Tips to manage data usage

When you stream a YouTube video, the video resolution adjusts depending on how good or bad the internet speed is. You can reduce the resolution to 720 pixels or 480 pixels to use less data. May not be as clear as HD but it’ll do the work!

• Open the video you wish to stream
• Click the “Settings” icon
• Select “Quality”
• Select the resolution you wish for it to be reduced to (480p, 320p etc.)

You can now manage your data speed by setting the data speed you want. By the way, the default data speed is currently set at “Up to 21Mbps”. Just follow these easy steps:

• Ensure you are connected to your device
• Open a new browser page and go towww.smile.com.ng, click on “LOGIN”. You will be redirected to MySmile
• Log in with your username and password
• Click “Manage”
• Select one of the data speed options suitable to you (e.g “ Up to 2Mbps”)
• Scroll down and click “Save” to effect this change

With the new age comes smart devices; a lot of which are pre-configured to update applications automatically so you can enjoy the latest updates! We understand you may not always want those updates, here’s how to disable them from updating automatically. Remember, you can change this setting at anytime you want and do updates manually.

iOS

• Unlock your iPhone
• Go to “Settings”
• Select “iTunes and App Stores”
• Turn off “Apps” and “Updates”

Google PlayStore

• Unlock your Android phone
• Open the Google PlayStore App
• Click on the “Menu” button at the top left corner
• Click “Settings”
• Click “Auto-update apps”
• Choose “Do not auto-update apps”

Ever opened your gallery and wondered, “where did I get this picture from?” Some of us in a way joined one Whatsapp group or another; once pictures are shared on those groups, it appears on our phones! Apart from the fact that it uses up data; sometimes a lot; we just don’t want these photos on our phone. Here’s what you need to do:

iOS

• Launch Whatsapp
• Click “Settings”
• Select “Data and Storage usage”
• Turn off media “Auto download” for Photos, Audio, Videos, Documents

Google PlayStore

• Launch Whatsapp
• Click the menu button on the top right corner
• Click “Settings”
• Select “Data and Storage usage”
• Untick all the boxes for Photos, Audio, Videos, Documents, for the options “ When using mobile data” and “When connected to Wi-Fi”

You will still be able to view all the photos and listen to voice notes on Whatsapp but these will not be saved on your device automatically.

You know how you’re using Facebook and you scroll through the timeline, a video comes up and it just plays itself when you did not ask for it? That takes up a lot of data too but you can manage this from your end:

• Go to your Facebook menu; which may appear on the bottom left side of your screen; if you are using the App
• Open “Settings”
• Select “Video and Photos” under “Media and Contacts”
• Click “Autoplay” and choose “Never Autoplay Video”

Devices these days are programmed to save a lot of your files in the cloud, for back up purposes. This is very important and you can control this.

iOS – iCloud

• Unlock your iPhone
• Go to “Settings”
• Select “iCloud”
• Click “iCloud Drive” and turn off
• Scroll down, click “Back up” and turn off also

Dropbox

• Unlock your phone
• Open “Settings”
• Select “Back up my data”
• Turn off

Not only will you be in control of how frequently the data on your phone is backed-up, you can also choose to do so at your convenience – manually, when it suits you.