iPhone settings to save Data?

[Soupermom]

DD21 just upgraded her iPhone and now she is burning through data really quickly. I know we had certain things turned "off" to save on data, but I can't remember what all we had to change. Does anyone have suggestions on unnecessary functions we can manipulate to save on data?

Thanks!

 

[Daddee]

Automatic app updates. Set it to wifi only.
Turn off location Service.
I'm sure there is a ton more. I don't have a iPhone in front of me. I'm an android guy.

And at 21 should she know how to do this?

 

[Daddee]

Simplest way is to remove the app she is using to burn thru your shared data. You tube was my daughter's bad habit. Ran thru 9 gigs in 2 weeks. Wasn't my Shared data plan. So I just laughed. She was 12 at the time. But she understood how the data plan worked.

 

[Soupermom]

Simplest way is to remove the app she is using to burn thru your shared data. You tube was my daughter's bad habit. Ran thru 9 gigs in 2 weeks. Wasn't my Shared data plan. So I just laughed. She was 12 at the time. But she understood how the data plan worked.

Automatic app updates. Set it to wifi only.
Turn off location Service.
I'm sure there is a ton more. I don't have a iPhone in front of me. I'm an android guy.

And at 21 should she know how to do this?

She, my son, and I went through our phones a year ago and removed unneeded Apps and changed settings, I just can't remember what all we did and now that she has a new phone, I'm guessing the factory settings are causing havoc. Thanks for the tips. I will make sure she had those issues addressed.

 

[Firefly09]

in facebook, set video playback to wifi only

 

[mondragon]

I burn through data using pandora but I also have the old AT&T plan with unlimited data. No longer offer that plan. Anything she streams burns through data.

 

[angierae]

Is she on tumblr? The tumblr mobile app will eat data like crazy. She needs to go into her settings and see what apps are using the most data and set them to wifi only.

 

[got2sammies]

if you go into your settings you can turn off all/certain apps that use data.. settings>cellular.. scroll all the way down and turn off the apps you dont want to use data for they will only work over WIFI... I have to so this when I get the text message about my data usage

 

[scrapquitler]

change your email settings so that it doesn't constantly grab new emails as they arrive (on my iphone the setting you want is Mail --> fetch new data OFF.

Also, go under CELLULAR --> scroll down to USE CELLULAR DATA FOR --> then look at all your apps. Under the name of the app, it shows how much data you have used with that app since the last reset. This will show you where your high data use is coming from (for me, it's always instagram and facebook). You can turn off the worst offenders and train yourself to use them only when you have wifi.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

If she's coming from 3G to LTE that makes a huge difference too IME.

 

[Mary2e]

We discovered the automatic video on Facebook was eating data like crazy. Our carrier (verizon) tells us which apps used the most data for each billing cycle. Facebook was more than half our allotment. He quickly went to facebook and switched it to wifi only, and actually, I switched mine to never, since I found it annoying. His next data hog was playing music. That got switched to wifi only in Cellular settings.

I also turned off fetch for my email and I request it manually when I go into the mail app.

Any video is going to eat data like crazy.

We now don't even come close to our data usage each month.

 

[wenrob]

Usually it is YouTube/video that will do it. Streaming music will do damage if it's a constant thing. My DH left it running on a 12hr shift and went through 5gb in one night. DD however uses Spotify while driving and she's driving a LOT but only uses just under 3gb per month on her phone.

In my house it's WiFi whenever possible. No streaming videos without WiFi ever. My DH watches a lot of movies but he downloads them using WiFi first. As mentioned you can go into your cellular settings and see what's eating the data and set each app individually. A lot of apps will request Location Services and people will hit "okay" without thinking about. Some never shut off so that's something else to check.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I just checked my settings as I was curious. I've used 17.8G of data this month. I don't connect to my workplace wi-fi so I'm using cellular data all day.

 

[abmitch01]

How about calling your carrier and asking for a better rate? I just tried calling for the heck of it and ended up getting unlimited test/talk and 10gb data for $10 less than I was paying a month, no contract and they are allowing me to get a new phone 3 months earlier. I didn't realize how bad the plan I had before really was, lol

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

The big one burning data on mine is the grandson on youtube. He can go through 9 g a month.

 

[edk35]

You tube is a data killer. BIG TIME.

 

[hsmamato2]

Go to setting/cellular and scroll down- you will see an on/off switch for each app that's running...switch all the unnecessary data hog apps to off. This means they will only work when connected to wifi- and no data is used on them. Instagram,facebook,youtube, take a lot of data. I turn almost all my apps 'off' -when I do decide to use them, I go into that same settings as noted above and switch it on individually. it's a couple of tiny extra steps that save a lot of money.I have a prepaid plan that gives me 100% reliable coverage, plenty of talk/text time and only 500 MB data monthly. I have never hit that data ceiling yet in the few years I've used this.FWIW, there is wifi almost everywhere we go now anyway....if you can train your kiddos to do it it's a big money saver.

 

[hsmamato2]

also you can turn off your location settings which is constantly having your phone search for where you are (this doesn't affect the find my phone feature) and the push notifications settings can be shut on/off manually to save data. Also a lot of apps run stuff in the background, you can shut it all off to run only when connected to wifi- there is a lot you can manipulate with these phones.....my DS is on a free phone/data app- it is VERY limited but he uses it for phone calls and texts when he's away from home- everything else on his phone is set to wifi usage only.

 

[Soupermom]

Thanks everyone!

 

[DizMe]

I, too, appreciate all of this advice! My twin girls just got their first phones (iphone 5s) and I was scared to death we'd be going over our data, but with this thread we're coming up on the first month and are well below the limit. We're on a family share plan and there are 6 of us