I had been having a problem with using my smartphone to go on the Internet, and getting a message after a while that I have reached a limit of data use. To make a long story short, the phone warns me that I have reached 75%, then 90%, then, in the most tactful way possible, they tell me that a $15.00 charge will be added to my next bill–and that’s what happens.
This time, however, instead of allowing the little number on the toolbar (in the upper right on the screen) to reach 45 or more, I stop it by deleting the images after 2 or 3 or 4 has appeared, so the number is almost always 1. I haven’t had any warning messages about data use so far.
Have I found the secret? Is it “Eureka!”?
It would be more helpful if you gave us the model of your phone and your carrier.
What is this supposed to mean? What “images” are you deleting? And what is the little number on the toolbar indicating?
On my phone the only numbers are the remaining battery capacity and the clock, and I can influence neither through deleting any images.
off-hand, i’d stipulate dougie_monty is referring to ‘stopping’ additional content from being displayed … because each image takes data to display … and the majority*(?)* of we phone-users subscribe to plans which contain ‘data-caps’. so, our fearless dougie_m**onty simply limits the incoming data by clicking the “X” in top-corner of browser window. less images mean less data. course, i might be off my mark … 'cause i have chosen to never utilize the internet on my i-phone (no texting either) … reserved strictly for audible phone-calls. and, while driving … the i-phone is clicked to ‘ignore’.
as for the little number on the toolbar … no idea about that … i know of only signal and battery-level.
the above also could be one of the reasons why ‘image-sprites’ are becoming more popular behind the coding of web-sites … less server-calls for each image.
funny this direction has taken … but, i utilize a similar approach as dougie_monty does in my daily commerce. recently web-sites started placing ‘bans’ on we surfers who utilize ad-blockers … in other words, to the effect “pls turn off your ad-blockers …”. so, to circumvent this issue, i allow a page to load fully … then ‘refresh’ and click the “X” quickly before the page-code reaches the ad-block query. in this way, since the images have already loaded into my browser’s cache … the images display even though i stopped incoming data*(code)*.
I have a Samsung Galaxy 5 Smartphone. The little number at top right seems to indicate previous Internet images, and when I touch it they appear. When I touch them they disappear. By doing this I get the number down to one.
Is the 'little number at the top right" in the status bar (where you have clock, battery life, # of bars of service, etc, or in the top line of your browser?
Ok, wow, you need to learn to use more precise terminology, but I’m guessing that by “little number on the toolbar” you are actually referring to the number of browser tabs you have open at one time? It used to be that you would leave up to 45 tabs open in your browser, but now you’ve been keeping it as close to one as possible? Is that right?
If it’s in the top line of your browser, it’s probably the number of tabs you have open.
It’s in the status bar. Excuse me --it’s on the same line as the Web address.
Yep, probably the number of tabs.
n. b. in smartphone terms, “status bar” is generally understood to mean the very top of the screen which displays the cell signal level, time, battery remaining, and various notification icons.
This feels like having a conversation with my 87-year-old Dad about how typing “show me pictures of my grandchildren” into The Google is unlikely to be effective.
Sorry–it’s often hard to differentiate when I’m keying in on the smartphone, since the top edge is often obscured. Right now I’m posting this reply on my desktop. :o
Pick up your phone, click the power button. Do you see the number you’re referring to? Only the status bar should (barring some futzing with other settings) should be visible along the top edge of the lock screen.
Unlock the phone, the status bar is at the top.
Go to your browser, the status bar is still at the top.
The number of tabs open is the listed to the right of the URL.
There are 4 tabs open on the browser on this phone. Click on that number and the various tabs will show up, stacked over each other and you can swipe them away to close them or pick a different one.
There just different tabs like they are on your computer, so far as I know, they aren’t downloaded data when they’re not active. If you’re bumping into data cap, you can set your phone to notify you when you get to a threshold and then go from there. For example, if you have a 2g limit, tell your phone to cut you off at 1.5g (you may even be able to get it to throttle the connection).
Many Android browsers can be set to hide the status bar so you can use the browser full screen. You can even have the browser auto-hide the address bar as you scroll down. That’s how I use my phone, to give all of my screen area to the browser.
Just to make it very clear to the OP: That number you’re describing has exactly ZERO influence on your data usage. All you’re doing by closing those tabs is wasting finger-effort.
If some of those tabs have dynamic content and do screen refreshes, won’t that consume data, even if you are not viewing the page?
I assume you have a better idea?
Without knowing your data plan, and each and every app you have installed, every app you use, and how much and often you use them there’s no way for us to diagnose the problem.
The “problem” may not be technical; it may simply be that you like using more data than your plan provides for. In which case the solution is simple: watch less video, play fewer games, etc.
There is a small chance that you can go online to your phone plan provider (AT&T, Verizon, whoever) and view some statistics on where your consumption is going. There might also be an built-in app that does the same thing.
That info will provide clues, maybe strong clues, on where the issue is.
You can also somewhere under “Settings” view a statistic over data use by app. That’s a good way to see what’s eating up your data volume.
Practically all of the data usage is Internet access; I don’t play video, music or games. My data period is the 12th of one month through the 11th of the next month. For some reason it isn’t synchronized with the billing period.