How to See Which Apps Are Gobbling Up the Most Mobile Data on Your iPhone
Careful of your data usage, dude. (Thinkstock)
Many of us have trouble staying within the limits of our data plans. There’s always a cute dog video we must watch immediately, or a certain celebrity’s Instagram feed to check. And it’s hard to know, in that very moment, if the link you’re tapping will be the content that pushes you into overage-fee territory. Luckily, iOS 8 has a new feature built in to help you monitor your usage.
Just as you can check the percentage of battery drain per app, you can also see which app is the most data-hungry.
To do this, go to Settings → Cellular and scroll down to Use Cellular Data For.
You’ll see an alphabetical list of every app you own. For each, you have the option to enable the use of your precious cellular data by toggling a button to the right. I usually turn that feature off for any app I don’t use regularly, and especially anything that’s useless to me on the go. Of course, you’ll still be able to use it most of the time; it just means the app won’t update while you’re away from a WiFi connection.
Underneath each app’s name, you’ll see the amount of data it’s used during a certain period of time.
Scroll all the way down, and you’ll see that Apple keeps track of that period of time in a tiny font at the veeerrrry bottom of the screen. If you’d like to reset your data, tap Reset Statistics.
It’s hard to say why Apple, a company that aims to make everything easier for its customers, chose not to display your usage in descending order, as it did with its battery usage monitoring tool. For what it’s worth, Android users have had this feature for a while, and it’s both displayed in descending order and available up to four months back. Not to mention, it automatically resets at the end of your billing period. Maybe Apple could take a lesson from its competitor here.
Nevertheless, now you can watch what apps are gobbling your data up most. I, for instance, was finally forced to delete the highly addictive Kim Kardashian game after witnessing what an obscene amount of data it ate after just one day. I’m sure that you, too, will discover your own data albatross once you’ve peeped at your usage.
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