What’s Eating Your Data Plan?

We all love our mobile devices — we bring them with us everywhere from the boardroom to the bathroom. We live, eat, and sleep next to our devices. They are our window to the world – a window we pay to keep open every month. According to a Harris Interactive study published on Time’s Moneyland blog that compares mobile plans to grocery shopping, 21 percent of respondents said they spend more on mobile phone bills every month than they do on groceries! I don’t know about that personally, but what I do know is that most of us would love to be able to do as much as possible on our mobile devices while using less data. Let’s look at a few ways we can make this happen with a few tips for using data more efficiently:

• Learn to Love Wi-Fi: When we’re on the go, sometimes you just have to jump online using your data plan. The rest of the time, we might be within range of a Wi-Fi hotspot. The Wi-Fi hotspot credentials for work, home, and a couple of local coffee shops are all saved in my BlackBerry Z10 for connecting when I’m there. I also take advantage of these Wi-Fi hotspots when downloading new apps, music, videos or large documents.

• Know Thy Apps: While we’re talking about apps, a good habit to get into is to know which apps are always running while your device is turned on. Apps that are providing you with real-time notifications can usually be adjusted to update less frequently. Fewer “pings” for new updates equals less data use.

• Beware the Giant Upload: Those high-resolution pictures you took of your baby going down the slide really should go on Facebook, but remember if you’re on a limited data plan, every megabyte (MB) counts. Wi-Fi is your friend; be aware of what you’re uploading over your mobile network. You can save data by uploading photos when within Wi-Fi range.

• Use What’s Free: While it still requires you to have a data plan, using BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) to send a message instead of an email or using a messaging app may help you use less data every month. Depending on the size of the messages and the size of your data plan, you could see some serious savings over the course of several hundred BBM messages.

What are some of the ways you use to save money on your BlackBerry smartphone data plan every month? Do you spend more on your mobile phone bill than groceries? Share your thoughts in the comments.

by Donny H. via Inside BlackBerry