WHILE keeping you in touch with your family and friends, WhatsApp devours a huge chunk of your mobile data.
But tech sleuths have found a sneaky hidden trick that can help you reduce your usage when using the app.
For smartphone users with a limited data allowance, making sure it lasts each month can be quite the chore.
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Conversing with your loved ones via WhatsApp can drastically drain this amount, as a cellular connection is needed to send and receive messages or calls.
So when you’re away from Wi-Fi, its best not to be sending large files and hoardes of images on the messaging app.
However, there is another handy hack to reduce your data usage via WhatsApp while on the move.
Users can alter their settings to only download media when you are connected to the internet by Wi-Fi.
This means silly memes and pics from your pals won’t guzzle your data allowance on a regular basis.
All you have to do is head to the ‘Settings’ section on WhatsApp before opening up the ‘Storage and Data’ tab.
You will then be able to see a list of media’s enabled for auto-download and what kind of connection they rely on.
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Simply switch each option – such as photos, audio and video – to Wi-Fi only, which stop you from wasting data.
There is also a WhatsApp feature which ensures calls use as little data as possible.
Users merely swipe the ‘Use Less Data for Calls’ switch to stop squandering their data usage while on the phone.
Its not clear at what cost this comes, but some users online have noted that the audio quality does seem to be lower when the option is enabled.
You can also keep an eye on how much data you are consuming by looking at the ‘Network Usage’ tab on the app.
To completely put a stop to wasting your allowance on WhatsApp, you can visit the messaging platform via the web.
Simply log in online and receive alerts on your computer.
Other easy ways to stop splurging your data include restricting your daily backups of your chats and media.
This essentially lets you retrieve your recent conversation history and contents when you switch phones or re-install the app.
Again, simply switch your settings to only complete the process when connected to Wi-Fi.
We previously revealed how you can read your WhatsApp messages without your friends knowing with this crafty trick.
Or why not take a look at our list of mind-blowing WhatsApp tricks added in 2022 that you may have missed.
The popular app has rolled out dozens of changes this year, so we found the top three updates you should be aware of.
And there are more fun features set to be rolled out in 2023 – so check out what WhatsApp is preparing.
