Think you know how your phone uses your data? Think again. The way smartphones use data isn’t always obvious and there is a lot that happens behind the scenes. What is background data usage on your phone? How can you monitor or restrict how much data your phone uses in the background? Read on for more.
What is Background Data Usage?
Background data is the data drawn down by your phone which keeps apps up to date with the latest content and information. Popular apps such as Twitter and Facebook are just two apps that millions of people have downloaded, which also like to continually run in the background and chew up your data.
You don’t even have to be using your phone for this process to take place, which is why this kind of data usage is referred to as “background”. A more obvious use of data is when you’re actually using an app, which requires data in order to function, otherwise known as “foreground” data. Background data usage is more stealthy, and it’s important to monitor data usage and what it’s being used for.
What is Background Data Usage Compared to Background App Refresh?
Asking what is background data usage and what is background app refresh is like asking the same question twice. They are basically the same thing. It all depends on whether you are an iOS or Android device user. Background app refresh refers to the drawdown of background data on iPhones and iPads, whereas background data usage is often the term used for the same process on Android devices.
Can I Restrict Background Data?
Knowledge is power when it comes to data usage on your phone. To check data usage used in the background by the different apps on your phone is easy to do. On Android you can see which apps are the worst offenders by going to App Data Usage under Settings. Here you’ll see the amount of data each app uses in total and have the option to stop background data altogether by deselecting the option. On iOS there is a similar option under Settings called Background App Refresh, which will show each app and give you the option to switch off background data.
How You Use Data
Can I manage my data usage and estimate internet data usage at the same time? Absolutely. You can always completely disable the background data options on your phone if you want to, but remember that doing this can come at the cost of getting up to the second relevant content in your apps. If you know you do want certain apps to use background data so you get the very best up to date information at your fingertips, this is a good way to estimate just how much internet data you will need to pay for each month.
