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RhoLee
Neighbourhood Alum
Neighbourhood Alum

TELUS_FBLinkAd_TeamMemberTIP_TEMPLATE-Recovered.png

 

 

There are good surprises, then there are the ones that manifest itself as an unwelcome data charge on your monthly bill.  Streaming media and sharing files all contribute to our ever-increasing consumption of mobile data so you’re probably left wondering how you’ll ever keep it under control.

 

I’m here to help! A big part of my job, in the Mississauga customer care center, includes helping customers manage their mobile data usage. Below are a few tips that I like to recommend.

 

 

Use WiFi while roaming

 

This might be obvious when you’re at home, but when you’re on the road, make use of WiFi whenever you can.  Turn off your mobile roaming data (cellular data when local) in your device settings and leave your WiFi on. Using the TELUS WiFi Finder app is an easy way to search for public WiFi in your area.

 

Many establishments now offer free WiFi for their patrons, so don’t forget to ask restaurants, coffee shops and hotels if they have it.  Sneak in a latte and catch up on your social media feeds all at the same time. This includes but not limited to Twitter, Facebook, live video chat, Snapchat, facetime, GPS, etc.

Speaking of GPS…did you know you can download an OFFLINE MAPS & NAVIGATION APP which will not use your phone data while enjoying the convenience of GPS? Totally awesome right?!

 

Close apps running in the background

 

Always close any apps or windows that you are no longer using. For example if you check Facebook make sure you close it completely to ensure it is not running in the background.

  1. Double click the Home button (or 3D Touch press the left side of the screen on iPhone 6s) to bring up the fast app switcher.
  2. Swipe to the app you want to force quit.
  3. Touch the app card and flick it up and off the screen.

close apps.jpg

 

 

 Enable Google Chrome data compression (for Android)

 

We consume websites using our mobile browser without giving much thought to the amount of media that is hosted on our favourite websites. Often, this can result in hundreds of megabytes of data (or more!) being consumed without our knowledge. Here’s how to enable data compression for your Android Chrome browser:

  • Tap on the 3 dots in the upper right corner
  • Select Settings
  • Tap on Data Saver
  • Enable Data Saver

Data Compression.jpg

 

Select when to use iMessage

 

Apple's instant messaging platform which uses Wi-Fi or your data plan (3G) to send both text and picture messages. iMessages can be sent between any Apple devices that have the iMessage app and are indicated by a blue text bubble.

 This is an imessage.jpg

 

 

If you are running low on data and unable to connect to WiFi, you can disable the iMessage and send strictly as SMS.

 Disabling iMessage.jpg

 

Leveraging your device’s native data management tools

 

Not everyone is a tinkerer, so it may come as a surprise to you that both Android and iOS both offer native settings to help you take control of how much data your phone uses. Check out these two how-to articles:

 

Android

iOS

 

If you didn’t think you could reign in your data use before, I’m confident my top 5 tips will go a long way to help prevent any more of those unwelcome data overage charges in the future!

2 Comments
Larry1
Just Moved In

I've also found using voice turn by turn with google maps EATS cellular data. Shut off the turn by turn and google will still show the map and can be followed with incurring data suction. 

xl
CPU Alum
CPU Alum

I use Maps.Me.... once the maps are downloaded to where I'm travelling.... no more data charges.

 

Works great on cruise ships when I'm outside.