5 bandwidth-saving tips for those worried about mobile data caps

Unless you are on an unlimited data plan, careful monitoring of your mobile online activities are needed otherwise it is very easy to exceed the monthly download limits. 

The iPhone is a known data hog and Android phones in my experience are little better. Indeed Vodafone’s sales tried to convince me that a typical iPhone user does not exceed 100Mb, not entirely sure since I exceeded this from just tweeting and downloading a few apps within the first few days.

Here are a few tips to help save your allowance where possible. 

1. Use Wi-Fi for downloads, especially for big apps, and for videos.
2. Switch push data off and manually check and sync updates your applications and email, preferably over Wi-Fi. This also helps conserves battery life too.
3. Use Mobile optimised sites where possible, unless you really need a full blown  desktop page. Remember a page formatted for a big screen isn’t best for a small mobile phone screen.
4. Use alternative apps or compression services. Nokia’s Symbian stock browser  compresses data, but for iPhone and Android try using Opera’s browser. Privacy issues asides, by going through Opera’s server and compressing the page this means browsing speeds are much quicker too. iOS users can also use the Onavo app which also compresses data. Android version isn’t available yet. 

Click on above link for more.