Spending too much on mobile data? Here are tips to reduce your data usage

Background App Refresh allows the apps on your iPhone to automatically search for new information even if they're not directly running on the screen.

On Android devices, the background refresh function allows background data usage, and it works the same way. Examples of this issue are your email app constantly checking for new messages and updating your news feed, even if you aren’t actively using the app at that moment.

While allowing apps to refresh in the background keeps you from having to wait for new information to be fetched when you launch an app, keeping it running can potentially keep your phone or tablet from performing at its best when it comes to battery life and data usage.

How your data drains

Between email updates, text messages, videos, and photos, you’re probably well aware of the fact that your smartphone burns through quite a bit of data every day.

However, what you may not know is that your smartphone could be burning through data for stuff you don’t need, like those apps and services that are constantly running and updating in the background without you knowing it. While one little app probably won’t use very much data, those little apps can add up to a serious drain on your data plan.

How your battery drains

Background App Refresh and background data usage can also have a negative impact on your phone’s battery life. While the feature can be useful, it’s not likely that you need up-to-date information on every installed app on your phone. Limiting the number of apps that you allow to refresh and run in the background will be beneficial to your phone’s battery life. Try turning it off on one of the apps that updates frequently like Facebook and see if you experience any improvements.

If your battery life or data limits are a concern, luckily there’s a quick way to stop background apps.

How to turn off Background App Refresh on iPhone

Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
Tap Background App Refresh > Off to turn Background App Refresh off completely.

If having up-to-date emails is a priority to you but knowing what’s happening on Twitter every moment is not, you can also choose to customize which apps do and don’t have Background App Refresh turned on based on your usage habits. Here’s how:

Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
From the list of apps shown, use the toggle to turn Background App Refresh on or off for each app.

How to turn off background data usage on Samsung Galaxy

Open Settings, then tap Connections > Data usage.
From the Mobile section, tap Mobile data usage.
Select an app from below the usage graph.
Turn off Allow background data usage.
Follow these steps for each app you would like to restrict from refreshing in the background.

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