Cost of living crisis: Expert reveals five tips for saving mobile data trends now

With the cost of living crisis in full swing, it seems like our monthly mobile phone data has never been more precious. 

Brits are becoming more inclined to choose a cheaper phone plan – but unfortunately this means less data and greater likelihood of being unconnected. 

To help us stay connected for longer, an expert has revealed the five worst-offending iPhone activities when it comes to draining data allowance. 

Among the offending apps are Facetime and Safari – but some other settings are automatically set to slurp up data without us even knowing it. 

If you're using the internet on your phone, and it’s not connected to Wi-Fi, you’re using mobile data – most likely when you're doing the commute home. 

FACETIME 

Facetime, Apple's own video chat platform for iPhones, lets users keep in touch with their loved ones at the touch of a button.  

But when compared to regular voice calls, Facetime uses more data than most other apps, according to Tom Paton, founder of Green Smartphones, an eco-friendly phone comparison site. 

'When using Facetime, your phone has to send and receive two different high-definition video streams at the same time,' he said. 

'While Apple's software does a good job at compressing these video streams, if you're often on Facetime when out of the house, you might find that the app uses up huge amounts of data.'

iPhone users can check how much data Facetime calls are consuming, by opening the app, selecting 'Recents', and then tapping the 'i' symbol. 

This will display the amount of mobile data used by each call, for Facetime calls that used your 4G or 5G connection.

It's worth noting that Facetime is an Apple product and doesn't feature on Android phones (those made by companies such as Samsung and Google).

Android users therefore can't start a Facetime call or even download the Facetime app, although they can join a Facetime call if they're sent a invitation by an iPhone user. 

WI-FI ASSIST 

By default, when a Wi-Fi signal is weak, an iPhone will use mobile data to try and improve the connection – a feature known as Wi-Fi Assist. 

For example, if you're using Safari with a poor Wi-Fi connection and a webpage doesn't load, Wi-Fi Assist will activate and use data so the page continues to load.

'The problem is, Wi-Fi Assist can use up a lot of data without you realising it, depending on what you're

read more from dailymail.....