Managing your mobile data effectively is essential, especially when travelling or using portable hotspots like AussieRoam. Various activities can drain your data allowance, from app updates to video streaming. Let’s explore everyday data-hungry activities and how to minimise usage, ensuring you stay connected without unexpected costs.
What Drains Your Mobile Data?
Modern devices are packed with features that can consume mobile data, including:
Web browsing, email, and apps: These are everyday uses but can add up over time.
GPS navigation: Essential for travel but can use significant data, especially with live traffic updates.
Streaming services: Music and video streaming are among the highest data consumers.
Background updates: Apps and devices may update automatically, consuming data without your knowledge.
Common Data Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Automatic iOS Updates
iOS devices can automatically download updates when connected to WiFi and charging. If your hotspot is seen as "unmetered WiFi," you could lose gigabytes unknowingly.
How to prevent this:
Ensure your device isn’t plugged in and connected to a mobile hotspot simultaneously.
Consider disabling automatic updates in your settings.
WiFi Assist
Introduced in iOS 9, this feature uses cellular data when WiFi is weak, consuming your allowance unexpectedly.
To disable WiFi Assist:
Go to Settings > Mobile > WiFi Assist and toggle it off.
Background App Refresh
Apps frequently update in the background, which can consume significant data.
Solution:
Disable background app refresh for non-essential apps via Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
Auto-Sync and Cloud Backups
Auto-sync features, such as iCloud backups, can use data to upload large files like photos.
To control this:
Navigate to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud, and toggle off items you don’t want to sync.
Video Auto-Play
Social media apps like Facebook and Instagram often autoplay videos, eating up data as you scroll.
How to disable:
In Facebook, go to Settings > Video and Photos and set Auto-Play to "Never Auto-Play."
Push Notifications and Email Fetching
Push notifications and frequent email fetching consume data continuously.
Optimise settings:
Turn off Push and set email to fetch data manually via Settings > Mail > Accounts > Fetch New Data.
High Data Usage Activities to Monitor
The following activities can quickly drain your data allowance. Monitor or limit these when possible:
Video conferencing (e.g., Skype, FaceTime)
Video/audio streaming (e.g., YouTube, Spotify)
Online gaming and interactive sessions
Large file downloads or sharing
Monitor Your Usage
With AussieRoam's eSIMs, you can stay on top of your data usage by visiting your My eSIMs page in your account. Here, you can see a live view of exactly how much data you have remaining. Remember to purchase your next eSIM before your data runs out, or you'll need to utilise a WiFi network instead.
