Data usage varies per app
Some apps use a relatively large amount of data. You will not be surprised by this with apps such as Netflix and Spotify, because streaming video and music costs a lot of data. But there are also sneaky data guzzlers: apps that use a lot of MBs without you noticing. With the tips from this article you can see which apps use the most data. We also explain how you can indicate that apps may only use WiFi and not mobile data.
- View data usage
- Turn off mobile data
- Data consumption by system functions
- Data usage by App Store
- Prevent
View data usage per app
It’s very easy to see data usage per app:
- On your iPhone, go to the Settings app.
- Tap Mobile Network and scroll down
- You will now see a long list of all the apps on your iPhone.
- Below the name of each app is the data usage in MB or GB.
This consumption is calculated over a certain period. Scroll down to see which period it concerns. If necessary, you can reset the period by tapping Reset data.
Disable data usage per app
If you do not want a particular app to use data any longer, you can turn this off by going to the settings of the app in question and turning off the switch for Mobile data. The app will then no longer use data via 3G, 4G and 5G, but only via WiFi.
Data consumption of system functions
In the list you will see the default and third-party apps that you have installed, but not the system functions such as push notifications, location requests, software updates, Siri and the like. These functions also cost data, but they are sometimes not linked to a specific app.
You can find out the data used for this by looking at the System item at the top of the list. If you tap this, you will see more precisely what data consumption is related to, for example HomeKit, Siri and Find My.
You can find more information in the list of apps. If you have been abroad and used roaming, you can see how much data this cost. This way you can keep a good overview of the consumption of any extra data bundle you have taken out, for example for the US.
Data consumption by App Store and app updates
App updates also consume data. The content of such an update may be different. Sometimes minor errors have been resolved, but it can also happen that an app has been completely updated. You can see for yourself when an app was last updated and how big it was.
This is how you look at it:
- Go to the App Store on your device.
- Tap your profile at the top right.
- Scroll down. You will now see a list of apps that have an update.
- Tap More behind the description to see how big the update is.
If you do not want mobile data to be used for app updates, disable this via Settings > App Store. Turn off the switch for Automatic downloads or indicate that you want to be warned for updates larger than 200 MB.
Prevent data consumption by apps
If you want to prevent apps from using a lot of data, you can take all kinds of measures. For example, you can choose to only use Netflix offline.
Many people are afraid that commonly used apps such as WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook consume a lot of data. But that’s actually not too bad. If you receive and send approximately 100 messages per day with WhatsApp, it will cost you less than 10MB. Of course, it costs a little more if you add photos and videos. It is useful to know that most apps automatically reduce the size of the files. Facebook costs less than 100MB per month for most people. That’s because many people use the app at home on the couch, where they have WiFi. Using Facebook on the go also hardly uses any data. Sending a message only costs 50 to 100 KB. A minute of live video on Facebook will cost you about 10 MB.
It can sometimes vary greatly per app. For example, posting a photo on WhatsApp costs about 100 KB, but on Snapchat it is often three or four times that amount. Calling with Viber costs 200 KB per minute, while calling with WhatsApp costs around 400 KB per minute.
Video calling can quickly consume a lot of data and there too the differences are large. Skype uses about 30 MB per minute. If you want to be economical with your data, FaceTime is the app you need: it only uses 3MB per minute. Google Duo is in between at 10 MB per minute.
Also check out our other tips about app use:
- Which apps use a lot of storage space?
- Which apps use a lot of battery?
- Which apps do I use a lot?
