In addition to the sluggishness and sudden battery drain issues that nearly caused me to downgrade to iOS 13, I recently encountered another irksome issue that would consume all of my meagre bandwidth in a matter of days. The identical data pack, which might have easily lasted the entire month, ran out after only one week. Thankfully, I was saved by taking control of all the data-hungry features. Try these 12 solutions for quick cellular data usage concerns in iOS 14 if you’ve run into the similar issue since I’m confident they’ll work for you too.
Tips to Fix Cellular Data Consumption Issues in iOS 14
Foremost things first, keep in mind that a variety of factors could lead to unanticipated data use. For instance, streaming high-quality videos or music while working on demanding background chores may be to blame. Moreover, given how commonplace software bugs are these days, you should never completely rule them out.
Therefore, you must not only stop the data-sucking features but also debug the bug that may be consuming a significant amount of mobile data without your knowledge. After all of that, let’s look at some methods for cellular data saving on iPhones running iOS 14 or later!
1. Enable Low Data Mode
When you wish to use less cellular data (or even Wi-Fi) to support the constrained bandwidth, Low Data Mode might be quite helpful. It avoids wasting data by halting background processes and automated upgrades. So, turning on Low Data Mode is the first thing you need do to remedy iOS 14’s rapid cellular data consumption.
Open the Settings app on your iPhone 12 Series, then select Cellular, Cellular Plan/Cellular Data Options, Data Mode, and Low Data Mode.
Launch Settings -> Cellular/Mobile -> Cellular/Mobile Data Option -> Low Data Mode on other iPhone models.
2. Disable Automatic Downloads and Updates
Even though I’ve always thought Automatic Downloads and Updates were really helpful, I make sure to always turn them off when I want to conserve my cellular data. I would advise you to disable these options if you don’t mind manually updating programmes or installing apps (that you have already downloaded on other iDevices connected to the same iCloud account).
Go to Settings app -> App Store to complete the task. Go back to the Automatic Downloads area and deactivate the toggles for Apps and App Updates.
4. Turn Off Auto-Play Videos in App Store and Safari
I prefer to sneak a peak at the auto-playing videos of applications and games while I’m browsing them since they give me a realistic impression of whether or not a certain item can live up to my taste. Even though this feature is really useful, I aim to disable it if I see excessive data usage or energy waste.
I decide to keep Safari’s auto-playing movies off for a few of reasons in particular. They firstly have a tendency to keep me from being able to browse the internet calmly. Additionally, they consume a lot of power and cellular data. Oh, and they frequently irritate me by making the web browser run slowly.
To stop autoplaying videos on the App Store:
To turn on video autoplay, go to Settings > App Store.
5. Disable Background App Refresh
Select Wi-Fionly or Off at this point.
To stop Safari from automatically playing videos:
Activate Motion under Settings > Accessibility. At this point, disable the Auto-Play Video Previews switch.
6. Turn off Location Services
Background app refresh uses a lot of data and consumes a lot of power. This implies that if you don’t take control of this feature, it could quickly exhaust your iPhone’s limited bandwidth by consuming a significant amount of cellular data.
Thankfully, Apple has a better method for controlling background app refresh on iPhone. For example, you can decide whether to totally stop background app refresh, enable it per-app, or only turn it on when the device is Wi-Fi connected. I would advise you to only keep it enabled when the iPhone is linked to Wi-Fi if you want to keep it enabled to ensure that apps work smoothly.
Access Background App Refresh by going to Settings > App > General > Background App Refresh. Select your chosen option now based on your needs.
7. Stream Normal-Quality Music
Location services and background app refresh both fall under this category. As a result, you should continually keep an eye on it to avoid both battery drain and excessive cellular data consumption. Given how data-hungry this feature is, iOS gives you the option to control it as you see fit.
You can entirely disable location services or choose to keep them enabled for each individual app, which is ideal for situations when you frequently share your location or use an app like Google Map or Apple Map to navigate.
Navigate to the Settings app and select Privacy > Location Services. Choose your chosen option after turning off the Location Services switch or after exploring each app’s settings.
8. Take Control of Video-Streaming on Mobile Data
If you enjoy listening to high-quality music streams on your iPhone, you should download the music while connected to WiFi. You should stick to streaming regular quality music on mobile data, in my opinion. Both Apple Music and Spotify let you stream normal-quality music to let you reduce cellular data usage on your iOS device.
To disable high-quality Apple Music streaming:Head over to Settings app -> Music -> Mobile Data. The button for high-quality streaming should now be turned off.
To enable data saver in Spotify:Launch Spotify app -> Settings icon at the top right corner of the screen. Tap Data Saver now, and then flip the switch to on.
If you stream videos using mobile data, make sure to optimize the video-streaming to prevent the app from eating into a lot of data. Most video-streaming apps likeApple TV+and Netflix allow you to stream low-quality videos to save data. So, you should activate the data saver to stop the video-streaming app from derailing the limited bandwidth.
9. Send Low-Quality Images
To optimize mobile data usage for Apple TV+:Head over to Settings app -> TV. Under streaming options, tap onMobile Dataand then chooseAutomaticto stream videos as per your data plan. Besides, also customize the mobile data downloads. Tap onMobile Dataunder Download Options and chooseFast Downloads.
You can also completely stop the app from using mobile data or downloading videos on mobile data. To do so, turn off theUse Mobile Datatoggles under Streaming Options and Download Options.
10. Stop Photos App from Using Mobile Data for Uploading and Downloading to iCloud
To Enable Save Data option in Netflix:
Launch Netflix app -> More (three horizontal lines)/Profile -> App Settings -> Cellular Data Usage -> Save Data.
Though it s always nice to share high-quality photos with your friends and loved ones, they should never let them become the wrecker-in-chief, especially when you are on low-bandwidth. If you often indulge in sharing a ton of photos with your friends via iMessage, you should force the stockmessaging appto share low-quality images.
To do so, launch theSettingsapp on your iPhone ->Messages. Now, scroll down and then toggle on the switch forLow-Quality Image Mode.
11. Disable Auto-Play Videos and Live Photos
Updating iCloud photos and shared albums using mobile data is something you should avoid, especially when you are already finding it hard to reduce data consumption. If you no longer want the Photos app to kill your mobile data, head over toSettings app -> Photos -> Mobile Data. Now, you have two options:
Mobile Data:Turn off this toggle to restrict updates to iCloud Photos and Shared Albums only over Wi-Fi.
12. Update Carrier Settings
Unlimited Updates:Turn off this switch to prevent the Photos app from using mobile for uploading and downloading to iCloud.
Bonus: Update Software
Turn off both the toggles to restrict the updates over Wi-Fi only.
When you are taking a trip to your photo library, the auto-playing videos and live photos give you a quick look into what they have got in store. Without overlooking the usability of this feature, I don t think it s something that you can t avoid. if you can live without the previews of your videos and live photos while exploring the photos library, disable it to cut down cellular data consumption.
Fix Unexpected Cellular Data Consumption Issues on iPhone
Navigate to theSettings app on your iPhone -> Photos.
Under thePhotos Tabsection, turn off the switch forAuto-Play Videos and Live Photos.
