Struggling with mobile data limits? Here are five ways to cut down on iPhone data usage

If you are running out of your mobile data limit each month, then here are five things you could do to keep your data plan in range.

(Reuters file photo)

Is your iPhone guzzling down data? Are you straining yourself to find out how to stop data leakage? Here are five things you can do to do stop more data usage on iPhones:

a) Stop app updates on mobile data

If your apps update automatically, make sure they do so only when you are on WiFi. Go to Settings > iTunes & App Stores and turn off Use Cellular Data.

(via CNET)

(via CNET)

b) Stop app refresh in the background

iOS apps can update in the background, grabbing new content as they sit idle so they can show you the latest news when you return to them. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and you can turn this setting off completely or go the a la carte route from the list below and choose which apps update in the background.

(via CNET)

(via CNET)

c) Wi-Fi Assist to be turned off

Wi-Fi Assist is a great feature where your iPhone hands off a weak Wi-Fi signal to your cellular network to prevent pages from loading slowly or not at all as it clings to the last remnants of a Wi-Fi signal. If you sit on the edge of a Wi-Fi network at work, say, then your cellular network may be assisting more than you'd like and running up data charges.

(via CNET)

(via CNET)

d) Stop iCloud Drive actions on mobile data

(via CNET)

(via CNET)

e) Please download music and not stream them

Streaming music or podcasts for long stretches when you are away from Wi-Fi can quickly add to your data usage. Most music and podcast apps (like Spotify and Apple Music) let you restrict streaming to Wi-Fi only, which will then force you into the habit of downloading playlists or podcasts before playing them instead of the easy route of simply streaming them. Let's look at Apple Music and Apple's Podcasts apps as examples.

For Apple Music, go to Settings > Music. In the Streaming & Downloads section, you'll see two settings if the first is enabled. The first, Use Cellular Data, lets you disable streaming via a cellular connection entirely. If that's too drastic a measure for you, then you can leave that setting enabled and turn off High Quality on Cellular to stream songs at a lower bitrate when you aren't on Wi-Fi.

For the Podcasts app, go to Settings > Podcasts and turn off Cellular Data. You can also enable Only Download on Wi-Fi to prevent podcast downloads from adding to your data usage.