How to Save Mobile Data in iOS 11 on iPhone and iPad: Tips to Reduce Data Usage

Just a few days ago, I packed up the limited data plan on my device. When I got the alert that only 30% data is left on my account today, I couldn’t help wondering at the unexpected data consumption on my iPhone. A little digging up helped me nab the culprits and allowed me to reduce data usage on my iPhone running iOS 11.

Have you run into the same issue? Do not fret much over it as you can easily take a firm control over the rapid data consumption. As expected, the problem could be due largely to the data-hungry features. The outdated version of apps could also be heavily contributing to the chaos.

Tips to Reduce Cellular/Mobile Data Usage on your iPhone and iPad Running iOS 11

Capture Your Snaps in High-Efficiency Formats

The latest iOS ecosystem allows you to take photos and videos in High Efficiency to let you save up to 50% on storage needs. The best thing about this feature is that there isn’t any loss of image quality.

Jump over to this upfront guide to get it done.

Transfer Photos and Videos from your iPhone to Mac/PC in Compatible Format

iOS 11 lets you transfer photos/videos from your iPhone to the computer in the compatible format with ease. If you often have to move your memorable shots to your computer using cellular data, follow this quick guide to not just make the process faster but also save plenty of data.

Stop Autoplay Videos in App Store

The promotional videos in App Store are really cool as they provide you the quick glimpse of what any app is all about. However, it would be better to stop the auto app previews for the health of your data plan.

Check out this post for more information.

Enable Low-Quality Image Mode

High-resolution images not just consume a lot of battery but also eats into plenty of data.

Hence, send low-quality images during iMessaging. Settings → Messages → Turn On Low-Quality Image Mode.

Turn off Location Services When Not in Use

Needless to say, location services is a data hungry feature. Therefore, make sure to use it smartly. Disable location tracking when you are not using it. Settings → Privacy → Turn Off Location Services.

Disable Background App Refresh

Just like location tracking, background app refresh consumes a lot of data. Hence, either completely turn it off or use it astutely. Settings → General.

Background App Refresh →  Background App Refresh.

Now, either select off or Wi-Fi.

Don’t Download Apps Using Your Mobile Data

Avoid auto-downloading of apps using data. It’s one of the simplest ways to prevent your plan from being burnt out too quickly. Settings → iTunes & App Stores.

Turn off the switch next to Use Mobile Data.

Allow Only Selected Apps to Access Your Cellular Data

There may be quite a few apps which you may not regularly be using. Prevent those applications from accessing your data continuously.

Settings → Mobile Data → scroll down and turn off the switch next to the apps you don’t use more often.

Manage Notifications Smartly

The endless alerts also play a significant role in shortening the life of your limited bandwidth. Thus, take control of notifications and manage them prudently.

Settings → Notifications → tap on the apps you don’t want alerts from → turn off the switch next to Allow Notifications.

There is also an option to prevent apps from showing previews. Settings → Notifications → Show Previews → Never.

Don’t Use Your Mobile Data for Updating Your Artwork in Apple Music

Are you using your data to update or load your artwork in Apple Music? If yes, disable this feature as it could well be one of the chief culprits.

Settings → Music → Mobile Data → turn off the switch next to Mobile Data.

Don’t use Mobile Data for Playback

Avoid using your data for playing your favorite movies in Videos app.

Settings → Videos → turn off the switch next to Use Mobile Data for Playback.

Watch Videos in Lower Quality

Watching videos in high resolution is absolute fun. But it kills a lot of data. Therefore, watch them in low quality to compress data usage.

Settings → Videos → tap on Wi-Fi under Playback Quality and choose Good to use less data when watching videos.

Disable Wi-Fi Assist

When the Wi-Fi assist is on, it automatically uses your mobile data whenever Wi-Fi connectivity is poor. Though it’s a useful feature, I would recommend you to turn it off to decrease data usage.

Settings → Mobile/Cellular Data → turn off Wi-Fi Assist.

Don’t Transfer Documents and Data Using Cellular

When you are not connected to Wi-Fi, your device uses your mobile network to transfer documents and data to iCloud Drive. Make sure to prevent it. Settings → Mobile data → turn off the switch next to iCloud Drive.

Don’t Save Reading List Automatically

Your device automatically saves all the reading list items from iCloud to let you read them offline. Disable it to save your data. Settings → Safari → turn off the switch next to Automatically Save Offline.

Don’t Use Mobile Data for Updating your Photo Library

Make sure not to use your mobile data for updating your photo library. It would turn out to be one of the biggest saviors of your data plan. Settings → Photos → Mobile Data and turn off the switch.

Don’t Sync Your Messages with iCloud

“Messages on iCloud” is a new feature in iOS 11 that allows you to sync your conversations across the iCloud devices. Turn it off to give your data some respite.

Use Cellular Data Trackers

You can easily keep track of cellular data usage of your device using data trackers. Head over to this long list and pick a handy one to keep data usage in check.

Time to Take Apps for the Task

There are many ways you can stop apps from consuming unnecessary data.

• Stop Autoplaying videos

Prevent apps like Twitter, Facebook and App Store from playing videos automatically. Either let them stream clips only on Wi-Fi or completely turn off the feature.

• Clean up apps from time to time

It’s better to clean up apps from time to time. The uncluttered apps will run smoothly and hence won’t burn plenty of data.

• How to Clean up WhatsApp Chat History
• How to Clear Cache in Snapchat
• How to Clear Cache in Dropbox
• How to Clear History and Website Data in Safari
• How to Clear Browsing Chrome History

Update Apps

The old version of apps is known to throw tantrums like random crashing, freezing or eating unusual data/battery. Therefore, it’s better to update them regularly.

Go to App Store → Updates → tap on Update/Update All.

Update Your iOS Device

So many miscellaneous issues can be effortlessly solved just by updating your device to the latest software version. I have often found it very reliable in fixing several annoying issues. Thus, try it out as well.

Settings → General → Software Update.

Have Your Say!

I’m pretty sure all of these solutions can help you in cutting down on data consumption on your iPhone. If you want to go even harder to put a complete ban on unnecessary data usage, then turn off the mobile data when not needed. It’s the easiest way to extend the limit.

Have any feedback? Toss it up in the comments below.

You would like to have a look at these posts as well:

• How to Improve Battery Life of iPhone running iOS 11
• How to Automatically Delete Old Messages and Attachments
• How to Enable One-handed Typing Mode in iOS 11

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