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Data usage: The top 5 worst offenders

AuroreLB
Responsable éditoriale

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When you connect to the Internet on your cell phone and can’t access a Wi-Fi network, there are five activities that you should be careful about so that you don’t exceed your data limit.

 

By Michel Baril, your Pro. 

 

  1. Downloading apps

Downloading apps from the App Store, Play or other sources can use up a lot of data. The size of your average app can range from 40 to 130 megabytes, so if you download a few at a time, you can easily reach half a gigabyte in just a few seconds. 

 

  1. Performing updates

For the most part, updates are automatically set to install only when you’re connected to Wi-Fi, which means you don’t have to worry too much about this issue.

But it’s worth keeping in mind that updates should be done on a Wi-Fi network—after all, on average, a single update can use 5 to 20 MB, so imagine how much data 30 updates would use!

 

  1. Syncing email accounts

Your sync schedule determines how often your email app checks to see if any new emails have come in. The good news is that you can change this frequency in your cell phone’s settings.

If you want to cut down on data usage, avoid Push mode, which refreshes your emails every second.

 

  1. Watching videos

It’s a good idea to limit the amount of time you watch videos using an app or website (like YouTube), since this can take up 1 to 3 GB per hour, depending on the video quality. You should also know that pausing a video doesn’t stop it from downloading.

On YouTube, you’ll see two bars: a red one (indicating where you are in the video) and a grey one (indicating which part of the video is preloading).

 

  1. Streaming music

Likewise, listening to music from streaming sites and apps (YouTube, TuneIn, Spotify, Stingray, etc.) uses a lot of data. In fact, music consumes about half the data that video uses.

 

Having round-the-clock access to the Internet is an incredible feature of modern life. But to make the most of the endless advantages of the Web, you should use it wisely. Happy browsing!  

 

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