While Singapore impatiently waits for a fourth telco to emerge, we’re still stuck with the ever painful 2GB plans.
Let’s face it, 2GB is hardly enough to keep our FOMO at bay and share hilarious cat pictures with your friends. So instead of cursing at auto-loading Facebook videos and hidden apps running in the background, why not download a data-saving app or seven instead?
Opera Mini (S$free)
From arguably one of the most popular data-saving web browsers around, Opera Mini is a great mobile version that takes saving your gigabytes very seriously.
It comes with two levels of data saving, Opera Turbo and Opera Mini, the latter of which is great for surfing in poor connection. You may face some problems rendering pages, but the 80% savings will be more than worth that minor inconvenience.
UC Browser (S$free)
With over 7 million downloads on Google Play, it's surprising that UC Browser doesn’t have as much buzz as other data-saving browsers.
With just as many data-saving options, it also comes with powerful ad-blocking engines and servers that cut data usage without compromising on media quality and download speeds. Its Facebook mode even helps load the heavy social media platform in low speed internet scenarios, so your phone bill can never guilt you into giving up your social media indulgences.
The iOS one has been optimised for your iPad so you'll be able to put a stop to any data leakages.
Opera Max (S$free)
If you’re not going to download any other app from this list, at least download this one. From the Opera family comes this data manager and compressor, an all-in-one gigabyte-saving solution.
On top of monitoring your data usage, it even blocks apps from running in the background without permission, making sure that your mobile data usage is locked up tight. It’s like the drill sergeant for data users, but quieter and less threatening.
(Android)
My Data Manager (S$free)
This free app is a gorgeous, no-nonsense tracker for your everyday data use.
With reliable graphs of your mobile, Wi-Fi, and roaming activity, a daily data budget monitor, and an in-app timer that you can use for any mobile activity, it’s a clean, fact-driven monitor for the conscientious mobile user.
DataMan Next (S$2.98)
DataMan is probably one of the better looking data management apps around and it works just as well. On top of tracking your data usage and sending you notifications when you’ve entered the “danger zone”, it also helps to predict in advance if you’ll stay within your data cap.
It even comes with an accompanying Apple Watch app and widget, so you have no excuse not to keep your eye on that data cap.
(iOS)
Onavo Extend (S$free)
Onavo’s a heavyweight in the data-saving corner, and Onavo Extend means business.
Once downloaded, Onavo Extend runs continuously in the background, compressing all media through cloud servers to reduce the amount of data that is being used in the process. Android users will even get to make use of their Universal Cache feature, which will store copies of your data into your device’s SD card so you only have to download that information once.
Doubling as a Data Manager, it’ll keep you on top of which apps are draining you dry. Web pages may take longer to load, but your phone bill will thank you for putting up with it.
Tin Foil Facebook (S$free)
Let’s be honest, Facebook is one of the main culprits in data-usage. However, getting us to quit Facebook to save data is like asking us to give up on dessert.
Instead, Android users can replace Facebook with this very simple app, which is essentially a wrapper for the Facebook mobile site. It doesn’t work as well, but you’ll still be surfing your timeline with half as much data drain. You’re welcome.
(Android)