data usage Archives - Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: How can I find out how much data each app on my PC is using?

Posted on May 26, 2025

Question from Gary: My ISP has notified me that I have exceeded the monthly data allotment for my Internet plan and that I might have to pay extra this month.

I don’t understand this because I only use the Internet for about 1 to 2 hours per day and I don’t do much streaming at all other than watching an occasional YouTube video.

I only have one computer using my WiFi connection. No phones or tablets use WiFi, just this one computer. There is nothing connected via a wired connection either.

I’m hoping you can help me find out what’s using all that data? [Read more…]

Here’s a quick tip for reducing your phone’s monthly data usage

Posted on June 15, 2024

Do you have a smartphone? If so, it probably has dozens of apps installed on it.

Some of those apps were likely installed manually by you, but many of them probably came pre-installed on your phone from the factory.

Most of your phone’s installed apps have one thing in common: They’re constantly sending data to and receiving data from remote servers located in various parts of the world.

This isn’t usually a problem for most users, but if you happen to have a cellular contract with a limited data plan it can be a huge problem for you. [Read more…]

How to control your mobile data usage when watching Netflix on your mobile device

Posted on May 13, 2016

The folks at Netflix recently changed the way they stream content to mobile devices over cellular data networks.

After spending considerable time testing various data rates, Netflix determined that a streaming rate of 600 Kbps per second provides the user with good video quality while consuming a smaller portion of your cellular plan’s monthly data allotment.

But what if Netflix’s interpretation of “good video quality” differs from yours?

Luckily, you can easily increase the video quality of the shows and movies you watch on your mobile device by increasing the streaming rate from Netflix’s new default rate of 600 Kbps per second. [Read more…]

Does your phone have an unlimited data plan? If not, you need this!

Posted on October 2, 2015

Sprint, Verizon and the other major cellular service providers are trying their best to move all of their customers from unlimited data plans to metered plans, and it probably won’t be too long before we are all lose our unlimited deals.

If you’re one of the millions of cellular customers who are already on a metered plan, you know how important it is to carefully watch your data usage in order to avoid expensive overages at the end of every month.

Luckily, there is an outstanding app that makes the task of monitoring your data usage very easy. [Read more…]

Cut your iPhone’s data usage with a simple settings change

Posted on July 16, 2014

A new feature introduced with iOS 7 makes it easier to conserve your iPhone’s monthly data allotment. You can now tell iOS which apps are allowed to use cellular data and which ones must wait until you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network.

As you probably know, data that’s sent and received via Wi-Fi doesn’t count against your monthly data allotment, so using as many apps as possible only when you’re connected via Wi-Fi can save you a bundle on monthly data overage charges.

It’s easy to tell iOS which apps you want to restrict to using Wi-Fi only. Here’s how: [Read more…]