Data Usage Suddenly Increased in Android! Here’s How I Reduced

A few days ago, I had a critical problem with Internet data usage on my Android phone. I noticed a great leap in my Android phone’s data usage. In fact, my data usage suddenly increased and was even beyond my estimation. According to the built-in data usage app, in just 6 days I used nearly 5 GB of data and 2 GB in just a few hours. It was worth considering and concerning, but I found the solution.

There may be many reasons for sudden data usage increment, and similarly, you can use different ways to minimize your data usage on your Android phone. Honestly, this article is about how I easily reduced my Android phone’s data usage.

RECOMMENDED: Tricks To Increase Internet Speed in Android

Here’s How I Reduced Data Usage in My Android Phone

Since there are many reasons for data usage increment, hence there are many ways to minimize the data usage. Following are the three simple and most effective ways I tried and succeeded in minimizing data usage on my Android phone.

1. Restrict background data

It’s one of the most effective methods to minimize data usage in Android phones. If you’re using lots of Android apps that keep running in the background, it means they also might consume your Internet data. So, don’t take risks because it may be the main reason for huge data usage in your phone.

When I found that a total of 10 apps in my Android phone ran in the background and even consumed data in the background without my permission, I was shocked and started finding a way to disable the data usage for background apps. And finally, I got the solution, that I also explained in my previous article.

So, you should restrict background data in your Android phone, at least for some apps (you can disable specific apps from using data in background).

Read out THIS GUIDE to learn how to restrict background data in Android phones to reduce/minimize your data usage.

2. Stop apps from updating automatically

However, I know about this fact already so I disabled Android apps from updating automatically. You also should stop apps from updating automatically. It may lead instant and extra data usage without your permission. Though updating the apps is very necessary but still if you don’t wanna spend your data in updating apps or you only wanna update specific apps manually whenever you want, you should stop apps from updating automatically.

For this go to Play Store > Settings and tap on Auto update apps. Now choose Do not auto-update apps. That’s all. Now your apps won’t update anymore. Isn’t it give you extra control over your data?

Still, if you’re having difficulty preventing apps from automatically updating, don’t worry. I’ve already written an article that will give you 2 simple ways to stop Android apps from updating automatically with relevant screenshots. You can read it out HERE.

3. Use WiFi Hotspots as less as possible

In the above screenshot, you can see that I didn’t recommend “Auto-update apps over WiFi only” because I observed a great problem due to this. In fact, whenever you will choose “Auto-update apps over WiFi only”, it’s sure that apps will only update when WiFi is available but if you use WiFi hotspot in your Android phone, it will start automatically updating apps even when you’re not connected with a WiFi.

This is because whenever you open the WiFi hotspot, it means your phone is connected to WiFi even when your regular Internet balance is draining.

I know this because I used to connect my laptop using the WiFi hotspot feature in my Android phone and one day I checked the data usage, and I saw that Hotspot consumed a total of approx 5 GB of Internet in just 6 days and 2 GB in just a few hours because it updated all the apps in my phone that was chosen to update when WiFi is available. That’s why, I decided to use a WiFi hotspot as little as possible. Because if I choose “Do not auto-update apps” I still have a fear of auto-update of my smartphone’s software (that doesn’t have the option like “Do not auto-update software”) that might consume a total of 3 GB of my regular data in few hours.

That’s all!

That’s all. I tried all three methods mentioned above and succeeded. These three methods helped me minimize the data usage on my Android phone.

If your data usage also suddenly increased, you should try them, at least once and I’m sure these methods will help you reduce your data usage.