How to reduce Internet costs. Block iTunes and App Store downloads on cellular networks

reservoirs 25.09.2019

reservoirs

We want to present you with some tips that will help reduce data usage by unnecessary applications and a few tricks that will reduce traffic consumption to a minimum. These hints work on Sony, Samsung, HTC, LG, Motorola and other smartphones under operating system Android.

Install Opera Max

Opera Max is a must have app for those who have slow EDGE and GPRS internet. She squeezes your whole mobile traffic, because of which applications requiring the Internet work noticeably faster. In addition, thanks to branded features, it saves up to 50% of traffic. On my Samsung Galaxy S5, this figure was about 42%!

Turn off automatic updates

Automatic updates consume the most bandwidth because your smartphone has a lot of programs installed and some of them are updated regularly by developers. So if you forget to turn off this option on your gadget, then the Internet will be used without your knowledge in the background.

To disable automatic update go to Google Play -> " Settings" -> "Auto update app" and select " Never" or " Only via WiFi" depending on what you need.

Data compression in browsers

With the help of Chrome and Opera browsers, which provide the ability to compress data, you can significantly reduce traffic consumption, since websites will load photos in compressed form, and the pages themselves will not execute all the JS code. This format reduces data consumption by up to 30%. Enabling this option in your browser settings will help you save traffic and not exceed your tariff limit.

To enable compression for Google Chrome go to " Settings" -> "Traffic control" -> "Reducing traffic" and move the slider to "Enable".

Data preloading and caching

On YouTube, for example, you can use the “watch later” feature. This allows you to download any content and video over WiFi to watch another time. Google Maps always helped us to walk around unfamiliar cities and crowded streets without any problems. You can preload a route or a map and view them without using the mobile Internet at any time when you need them on the road. This will save the number of megabytes, and also saves battery power.

Turn off automatic sync

Social apps and other note-taking apps use automatic sync, which allows you to use Mobile Internet, running in the background when you have an update or the program needs to sync data with your account. By turning off the automatic synchronization option, you minimize traffic consumption as much as possible, since applications will only be updated when you start them, for example, having a WiFi connection.

You can do this by going to Settings" -> "Data transfer"and uncheck the box" Auto sync".

Turn off mobile data and set a limit

Turn off mobile data when you don't need it - good way save precious megabytes, as all applications running in the background will automatically stop. If you are traveling, sleeping or attending an important meeting, turn off the Internet. You can set a limit on internet consumption. This setting will warn you as soon as you approach the Internet consumption limit.

This option is available in Settings" -> "Data transfer" - > "Set limit". Move the red slider up or down to set the desired limit.

You can also . After that, ads will no longer be shown in applications, and, accordingly, precious megabytes will not be spent on it.

These few are very simple steps can help you control your data usage and reduce your internet costs.

Hello friends. Summer is in the yard, many people go on vacation, or somewhere far away from the city, and of course there is a problem, but what about the Internet? After all, somewhere outside the city it most likely will not be, and then what? Panic begins, tears and all that :).

Well, of course there is a way out, you just need to get mobile Internet. Can buy GPRS or 3G modem. In the first case, the speed will be lower, but most likely it will stably receive a signal almost everywhere. In turn, 3G technology will provide greater speed, but the signal will not be as stable and you may need to buy an antenna. I wrote about setting up 3G Internet in an article.

I switched to modems, but I wanted to write about how to save internet traffic. Well, of course, both GPRS and 3G Internet are not very cheap now, even expensive compared to the urban network. That is why I decided to write today's article. So-as with right approach, you can save a lot of Internet traffic and traffic is money.

All tariffs of mobile Internet operators have package restrictions or fees for spent Internet traffic, and in the first and second cases, tips on saving traffic will be useful.

First of all, I advise you to install a program on your computer that will measure the Internet traffic that you spend.

I recommend the program NetWorx. This program has a clear Russian interface, and can do a lot. You can measure traffic by hours, days, or as you wish, you can set limits for a day or a month, and the program will warn you when your tariff plan will end, which will save you from extra expenses, because traffic over the package is not very cheap.

Turn off the image

I remember when I was still using GPRS Internet through my phone, I always turned off displaying images in the browser. Graphics on web pages take a lot of traffic and this is very bad. It seems to me that surfing the Internet can be convenient even without pictures, but it’s a little not primary right away.

You can turn off the image in the settings of any browser. For example, in Opera go to “Tools”, “General settings” tab “Web pages” and where the image is selected “No images” and click "OK".

Now you can try to use the Internet without images, by the way, this method also very effectively increases the speed of loading pages.

Cache saves bandwidth

Cache, these are the elements of a web page that the browser saves on the computer and the next time it accesses these elements, it does not re-download them from the Internet. The cache is really good at saving traffic when you visit the same site many times. For example, you once logged into Vkontakte, the browser downloaded an image of your friends and saved them to your hard drive.

When you visit this site again, the browser will not re-download these pictures and thereby save internet traffic.

Internet traffic saving service

Although I am a supporter of all sorts of services and add-ons, I can advise Toonel.net to save traffic. This service compresses Internet traffic well and allows you to save money. By the way, the service is completely free.

Advertising is the main traffic eater

Something, but there is enough advertising on the sites now, even I have a little, but what about, I want to eat :). But advertising takes almost half of your traffic. Flash advertising does this especially well. To disable ads, you need to use add-ons for different browsers. Just type in any search engine " how to disable ads in opera(or other browser).

Separately, I would like to note an excellent feature in the Opera browser. Turbo mode helps save traffic and increase the speed of loading Internet pages with a not very fast connection. All traffic that you will request will pass and be processed through Opera's servers, and arrive on your computer already in a compressed form.

Activating Turbo mode is very simple. Go to the browser and find the button in the form of a speedometer at the bottom left (above the start button).

Click on it and select “Turn on Turbo mode”, the button will turn blue and the turbo mode will start working.

Offtopic: Just in a couple of days I'll pass the last exam and go home for the summer. Of course, I take the computer, but the Internet ... I decided to take the Internet from Intertelecom, I will buy a modem and most likely I will have to buy an antenna.

So these tips will also come in handy for me, although 1000 MB for 5 UAH. per day, it seems to me not very bad, we'll see what speed it will be. Good luck!

How to reduce traffic consumption - problem analysis

This should always be the first step: before you take on a problem, you need to look and understand what exactly it is. To do this, open the menu Settings and select the item data usage.

In chapter data usage You will find a list of applications that consume the most data, as well as information about how much traffic a particular program "ate". To get accurate statistics, taking into account the terms of payment, it is worth determining in which period the statistics should be taken (you must specify the time interval). But in the main version you can get a lot useful information about which of the applications we use are the most "gluttonous".

You should be concerned, in particular, with how much data each application consumes in the active mode, and how much in the background. Remember that those that consume especially a lot of data use part of the traffic in the background.

Reduce unnecessary data transfer in the background

You already know which programs have an increased appetite for data, even when you are not using them (that is, they are running in the background). Run such an application and look in the settings for the possibility of limiting data consumption, etc. Use them if possible. In most cases, during normal use of the app, you won't see a difference, but the data savings can be significant.

It may happen that the application does not offer such an option, but this does not mean that you are powerless. You will find this feature in Android itself. Just go to the menu Settings → Applications, and then select the program of interest. Here you can disable the option Background data permission(this will prevent the app from downloading data in the background over the cellular network, it will only download when connected to a Wi-Fi network).

Note: If you block background data for messaging apps or Email, You will no longer receive notifications of new messages. But, we guarantee that in any smartphone there are at least a few applications running in the background, the deactivation of which will not limit the functionality of the device in any way, and will also allow save valuable megabytes.

Reducing traffic consumption - control over autorun

If you single out one specific type of content that is responsible for the largest traffic consumption, it is, of course, video. Especially since many popular apps have a nasty habit of automatically starting videos, whether the user wants it or not. Fortunately, in most cases, this can be turned off.

The obvious culprit is the Facebook app - the menu to turn off the AutoPlay feature can be found in Program settings(there you can determine exactly in which situation the video can automatically start playing). You can do the same in the Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat apps.

Moreover, using this advice, you do not risk anything at all - you can still launch each clip yourself.

How to consume less traffic - data compression

Another devourer of the Internet traffic package is the browser. This can also be easily fixed. The most popular Android browser, Google Chrome, has a tool called Save data. It is enough to enter the program settings and activate it.

This will cause the smartphone to redirect traffic through Google servers, where it will be compressed and adapted for mobile devices - Google promises that thanks to this, web surfing will not only be cheaper, but also much faster and safer (due to additional scanning for malware).

You don't have to limit yourself to just the Chrome browser, there are similar solutions in Opera Mini as well. The developers have equipped this browser with a standard compression function, both for traditional web pages and video clips, and when downloading files.

Reduce data consumption - optimize music applications

Music streaming apps can also be responsible for excessive data consumption (especially if you frequently watch your favorite recordings).

The easiest way to deal with this is to download your favorite songs over Wi-Fi for offline listening. However, not everyone can and wants to use this option (if only because they do not have enough space in the device’s memory), so it’s worth looking for alternative solutions.

In the case of Google Play Music, you should look in the menu Settings | Network quality. It is worth experimenting with the settings available there and checking if we really should have high level sound quality.

You will find similar features in other music listening software such as Spotify (Settings | Music Quality), Pandora or Deezeer. So it's worth taking a closer look at the multimedia programs installed on your phone and making sure that no feature consumes more data than it needs.

How to consume less traffic - YouTube on a diet

The default YouTube client application launches every file in high resolution, but the benefits of such a solution are difficult to appreciate on a small smartphone screen. Therefore, it is worth considering the issue of limiting the maximum resolution of the video being viewed when using mobile data.

Open YouTube app and menu Settings → General You will find several interesting options. First team Play HD video only over Wi-Fi. Also on the same menu turn off autoplay(to prevent YouTube from continuing to play other videos if, for example, you have gone somewhere).

How to Consume Less Data - Download Media

Subscription audio and video streaming services are among the most useful services available to mobile device users. The fact, however, is that their use is associated with the consumption of a huge amount of traffic. Therefore, if possible, it is worth considering preload– when your smartphone is connected to WiFi networks- the music you are going to listen to or the videos you want to watch.

Netflix or Spotify offer such options, and while of course it's not always possible to plan what media you want to use, of course everyone has a few favorite songs that they return to very often. In the case of movies - if you follow a series, then use the memory save function mobile phone or a tablet of the next episodes.

This also applies to YouTube - if you have an active subscription to Google Play Music, you can download movies available on the site for later viewing (and if you don't have a subscription, you should consider using an application that offers a similar function - there are a lot of them in the Google Play store). a lot of).

Reduced traffic consumption - offline navigation

The GPS navigation available within Google Map consumes great amount traffic, however, if this application regularly accompanies you on the road, data downloaded from the network can be of real benefit. Moreover, the application offers offline navigation - just launch the application with a wireless connection, plan a route, specify the desired path, and then click Save in case of connection problems on the highway.

If you save more of these routes, you can conveniently manage them later using the menu. Maps offline in settings.

Application updates under control

The Google Play Store is one of those applications that can seriously empty the traffic package quite imperceptibly - primarily by triggering the application update process.

To avoid this, just open the tab Settings and change them so that updates are downloaded only when the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network.

How to consume less traffic - order in applications

When deciding on the main "megabyte eaters", it is also worth looking into other, less obvious programs that can receive too much information.

Review the list of applications installed on the system and remove (or at least disable) those that have not been used for a long time - or at all. Thanks to this, you will not only save some data, but also free up the memory of your smartphone / tablet.

Check what Android is syncing

Pick up your phone and open the menu Settings → Accounts..., it is possible that you will see a long list of active accounts on the device before your eyes. When you select any of the services offered in this provision, you will see exactly what is being synchronized within your account.

You can find quite a few things here that should be synced (mail, contacts, photos, etc.), but there is a good chance that many will be completely redundant. If you find such positions, turn them off or block them.

True, this may take some time, especially if you have active Accounts various services, but it's worth it.

Android 7 - data saving - a radical solution

AT latest version Android, bearing number 7, another one was applied interesting solution- somewhat radical, but at the same time very effective. it Data Saver function, which blocks most apps from using mobile data unless the app is currently active, meaning it's not being used by the owner of the mobile device.

However, this tool can be so "aggressive" that it limits the functionality of the device to some extent (by blocking the receipt of notifications, warnings, etc.), however, the effectiveness in reducing traffic consumption is amazing...

Hello! Despite the fact that the number of gigabytes (included by cellular operators in their tariffs) is growing every year, while the price, on the contrary, is falling, still not many can afford completely unlimited Internet on the device. Yes, and here it’s rather not a matter of “allowing”, but simply not many people need it. There is a conditional one gigabyte per month and it is enough - why pay more?

But in some cases (especially when switching to an iPhone from another device), these same gigabytes suddenly begin to be missed - when turned on, an Apple mobile phone starts wildly eating traffic and eats up the entire available limit in a few hours. And this is where the screams begin: “The iPhone is bad, I just inserted a SIM card - I don’t do anything, and the traffic goes away on its own (and the battery is also running low!)”. Ai-ai-ai and all that...:) Why is this happening? Believe me, not because the iPhone is bad and the company decided to ruin you. No.

The thing is that the iPhone, like any modern smartphone, has a number of settings that you just need to pay attention to in order to avoid such “arbitrariness” of your smartphone with your own Internet.

But first, a small list of where iPhone traffic can go without your knowledge:

The programs themselves use the traffic for their own needs.

Sending service information.

Weak Wi-Fi signal.

Sync iCloud services.

An experienced reader and user will say: “Yes, there is still a lot where traffic can flow!”. And he'll be right - updates mailboxes, push notifications, browser, etc. all this also affects the number of gigabytes consumed, but:

Say that push notifications, mail downloads, etc. downright strongly devour the entire cellular Internet - it is impossible. They use it, if at all, in very small quantities.
And if you disable all this, as they suggest on many sites (the most ingenious advice I have come across is to turn off the Internet in the settings so that it does not waste you), then why then the iPhone?

Therefore, let's try to get by with a little bloodshed - we will prohibit the iPhone from consuming the Internet on its own, but without much damage to us.

Update or download apps from the App Store

Current applications and games can reach 2-3 gigabytes in size and Apple company took care of saving traffic - you can’t officially download a program with a volume of more than 150 megabytes from the App store (though we know). But at the same time, there is a large number of programs smaller than this threshold (150 MB). And that's it they can devour your Internet package.

Here we are talking not so much about downloading (you see what you are downloading), but about updating these programs on your own via a cellular network. Therefore, such an update must be disabled:

That's it, now the programs will no longer use the cellular network for their update, and will only do it via Wi-Fi.

How to find out which application "eats" traffic on the iPhone

Installed programs, in addition to simply updating their version, can consume the Internet in order to perform their usual functions. Therefore, if you really feel that megabytes are running away, it makes sense to check - or maybe some application is too “snuffy”? You can do this:

Just in case, remember this moment so that in the future you will not be surprised why these cards (for example) refuse to work and update their data.

Sending "service information" can also waste the Internet

In fact, of course, this option does not consume mobile Internet so much and I myself have not encountered this, however, I have seen several stories that tell about this particular “glitch”, or a failure, when this very service information was sent constantly. Therefore, I decided to include this item here - it will not be superfluous to disable sending it for sure. How to do it?

As we see in the explanation, this information is sent daily, and does not carry any special load, apart from the fact that we help Apple in improving products. Therefore, if you turn off its transmission, then nothing terrible will happen, and traffic (even if small) will be saved.

"Help with Wi-Fi" - traffic on the iPhone flows away very quickly

"Wonderful" option, which is enabled by default for some reason. Its essence is that if your Wi-Fi signal "does not pull", and the cellular network can provide best speed- Wi-Fi will automatically turn off and data transfer will go through the SIM card.

I myself fell for this bait not so long ago - I sat watching videos on YouTube, did not bother anyone. Then the iPad did not like something in my Wi-Fi (bad signal, insufficient speed) and he considered it necessary to turn it off (which is important - no notifications come!), And I continued to enjoy the video through happy ignorance cellular communication. I came to my senses only after the operator sent an SMS message with the text: "Your Internet package is coming to an end."

Therefore, in my opinion, if you do not have an unlimited tariff, this option should be disabled immediately. How to do it:

I repeat, this option should be turned off in almost any case, so that there are no surprises with the disappearance of traffic.

iCloud services sync eats up mobile data

iCloud is really good and convenient, and backups are generally beyond praise. However, if you care about saving precious megabytes on your tariff, then in this case the "cloud" will have to be turned off.

We are now talking about iCloud Drive - this is a kind of cloud data storage (I already talk about the principles of its operation). So, synchronization (loading and unloading data) with this storage can occur over a cellular network. And it’s good if you sent a small object there, but what if it’s 100-200 megabytes? While it is downloading, all traffic will go away.

Yes, and ordinary programs can store their data there. And who knows how much they will load there? But it's good that all this can be turned off:

After that, the "cloud" will synchronize exclusively via Wi-Fi.

It would seem that each of the actions is quite simple and does not require much effort. But shutdown and execution of all items.

Saving traffic is necessary, since the two main problems that many Russian users face are low speed Internet and high fees for frequent unnecessary information. Let's take a closer look at how to save Internet traffic without losing the quality of the information received.

Choice of tariff plan and provider

Internet speed varies from provider to provider depending on the number of users and network bandwidth. When choosing a service provider, it is best to experiment and advice from friends. But in many small Russian cities users don't have much choice.

A proven way to save Internet traffic on a computer is to surf the Web in certain time days. The highest speed is from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. At this time, you can provide for downloading large amounts of information by setting the download manager accordingly.

With dial-up access, when choosing a service provider, you should pay attention to what the fee is taken for:

During access. Beneficial for those who download large amounts of information (video or software).
for the information used. Convenient for those who simply surf the Web, looking through the pages.

Blocking unwanted content

Some of the information that comes from the World Wide Web is completely unnecessary for the user. Moreover, it increases the page load time and consumes the Internet, and therefore money. There are a number effective ways protection from inappropriate content.

Data caching

Some of the elements on each page do not change when the information is updated (logos, scripts, CSS), so it is unnecessary to download them from the web every time. This is provided by caching on the user's computer.

Browser cache. In modern browsers, in order to save money, it is hidden to save traffic, it is structurally incorporated efficient system cache. Downloaded pages are best viewed offline.
You can use a more efficient local caching proxy or DNS proxy to save money, while disabling the browser cache and freeing up hard disk space.

Savings in email

To do this, you need to clean mail from spam using mail services that cut spam already on the server. But you need to pay attention to the correct mail filtering settings so as not to lose important correspondence.

Some services (Bat, Outlook) can show only the header of the letter, after which the user himself decides whether to download it. It is possible to limit the size of letters or disable the download of attachments.

Compressing content with special services

Boost throughput lines, speed up downloads and reduce network traffic is possible with the help of gzip-compression (compression) of information. Text is compressed, while graphics, archives and executable files are downloaded directly. This allows you to speed up the opening of the page by about two times.

However, not all servers support gzip compression. Then you can use network services such as WebWarper, WebCompressor, TrafficOptimizer, Toonel.net, etc., which compress http content and other types of data (email and socks files).

The free use of these services is complicated by the addition of their own advertising or restrictions on the number of concurrent users. free clients, which may cause connection difficulties.

Using download managers

The usefulness of download managers is that they allow you to download the rest of the file in case of a disconnection from the Internet, and not start downloading again. In addition, they allow you to view the contents of the archive before downloading and select the files you need.

Also, during the download process, you can view a video or listen to an audio file and decide on the need for its full download.

Disabling image loading

When opening some pages, images can take up to 80% of traffic. Therefore, if you need to download a text or any file, it makes no sense to wait for the download of large images, unless they contain necessary information. This feature is available in all browsers.

Web surfing without pictures is somewhat unusual, so you can experiment in this format for several days, and then decide whether you need it or not.

And even when there are no more problems with data transfer speed, before turning off traffic savings, it is worth considering whether everything that is transmitted from the Internet is necessary for the user. Perhaps some restrictions should be left.

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