Why is my data usage so high?

It’s happened to all of us. You’re just going about your life, texting and calling and streaming, when suddenly you find out you’re near your data cap…or you’ve blown right past it. Whoops. Understanding mobile data usage is super important, because oftentimes, your phone is using data without you even knowing. And knowing how much data you’re actually using, and how to lower that data usage, can help you save some money (and data) in the long run. So, let’s dive in.

Common reasons for high data usage

There are a few common reasons you may find your data usage higher than you think it should be. One likely source? The way you entertain yourself on your phone. 

Background app refresh and other updates

Background app refresh is a feature in smartphones that lets apps run in the background when you’re not using them to send alerts and make updates. While this can be helpful, it can also use up a bunch of data because apps like iCloud and Google Photos are constantly fetching new content or syncing data.

How to turn off background app refresh on iPhone 

1. Open Settings and select General
2. Tap Background App Refresh
3. You should see a list of every app that has permission to idle in the background
4. To disable Background App Refresh for select apps, slide the switches for those apps to Off

To disable background app refresh for all apps, tap the option at the top of the page and select one of the following:

• Wi-Fi & Cellular Data: This is the default option (so not the one you want)
• Wi-Fi Only: Apps will only update if you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network
• Off: This stops apps from updating in the background entirely

How to turn off background app refresh on Android 

1. Go to Settings and select Apps & Notifications
2. Select See All Apps
3. Tap the app you want to disable background app refresh for, then select Mobile Data & Wi-Fi
4. Turn the Background Data slider to Off

Social media apps autoplaying videos 

Social media has gone from mostly text and photos (and bad CSS on MySpace) to a video-first environment. Apps like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram are designed to keep you scrolling and do this by pre-loading and then auto-playing videos, which eats up a lot of data.

How to disable videos from autoplaying on iPhone 

1. Go to Settings 
2. Tap Accessibility 
3. Select Motion 
4. Find Auto-Play Video Previews and toggle it off

How to disable videos from autoplaying on Android 

On Android, you must adjust settings in individual apps like YouTube, Google and the Play Store to disable autoplaying videos. 

For example, if you want to disable on YouTube, you’d go to Settings, select General, select Playback in feeds and switch it to off. Or, on Instagram, you’d tap your avatar and select Settings and Privacy > Accessibility, Display, and Languages > Display and Sound and toggle off Media Previews.

Streaming video content

We all love to pull up a nice video while we eat lunch. But video streaming apps like Prime, YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, Hulu and others have all become more efficient at delivering high-quality content and that high-quality content can come at the cost of your data usage. The quality on most of these apps are set by default to have the best video resolution your connection can handle, which is a nice thought, but unless you know this is how they have things set up, you might not realize how much data you’re actually using. 

Wi-Fi Assist and Smart Network Switching

Wi-Fi Assist (found on iPhone) and Smart Network Switching (found on Android) are both designed to kick in when your Wi-Fi signal becomes weak and makes your phone switch to mobile data to prevent service interruptions. But of course, that means your phone starts eating up data.

How to turn off Wi-Fi Assist on iPhone 

1. Go to Settings 
2. Tap Cellular
3. Scroll to the very bottom and toggle off Wi-Fi Assist 

How to turn off Smart Network Switching on Android 

1. Tap Apps from your Home screen
2. Select Settings
3. Tap Wi-Fi
4. Tap the 3 vertical dots for More Options
5. Select Advanced
6. Turn the Smart Network Switch off

Video calls and gaming

As you might expect, Zoom, Facetime and online games are data drainers (yes, even Good Pizza, Great Pizza). You might want to save running those apps for when you’re on Wi-Fi.

How to check data usage

After reading the info above, you might think apps are a trap to make you use up tons of data. Luckily, your phone already has built-in tools to help you check your data usage and get ahead of any problems.  

For iPhone

1. Tap Settings > Cellular
2. Scroll down to see the amount of data your apps are using during your current billing cycle

For Android

1. Tap Settings > Network & Internet > Internet
2. Select your mobile network
3. Select App data usage to see a breakdown of how each of your apps is using data

Ready to seize the data?

Now you know how to identify the heavy hitters of your data usage, like streaming and social media, and how to monitor your data. You might also want to learn the difference between Wi-Fi and cellular data…or maybe you just want to tap the button below and learn how Mint Mobile saves you both data and money.