Several things determine the amount of mobile data your phone uses: streaming content, apps relaying data in the background, file uploads, and downloads. Your shiny new iPhone has a great camera that takes amazing photos and videos. But the file sizes are large, so it consumes a lot of bandwidth to back up and share.
Enable Low Data Mode on iPhone for Cellular
Starting with iOS 13, Apple has added a new Low Data Mode that helps save on the amount of mobile and/or Wi-Fi data your phone uses. To enable it, head to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options and toggle on the Low Data Mode switch. Once Low Data Mode is enabled, it will stop unnecessary data usage. Apps will stop using data in the background. The phone won’t automatically retrieve emails. It pauses automatic backups to iCloud. And it reduces the bitrate of audio and video streams and optimizes it for low bandwidth. Pausing needless activity over the mobile network will save quite a bit of data on your mobile plan.
Enable Low Data Mode for Wi-Fi
There may be instances when you need to use Low Data Mode on Wi-Fi networks. This can be especially helpful on slow networks. To do that, head to Settings > Wi-Fi and tap on the network you’re connected to, and toggle on Low Data Mode.
Now, one of the annoyances with Low Data Mode is not getting notifications of new messages automatically. You can still get your data, like new emails, for example. But you’ll need to check manually. But it really doesn’t affect the daily usage of your phone. Of course, if you have an iPad with Wi-Fi plus Cellular capability, you can enable the Low Data Mode setting on it, too.
