How To Save Mobile Data On Iphone

There are many ways to save data on your iPhone.
You can turn off cellular data entirely, disable data for certain apps, and limit background data usage in your iPhone's settings.
If you're traveling or have a limited data plan, you'll definitely want to take these steps to save data on your iPhone and avoid extra charges.
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It's easy to run through data on your iPhone.

Apps constantly download and update. Some programs use data in the background without telling you, and sometimes, even when hooked into Wi-Fi, iPhones will pull cellular data to augment speeds.

The more data your iPhone consumes at any given time, the slower it can go. And during certain data sucks — for example, if you're regularly outside Wi-Fi reach for extended periods, and especially when you're traveling — it's very easy to run through anything but an unlimited plan.

Even then, in some countries, and on cruise ships, for example, your unlimited data plan likely won't apply.

Here are a few tips for saving data on your iPhone.

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How to save data on your iPhone

The first way to save data is to turn cellular data usage off – so you can only use Wi-Fi.

How to disable cellular data

1. Open Settings.

2. Tap on "Cellular" (should be below "Bluetooth" and "Wi-Fi").

3. Tap on "Cellular Data" to turn it off.

You can also adjust your cellular data options to disable LTE and roaming, which is especially helpful when you're traveling internationally and don't want to incur roaming charges.

How to disable LTE and roaming

1. Open Settings.

2. Tap on "Cellular."

3. Tap on "Cellular Data Options."

4. Tap on "Enable LTE."

5. Tap "Off" (or you can change it to only work with "Data" instead of "Voice & Data").

6. Go back to "Cellular Data Options".

7. Tap "Voice & Data Roaming" so it toggles the green off.

How to turn off background data usage

Background data is one of the biggest ways your apps use data, especially because you don't necessarily know that they're using it.

1. Open Settings.

2. Tap on "General."

3. Tap on "Background App Refresh" (should be under "iPhone Storage").

4. Tap "Background App Refresh" which will likely be "On."

5. You can either turn it to "Wi-Fi" (which will save cellular data but still download data, which may slow performance) or tap on "Off" to turn it off completely.

Make sure Background App Refresh is either turned off or set to Wi-Fi only to save data.

How to turn off Wi-Fi assist

You can also turn off the phone's default connection to cellular data when Wi-Fi is spotty.

1. Open Settings.

2. Tap on "Cellular."

3. Scroll down to tap on "Wi-Fi Assist" (near the bottom) and turn the toggle from green to white.

How to disable data for certain apps

Finally, you might decide to just limit which apps can use data.

1. Open Settings.

2. Tap on "Cellular."

3. Scroll down to the "Cellular Data" subheading.

4. This will contain all of your apps. Scroll through the list and turn off whichever ones you don't want to be using data automatically.

Turn off cellular data for different apps.

Ryan Ariano grew up in Baltimore when the Macintosh was cutting edge, lived in Los Angeles as Blackberries gave way to iPhones, and now lives in Jackson Hole where his life is held together by Bluetooth. He writes on a wide range of topics but especially loves nerding out across the tech spectrum. Learn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here.