Which Apps Use the Most Mobile Data?
Video and social apps use far more data than anything else on a phone. See which kinds of apps are heaviest and how to find the biggest users on your own device.
5 min readUpdated
The short answer
Video apps. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Netflix use far more data than anything else on a typical phone, and video calls come close behind. Text messaging, email and maps use very little by comparison.
The list that matters is your own, and your phone already has it. It takes less than a minute to check.
Why video apps come out on top
Video carries far more information per second than text, photos or audio, so any app built around it uses more data. Social apps add to that by playing videos automatically and loading the next ones before you scroll to them. Ericsson's Mobility Report found that social media video accounts for 70 to 80 percent of all mobile video traffic on smartphones.
Apps by how much data they tend to use
Exact numbers depend on video quality, how long you use each app and your settings, so treat this as a rough order rather than a ranking:
Heaviest
Short-video and social apps (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat), video streaming (YouTube, Netflix and similar), and video calls.
Heavy in bursts
App stores downloading updates, and photo or video backup (iCloud, Google Photos).
Moderate
Music and podcast streaming, web browsing with video ads, and messaging apps that auto-download media.
Light
Text messaging, email without large attachments, maps and ride-hailing apps, and voice calls over the internet.
For the three biggest, we have separate guides:
Find the heaviest apps on your phone
iPhone: open Settings > Cellular and scroll to the app list. Each app shows how much mobile data it used in the current period, and you can switch mobile data off for any of them.
Android: open Settings > Network & internet, choose your SIM, then App data usage. Apps are listed from most to least. Tap one to see foreground and background use separately, and to turn off background data.
Background use is worth a look. An app that uses a lot while you aren't looking at it is a good candidate for restricting.
What to do about a heavy app
- Turn on its data saver. TikTok, Instagram and YouTube each have a setting that lowers video quality, and WhatsApp lets you stop media downloading automatically.
- Turn off autoplay so videos only play when you tap them.
- Download on Wi-Fi. Music, podcasts and many video apps let you save content for later.
- Limit it to Wi-Fi by turning off its mobile data access in settings.
More ideas are in How to Save Mobile Data.
Summary
- Video and social apps use the most mobile data, followed by video calls.
- Updates and photo backups use a lot in short bursts.
- Messaging, email and maps are light.
- Your phone's settings list your apps by data used. Check background use too.