Facebook is one of – if not the – most used social media app in the world, with more than two billion people using it to keep up with breaking news, funny videos, friend’s birthdays and much more. While messaging your mates and looking at your newsfeed can be a good way to kill some time, it may also be killing your data allowance. So how much data does Facebook really use, and how can you use less data? Find out in this Canstar Blue guide.
How much data does Facebook use?
With no official word from Facebook about the app’s data usage, we decided to test it out ourselves. Using an iPhone 8+, a five-minute continuous scrolling session used about 24MB of data, meaning that an hour-long Facebook stalk will cost you around 288MB in data. This is what we found out:
| Minutes on Facebook | Mobile Data Used |
|---|---|
| 5 | 24MB |
| 30 | 144MB |
| 60 | 288MB |
| 90 | 432MB |
Estimates only. Based on data tracking settings via iPhone8+ phone.
As these are just estimates, the amount of data used will be dependent on a variety of factors, including service provider, what you’re viewing on Facebook (such as images and videos), as well as what settings you’re running on your phone and on the app itself, meaning it’s always best to keep an eye on your data usage if you’re getting close to the end of the month.
How do you use less data on Facebook?
To save data with Facebook, make sure you have the latest version. If you’re not sure, you can check via the App Store or Google Play, depending on what system you’re running. Once you’re up to date, simply hop onto the Facebook app and tap the Menu icon (generally found in the upper right corner). On the Menu tab, click ‘Settings and Privacy’ to reveal a drop-down menu. The ‘Data Saver’ icon will be on the menu, where you can switch on and off depending on what you want, which will reduce image quality and turn off auto-play for videos, curving some of your data usage. You can also turn on the ‘Always Turn off Data Saver on Wi-Fi’ setting if you don’t want it to apply when accessing Wi-Fi, giving you the option to save more data when you’re at home.
What’s the deal with Facebook and data usage?
With Facebook continuing its streak of being one of the most popular apps in the world, billions of us are using the platform for connecting with friends, and keeping up-to-date with our favourite content. As Facebook’s free and accessible service consistently provides users with an easy-to-use social media experience, you could get into a false sense of security that your scrolling doesn’t cost you anything, although your data may be paying the price. If you can’t tear yourself away from Facebook but you’re worried about your data, utilising the Data Saver feature (or investing in an unlimited data plan) could save you further down the line.
Here is a selection of postpaid plans from Canstar Blue’s database with a minimum of 10GB of data, listed in order of standard cost, lowest to highest, then by data allowance, largest to smallest. Use Canstar Blue’s phone plan comparison tool to see a wide range of plans on offer from mobile providers. This table includes products with links to referral partners.
Here is a selection of prepaid plans from Canstar Blue’s database with a minimum of 10GB of data, listed in order of standard cost, lowest to highest, then by data allowance, largest to smallest. Use our comparison tool to see a wide range of plans from other providers. This table includes products with links to referral partners.
Photo credits: Chinnapong/shutterstock.com, Ph.wittaya/shutterstock.com
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