What is background data usage?
Background data usage is when apps eat up your data regardless of whether or not you are actively using them. You may not realize it, but many apps continuously refresh in the background. For example, even if you’re not scrolling through TikTok, it could still be syncing updates or sending notifications, which uses up your data.
While this usage might be helpful for keeping you up-to-date (especially for apps like weather, traffic, etc.), it’s possible it’s not really worth eating into your monthly data allowance.
If you would like to reduce your background data usage, you can do so through your phone’s settings. Just select each app individually and toggle off the background data usage option to restrict any apps that do not require constant updates.