A lot of smartphone and tablet data plans are not unlimited, and unlimited data could cost more than limited data in the US, and Canada. However, it is very simple to save data/bandwidth on your phone and tablet running Google Android.
I first recommend you use Opera Max which is a data compression app which compresses both mobile data, and wifi data to save bandwidth data on Google Android. It can compress videos, photos, and text on mobile apps like web browsers which don’t use an encrypted connection.
Google Chrome for Android also now has a Data Compression feature in its settings which you can turn on to saves you some data by compressing picture files.Google Android Data section in the settings to lets you see which apps use the most data, and help you manage your data/bandwidth better, so you use less data to help improve your internet speeds, pay lower data bills, and see improvements when it comes to phone performance, and your battery life.
The YouTube App, and other video streaming apps let you adjust the video quality to 144P, 240P, 360P, 480P, and higher resolutions. I recommend watching videos in 144P if you mainly listen to the audio, but not watch the video. 240P picture quality is better for watching video. 360-480P look nicer, but use more bandwidth. 720P, and higher resolution videos use the most bandwidth. It is best to not watch video if you are on an internet or data connection with low data limits since video uses a lot of bandwidth.
You can disable autosync on your accounts in Google Android Account settings in settings to stop Android from Auto-syncing to save more bandwidth by stopping auto sync. I think logging out of Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, and other apps also disable syncing while protecting your privacy. If you do not want to logoff your accounts, you can usually disable syncing in the settings for apps, or in the account settings in Google Android.
In Google Play App store settings, turning off auto-update will stop your apps from updating automatically which can save GBs of data. There is also a option to only update apps when connected to Wi-Fi.
Make sure not to use file syncing/backup apps like Dropbox, Google Drive, and other apps which download, and syncs your files across multiple devices, and online storage.
You can also turn off your Data and Wifi when you are not using them, so you won’t be using your data plan, or internet bandwidth from your Wi-Fi hotspot or home Wi-fi router. You can turn off Wi-Fi, and Data in the Wi-Fi settings, and Data settings for your phone or tablet. The setting for disabling mobile data is sometimes in the battery settings.
If you can’t find a data setting, you should read your manual for your device, or ask your provider for help. Typically, when you are connected to Wi-Fi your dataplan will turn off.
I recommend updating, downloading, and installing Apps when your phone is connected to Wi-Fi because Wi-Fi is free or cheaper than 3G/4G for people on limited plans.
Using newsreader apps like Feedly can use less data because it is easy to disable the pictures from downloading to save bandwidth, and you are just downloading article and a few pictures when you use a news reader app instead of downloading ads, animation, sidebars, website images not related to the article like a mobile web browser. News reader apps like Feedly are faster as well.
Pocket (Read it Later) is an app which let you save articles, videos, and pictures from web browsers, news reader, and other types of reader apps to view offline when you are not connected to Wi-Fi or 3G/4G Data, so you can turn off your data and still access your articles, videos, and pictures without a need for an active internet connection, so when you are connected to your home Wi-Fi, or free Wi-fi you can quickly save all the things you want to read at a latter time when you are offline with no internet connection, so you are not using any mobile data.
You can also read eBooks or PDF-based eBooks and Documents which usually use no bandwidth, and don’t require an internet connection to read like a website, RSS Reader, social networking app, or News Reader App which sometimes need a internet connection to download, and display articles.
Opera Mini Web Browser is the best web browser for saving you data, and making your web browsing experience faster because Opera compresses image files, and websites, so they have a smaller file size, so they use less data, and load faster by downloading smaller files.
There is also Opera for Google Android which compresses pictures like Opera Mini when you turn on Data compression. But, Opera for Android is designed to run sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter better because it uses the Blink web browser engine which is also found in Google Chrome, and Chromium web browser.
In both Opera Mini and Mobile, it is possible to disable images, or set the image quality to low which can save many GBs of data a month.
Uploading files to the internet also counts for data usage on cell phone and tablet data plans. If you use your phone or tablet to upload large images or video, you can sometimes change the resolution and quality of the video or photo settings before taking the photo, or recording video, so they upload faster and use less bandwidth. If you have a video, or photo editing app, you can also crop, or edit our parts of the video you do not need to make a smaller file size by shortening a video or cropping a photo. If you upload audio you recorded with your phone or tablet, you might be able to change the sound quality of the recording with the recording app you use to save some bandwidth.
Using your home wi-fi or wi-fi at a library, school, etc is usually free, so I recommend you use Wi-Fi to upload big files.
Using less data could also make your internet speeds faster by disabling sync/updates, and downloading smaller files. You’ll also save some battery life if you disable data, and Wi-fi, or don’t use them as much since data and wi-fi uses power as well when ON. Turning off automatic updates, sync, and other features can make your phone and tablet running Google Android not as slow since fewer apps and tasks are running in the background using up CPU cycles and RAM.
Using a MicroSD card, and carrying files like video, music, and movies on them instead of using online services like YouTube, Netflix, and Spotify can also save a lot of bandwidth.
By doing a few simple tasks like switching your web browser, or using a data compression app like Opera MAX, you can save a lot of bandwidth/data and not go over your monthly data allowance.