Editor’s Note – I was amazed to see that he pulled it off. He mentioned to me that he was going to try to use 10MB in one day. I literally laughed out loud when he said that. 10mb will never last me more than 10 mins on an Android phone. How did Chukwudi do it? I will allow him tell you how he did it.
Just as the BlackBerry OS is synonymous for huge savings in mobile data consumption, Google’s Android OS has gained a somewhat bad reputation as the meanest data guzzler of all mobile platforms. Unfortunately, this may not be so, as it would appear that certain apps like the Google Play store are to blame for this severe data depletion.
The norm now is to switch off automatic updates via mobile internet in Google Play store. Data intensive apps like RssDemon too are not left out as they have settings that allow for minimal data usage while on mobile internet.
Last week was hell with regards to mobile internet service across the country as all the networks chose to frustrate those of us that are always prowling the internet.
At one time, my BIS [BlackBerry Internet Service] on the Globacom [Nigeria] network kept tripping on and off and I found myself running to the MTN Nigeria to rescue me and surprisingly they did.
All I needed was access to my emails, Twitter, Whatsapp and some regular browsing on Opera Mini thus I subscribed to the 10MB daily plan which I felt was sufficient to see me through the day till I could recharge and subscribe to a full monthly plan.
For tweeting and checking out my facebook stream, I chose Ubersocial for Android which has the ability to disable avatars [Profile pictures] thereby saving me some kilobytes. I received quite a number of emails and replied some using the Gmail app while I checked out some of my favorite sites and links shared on Twitter via Opera Mini.
Below is a breakdown of how my 10MB was utilized by my apps within the 8hrs that it lasted.
From the image above, it’s clear to see that I could have saved an extra 747KB had I not played Angry Birds or had I used the paid version of the app without the ads.
One might think that I browsed a lot on the 10MB plan due to Opera Mini ranking tops in the screenshot but it’s just because I had the quality of the images set to high. Had the opposite been the case, I would have saved quite some MBs.
In summary, all I’m trying to prove is that in terms of emergency when you need access to the internet and you’re low on cash, N100 FOR 10MB can save the day on the Android platform.
Chukwudi Emmanuel Udegbunam is a doctor who loves to geek around. You will often find him on Twitter and Facebook were he catches fun when he’s not working at the hospital.
Image Source: Android Robot
