Wondering how you can reduce data usage on a wi-fi network while using your iPhone or iPad? You have come to the right place.
Depending on where you live, Internet may or may not be costly. If you live in US, there’s a possibility you’re paying a higher bill for your broadband connection and cellular data compared to one of your friends living in Europe or Asia. If internet bills are hurting your pocket, you might want to reduce your data usage. With the launch of iOS 13, Apple included a nifty feature called “Low Data Mode” that claims to reduce Wi-Fi data use when enabled, and a similar feature exist for cellular data users. Most people have limited data when they’re using their home internet use (or a cellular network) to browse the internet, so this feature is very useful when you’re about to hit your data limit, or you just want to reduce the bandwidth used by iPhone or iPad on a wi-fi network.
If you want to enable low data mode for Wi-Fi networks on iPhone or iPad to conserve your monthly data usage while on a wireless network, there are a few simple steps which you need to follow.
Here is the step-by-step guide which will show you how you can turn the low data mode feature on for Wi-Fi networks.
Part of how this feature works is that it aims to limit your data use by preventing automatic updates as well as other background tasks, hence reducing the amount of data used on the iPhone or iPad. Simply follow these steps.
How to Enable Low Data Mode for Wi-Fi Networks on iPhone & iPad
If your problem isn’t cellular data usage but rather skyrocketing broadband bills, you may need to use as less data as possible over Wi-Fi. Don’t worry, simply follow these simple steps to turn on low-data mode for a wireless network:
- Start the “Settings” app on your iPhone or iPad and tap on “Wi-Fi”.
- Next, tap on the “i” icon next to the Wi-Fi network name that you’re incurring high charges on, as you can see in the screenshot below.
- you’ll see the option to enable Low Data Mode. Just tap once on the switch to turn it on.
There you have it. You have configured your iPhone or iPad to use less data.
As you can see, it takes just a few taps to enable or disable the feature.
This mode is very useful if you have a low data cap on your broadband connection, in addition to lowering your bills. By restricting background activities on your iPhone or iPad from consuming your internet data while you’re not using your device, you could use the spare data to do more important stuff at the full bandwidth.
Keep in mind, this method applies to using Low Data Mode on wi-fi, whereas you have a separate setting for using low data mode on iPhone with cellular data, which is what you’d want to use when you’re out roaming around.
While the benefits are numerous, Low Data mode has a couple of drawbacks. Since it prevents automatic updates and background activities as mentioned earlier, your iPhone and iPad data wouldn’t be automatically backed up to the cloud. If you aren’t aware, when your iPhone or iPad is powered on and plugged to a power source, iOS automatically backs up documents, photos, contacts and other files to iCloud. So, you may need to perform a manual backup to iCloud or you may risk losing data permanently.
Well, what’s your take on the new Low Data Mode features on iOS 13? Did it help you save a lot of valuable data and consequently save some cash? We’d love to know your thoughts and experiences in The comment section below.