This tutorial shows how to stop Android apps from using data in the background. Android apps use data in the background even when those apps are not running in the foreground. Apps use data to stay connected to the respective servers to stay in sync. For example, if you are data is on then apps like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, etc. use the data to fetch the latest updates, notifications, messages, etc. in the background.
The android operating system gives you control over all your installed apps to manage permissions, notifications, storage, battery, and data use. This includes permission to use the data in the background as well. You can simply disable that permission for any app that you don’t want to use data in the background. It also gives an option to use allow the background data use either over WiFi or mobile data. With that said, let’s see how it can be done.
Also read: Free Open Source WhatsApp Auto Reply App for Android: Watomatic
Stop Android Apps from using Data in the Background
It is quite simple to stop any Android app from using data in the background. All you have to do is head to the system settings for that app and disable the background data access under the Mobile data & WiFi section. There are two ways to do that.
One way is to head to the Settings app on your Android phone and open the “Apps & notifications” section. This lists some of your most recently opened apps with an option to see all the installed app. Tap that option to get the list of all the apps and then pick the app for which you want to disable the background data access.
Alternatively, you can long-press on the app from the home screen or app drawer and tap on the “App info” option. This brings the same settings as in the above method. This comes in handy when you have to disable background data for a single app. If you want to disable background data access for multiple apps then it would time-saver to have all the apps listed in front so you can easily go back and forth to disable background data access.
From the app settings, tap on the Mobile data & WiFi options for that app. This shows you a log of total, foreground, and background data use of that particular app in last month with a toggle to disable the background data. Simple toggle that to disable the background data access for that app.
And if you want an app to use the data in the background but only when you are on WiFi; you can do that too. Simply enable the background data toggle and then check the “Disable Data Usage“. This way, the app will only use data in the background when there is WiFi and not on mobile data. You can do the same for mobile data as well.
Closing Words
This is how you can stop Android apps from using data in the background. Lots of Android apps use data in the background. For many apps, it is necessary so that the app can deliver notifications on time. But for the rest of the apps, you can turn the background data access off or set it to WiFi to save some data on your mobile carrier.
