9 ways to spend less on mobile data

By , K24 Digital
On Sun, 4 Aug, 2019 20:45 | 3 mins read

With a mobile adoption of 91 percent and internet penetration of 84 percent, Kenya is undoubtedly a digital country.

And Kenya's young population, with an average age of 18 years with almost three quarters of the 51.58 million population under the age of 30, mobile consumption is at an all time high.

But considering that many of the Kenyan youth are unemployed or still in school, mobile data can sometimes prove expensive for millions.

But there are easy ways to save money on mobile data.

Here are nine tips to help you save money while using mobile data.

1. Restrict background data

Background data is one of the biggest things draining your data, and at times you might not even realise it’s happening.

Some apps just spend too much data even when the phone is not in use.

Background data allows you to keep everything updated and monitored while you are using your phone. 

The most important thing here is that not every app needs to stay active all the times like your phone automatically downloading new app updates.

2. Set data limits

You can set data usage limit on your phone according to your data plan.

Your mobile connection will be automatically cut off when you reach the limit set. 

You can also specify a warning limit so that you can get notified when you are approaching the limit.

3. Look for affordable data plans

Always scout for affordable mobile data plans. For example, Telkom Kenya has a plan dubbed Share Life Extra, which offers 500MB for only Sh49 and another 500MB at night. The firm also offers 2GB data for only Sh100 and a similar amount for free at night, packages which are more than pocket friendly.

4. Change your browsing habits

It’s always advised to browse the mobile version of the website while using mobile phone, so avoid using the desktop versions of sites whenever you can. 

Also, despite taking up a fair amount of storage on your phone, the browser cache is actually a good thing here. 

If you’re using Chrome, then you can tap the three-dot menu at the top right, choose Settings and turn Data saver on and it will automatically compress pages before downloading them.

5.Use data-saving browsers

There are some browsers that consume more data, so you should consider using a browser like Opera Mini and UC Browser Mini which are designed to compress data and reduce your usage when browsing.

They are floating browsers that load links in the background and strips away all ads and JavaScript to provide a great reading experience.

6. Modify your apps

Many popular apps have settings where you can adjust to reduce data usage.

Twitter, YouTube and Instagram are some of the apps that have the modification options to help you reduce data usage while using the app.

7. Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi Only

Avoid having apps automatically updating while you’re using mobile data as that would definitely use large amount of data.

Set your apps to “auto-update over Wi-Fi only.”

8. Use data saving apps

There are some apps that use a huge amount of data, so it’s advisable to replace them with data-saving apps when you’re using mobile data.

In many cases you can find data-friendly alternatives apps that will still provide the necessary functionality while saving you some money.

Lite apps such as Facebook Lite, Facebook Messenger Lite will help you save the amount of data you use. 

9. Turn off data when not in use

It is advisable that you should turn it off mobile data when not in use. 

If you’re not actively using your data connection, turning it off, it is the only sure way to prevent apps from sucking up your mobile data in the background.

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