Data-saving apps: Free apps to reduce your mobile data usage


Do you have a monthly data limit on your mobile, pay per megabyte for web usage or want to use data roaming on your next trip abroad? Take control of your data by using data-savings apps that reduce the amount you consume, so that you can get maximum usage out of your data limit.

Here are two free data-saving apps to help you save precious megabytes on your smartphone.

Opera Mini: save browser data

Opera Mini is a long-time leader in data-saving apps. It’s a mobile web browser that crunches down webpages to as little as 10% of their original size, before they reach your phone. That means you download fewer megabytes, so that you can save money on your mobile bill and extend the life of your data package. Opera Mini’s built-in data counter shows how many megabytes you’ve downloaded, and how many megabytes you’ve saved thanks to its compression technology.

How to save data: Download Opera Mini from our website or install it from your app store. Under the “O” menu, tap the data-savings summary to change between the different data-savings modes, depending on your needs.

Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone and more

Opera Max: save data across apps

If you’re an apps fan who wants to shrink more than just webpages, the data-management and data-savings app Opera Max lets you compress data by up to 50% across most of the apps on your Android. Opera Max gives you the option you to restrict particular apps from using your mobile data and keep them to Wi-Fi only, plus stop apps from using data in the background.

How to save data: Install Opera Max from Google Play. Open it up to move your apps around based on how you want them to use data and Wi-Fi connections.

Platforms: Android

Opera Mini and Opera Max put you in control of how you use your mobile data. Try these data-savings apps today. Squashing down the amount of data you download with data-savings apps can also give you faster page loading. This is particularly handy on crowded public Wi-Fi, and on sluggish 2G/3G networks. Your data, your way!

Are you using data-saving apps? What are your favorite ways to save data? Tell us in the comments below!