Apps that respect a two gigabyte plan
People usually blame the obvious culprits when the allowance runs out, and the obvious culprits are usually not responsible. Music streaming on a standard quality setting is roughly a megabyte a minute. A social feed that autoplays video can match that without anyone deciding to watch anything.
Where the gigabytes actually go
| Activity | Roughly per hour | Worth changing |
|---|---|---|
| Video at 1080p | 1.5 to 3 GB | Yes, drop to 480p on mobile |
| Video at 480p | 300 to 500 MB | This is the sensible default |
| Music at high quality | 150 MB | Download on WiFi instead |
| Social feed with autoplay | 250 to 800 MB | Yes, turn autoplay off first |
| Podcasts | 50 to 60 MB | Download ahead, then zero |
| Messaging, text only | Under 5 MB | Not worth touching |
| Automatic app updates | Unpredictable, often 1 GB plus | Set to WiFi only |
Apps with controls that work
Its compression proxy genuinely reduces page weight, and its data counter is the clearest of any browser.
The full browser from the same company, with the same savings mode available when you need it.
Blocks trackers by default, which removes a surprising volume of background requests as a side effect of blocking them for privacy.
Blocks advertisements and trackers, which on a heavy news site can halve the page weight.
The straightforward option for anyone who wants filtering without switching browser ecosystems.
A Chromium browser that takes desktop extensions, so you can add exactly the blocker you prefer.
Extension support and a strict tracking protection mode that meaningfully reduces requests.
Has a proper per profile data setting and downloads that work. Set mobile playback to save data and forget about it.
The single biggest consumer on most phones. Cap the quality on mobile in settings and use downloads for the commute.
Download playlists rather than streaming them twice. The data saver setting also stops the video canvas loading.
Downloads on WiFi by default, which is the correct behaviour and rarer than it should be.
Explicit control over what downloads and on which network, down to individual feeds.
Records radio streams to the phone, turning a repeated stream into a single download.
Free television with a low bandwidth mode, useful when the alternative is a paid service at full quality.
The same proposition, and it remembers a lower quality setting between sessions.
Worth a mention for its download support, which is better than most of the regional streaming services.
Streams from your own server at home over WiFi and syncs downloads for the road. No monthly data cost at all.
Shows which apps have swollen and lets you clear the caches that grow quietly.
The settings on the phone itself
- Turn on Data Saver in the system settings It stops most background data across every app at once, which is a blunter and more effective instrument than per app settings.
- Set a data warning and a hard limit The phone can cut mobile data off at your allowance. This is the only way to be certain of not being charged.
- Restrict background data on the three worst apps The usage screen ranks them. The top three are almost always where the problem lives.
- Set the store to update over WiFi only Automatic updates on mobile data can spend a whole allowance in one afternoon.
- Turn off autoplay everywhere Every social app has the setting and every one defaults it to on.
Autoplay off, updates on WiFi only, video capped at 480p on mobile. Everything else is a rounding error.
Frequently asked questions
Does Data Saver break anything?
Messages may arrive later for apps you have not exempted from it. Exempt your messaging apps and the rest can wait until the screen is on.
Is a VPN with compression worth it?
Rarely. Modern sites are almost all encrypted, so a proxy cannot recompress them. The exception is a browser with a built in compression mode, which works because the browser cooperates.
Why is my usage higher than the sum of the apps?
System updates, cloud photo backup and carrier services are often counted separately. Check the system category in the usage screen before blaming an app.
Read next
A dot in the wrong city is not a broken receiver. It is a WiFi network that moved house.
There is no print button. There is a print service, and an entry in the share menu.
Aeroplane mode and a turn-based game will outlast any setting inside the game itself.
Read next
A search engine gives you a definition. A dictionary tells you how the word behaves.
A contraction timer is a stopwatch with good manners. It is not monitoring anything.
Every one of these apps is a location service with a chat attached. It is worth knowing what it is broadcasting.
