# Reducing phone data use



## bluedogz (Sep 12, 2015)

So, currently I run with an iPhone 6, using Waze as my GPS.

This has turned my phone into a data hog… My top 3 apps for data usage are Facebook, Waze, and Uber.

Paying AT&T an extra $20 a month to accommodate this extra data usage is just ticking me off.

Any suggestions? Would a dedicated GPS reduce this data usage?


----------



## Ben105 (Feb 27, 2016)

You can purchase an offline GPS program. You'll download the maps for your state in advance and then it doesn't use data. You won't get updated traffic info, though. I use Navigon when I want to keep my data usage to a low.


----------



## Tequila Jake (Jan 28, 2016)

You can check with AT&T to see if they offer an unlimited or higher usage plan. I have the Sprint unlimited everything plan so I don't worry about the data or texting the rider.

One thing to note is that changing your plan might reset to a new 2 year contract start.


----------



## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

I find that google maps / waze doesn't eat up my data. It's just the nature of uber and Lyft that eat up your data. Uber gives you a free gig of data each month. Facebook is a data hog for sure


----------



## bluedogz (Sep 12, 2015)

bluedogz said:


> Paying AT&T an extra $20 a month to accommodate this extra data usage is just ticking me off.





Tequila Jake said:


> You can check with AT&T to see if they offer an unlimited or higher usage plan.


Already done&#8230; This hasn't been a problem for 18 months, just started in the last 30 days. Buying more gas is not a way to improve my car's mileage, you know?


----------



## Aegisx5 (Jun 3, 2016)

I'm not sure about Waze but I know on Google Maps (which owns Waze) you can download the maps for designated areas. I downloaded the entire area I drive 99% of the time, so that it doesn't keep downloading the maps each time. That will probably help you reduce the data usage. I'd on Android they have battery saver mode which restricts background data, I'm not sure if iOS has something similar to this yet. I'm sure it will be ripped off soon, if they don't.


----------



## bluedogz (Sep 12, 2015)

Aegisx5 said:


> I'm not sure if iOS has something similar to this yet


iOS allows me to manually choose which applications have access to background data and which don't. Also, I downloaded the whole Philly map for Google maps, so that may help as well.


----------



## tradedate (Nov 30, 2015)

Downloading the Google maps of your area or using a stand alone GPS unit like a Garmin are the best ideas I can think of. 

Sounds like you're doing the first thing. 

The stand alone Garmin will slow you down a little bit because you have to manually key in each location.


----------



## Bill Collector (Dec 17, 2015)

Don't know if this app supports iOS, but check out NetGuard. You can search for it on the forum also. I save about 1 GB/month data by using offline Google Map and disabling live traffic data.


----------

