Lots of
Android users are on unmetered data plans – for example, the Sprint and Verizonnetworks
in the US have unlimited plans (though the
latter, only if you've been grandfathered in). But the rest of us has to live
with only a certain amount of data each month, and the overage charges can be
pretty punitive.
Fortunately, it's fairly easy
to make sure you're living within your means, data-wise. Ice Cream Sandwich and
Jelly Bean give you a built-in way to keep tabs on your data. Just head over to
the "Data usage" section of settings. In addition to showing you how
much mobile data each app has used, it'll also let you set a warning when your
data usage approaches a certain limit and a hard stop when it reaches a
particular threshold. Let's say you're on a standard 2GB/month plan. You could
set a warning when you reach 1.5GB, and a limit on data when you get to 1.9GB.
For
Froyo, Gingerbread, and Honeycomb, try the free Onavo app. It actually has a few more
features than Ice Cream Sandwich's data monitor, including the ability to set
limits for individual apps and/or restrict them to Wi-Fi only.
