What Happens To Your Phone When You Go Over Data At&t

Stop Your Phone From Using So Much Data

Information overages from your wireless carrier can add up quickly. Here'due south how to keep your bill under command.

Credit... Jo Zixuan Zhou

Published March 5, 2020 Updated April 15, 2020

When I signed my family up for our cellphone programme, I idea it contained more than plenty information for us. How could any person perchance go over 5 gigabytes in 1 month?

Then I got a notification proverb 1 of our lines was over the limit, and I would demand to buy an actress gigabyte for $x to keep going. I shrugged it off, bought it and went on with my life … until two days later on, when I got the aforementioned notification again.

It turns out, my wife had disconnected from our house'southward Wi-Fi without realizing it, and racked up a surprising amount of data watching Instagram stories — not something you would consider an obvious culprit, but it'due south really quite the data muncher.

If this story sounds all too familiar and you're dead set against shelling out for an unlimited plan, your phone offers a few tools to help yous cut back.

First: Connect to Wi-Fi Whenever Possible

Permit's start with the almost obvious, but most important tip: connect to Wi-Fi, specially when you're at home.

OK, that may audio besides painfully obvious to put in this commodity, simply look at your telephone correct now: Are you continued to Wi-Fi? I'k shocked past how often I ask this uncomplicated question to friends and family only to find that they weren't actually continued, even at their own home. (They're frequently every bit shocked.) Make sure that piddling Wi-Fi icon shows upwards at the peak of your phone whenever you lot're near a network. By connecting to Wi-Fi at dwelling and work, yous can eliminate a huge amount of data usage without changing your beliefs at all. Just remember that free, public Wi-Fi isn't every bit secure as the Wi-Fi at domicile, so check out these tips to stay safe while yous're out and well-nigh.

Encounter Which Apps Are Using the Near Data

Side by side, it's fourth dimension to drill down and see where that data is going. Sometimes, it's obvious: If y'all simply spent three days in bed bingeing Netflix on your phone, yous tin can bet money that's your culprit. In other cases, you may not know where all those gigabytes went, and you'll need to chase downwardly the biggest information hogs.

If you're using an iPhone, open the Settings app and caput to the Cellular section. Roll down, and you'll see a list of apps under the Cellular Data heading, in order from heaviest to lightest data usage. Under each app, you'll see how much data information technology has used in the "current menstruation."

Here's where things get confusing: Your "current catamenia" isn't your current billing period. Instead, it is reporting all the data you've used since y'all last reset these settings. And then if you lot haven't manually reset them in a while (or ever), at that place is a proficient chance you aren't getting useful data here. Coil downward to the very bottom, tap Reset Statistics and go about your life for another few days. Then you can come back to this screen and come across which app is using the most data. (Note: If you see a big amount of data under the Wi-Fi Assist option on this folio, you lot may want to turn it off — this feature is designed to fall dorsum on cellular data when Wi-Fi is weak, but can backlash in rare instances when you are connected to Wi-Fi.)

If y'all're using a telephone with Google's Android software, open up the Settings app and head to Network & Internet > Mobile Network > App Data Usage. (This location may vary depending on your phone — on Samsung devices, for example, yous volition observe it nether Settings > Connections > Data Usage > Mobile Data Usage.) Yous will come across a graph of your data usage over the last month, along with the apps that accept used the most data. If your billing wheel ends on a different mean solar day of the month (mine, for example, ends on the fifth), you can tap the gear icon to suit the bicycle date. You can besides ready an alert after a certain corporeality of data usage, so you aren't caught off guard.

Tweak Your Apps' Settings

Once yous have an idea of the worst offenders, figure out means to punch back their data usage. Here are some mutual culprits and how y'all can curb their appetite.

Dropbox, Google Photos and iCloud Photos: If yous take a lot of photos and video, some apps allow y'all to automatically back those photos upward as y'all get. By default, they shouldn't back upwardly your photos unless yous're on Wi-Fi, but if y'all have changed these settings in the past, they may be eating up your data (remember, uploading counts confronting your data too). Check the app's settings and plough off uploads while on cellular.
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: Many social networking apps accept the ability to auto-play videos equally you ringlet through your feed, which can utilise data quickly. If you find this happening in your favorite social app, caput to the app's settings and look for the car-playing video choice — set it to Wi-Fi merely, or turn it off altogether.
YouTube, Netflix and other video players: Yous probably already know watching videos can blow through your information, but you don't take to cut yourself off cold turkey. For a compromise, look through your rampage-watching app of selection for an option to lower the video quality. If you can stand to watch videos in standard definition (480 pixels or below) instead of HD (720 pixels and higher up), you'll utilize less data.
Spotify, Podcasts and other audio apps: While audio doesn't apply up nearly equally much data as video, you can withal chug through your allotment if you jam from sunup to sundown. Streaming apps similar Spotify allow you to download playlists at home for offline listening. Utilise these features equally much every bit possible: Next fourth dimension you're on Wi-Fi, download your favorite playlists and grab podcast episodes before you leave domicile.
App updates: Information technology'south a good idea to keep your apps up-to-date, but letting automated updates run wild on cellular data isn't really necessary. On the iPhone, caput to Settings > Your Name > iTunes & App Stores, and plow Automatic Downloads off under Cellular Data. On Android, open the Google Play Store, tap the three lines in the upper left corner, and caput to Settings > Automobile-Update Apps and choose Over Wi-Fi Only.

If the app in question doesn't have a setting that does what you want, you lot may be able to limit it at the operating organization level. On the iPhone, head to Settings, scroll downward to the app in question and turn off Groundwork App Refresh, which volition limit information technology from using information in the background. Or, from that Settings > Cellular screen, you can toggle the switch adjacent to any given app to forbid information technology from using cellular data at all, allowing it to work only over Wi-Fi.

Android users can tap on an app from the Mobile Data Usage screen to plow off background data.

Get a Better Deal on Your Data

If all else fails, it may be worth looking into a better data plan for you and your family. Unlimited plans have fabricated a comeback in recent years, just if they are besides expensive for you, see what other carriers have to offering for the aforementioned cost. In fact, if you lot are still with 1 of the big four — Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Dart — you might exist able to become better bang for your cadet past switching to a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, like Cricket Wireless, Mint Mobile or Metro. They use the aforementioned networks as their bigger competitors, but with lower prices. If you can get a bigger information plan for the same corporeality of money yous are currently paying (while eschewing expensive features yous don't utilise), you won't have to ration your net usage like information technology's 1993 dial-up.