option for photos and videos.

Google Music

1. Go to your Google Music settings.
2. In the Playback section, lower the quality when streaming over a mobile network.
3. In the “Downloads” section, allow downloading music only over Wi-Fi.

If necessary, allow music playback only over Wi-Fi.

Google Music can save albums for offline listening. You can download music to your device if you have Wi-Fi and play it without an Internet connection.

1. Go to the artist's album list.
2. Click on the vertical ellipsis icon in the lower right corner of the album and select “Download” from the menu that appears.

Google Movies

1. Go to Google Movies settings.
2. Under Mobile Network Streaming, turn on Show Warning and Limit Quality.
3. In the Downloads section, select Network and select Wi-Fi only.

Monitor your carrier's rates and options

Often a person overpays for communications simply because he is on an outdated tariff. Find out what's new with your operator. It's possible you can get more internet for less money.