For someone like me who doesn’t want apps to do analytics and share my data in the background, I always disable background data usage. Not only does it save data and battery on your Android smartphone, it also ensures that apps don’t do shady things in the background. For example, you wouldn’t want an offline call recorder app to access the data and send the metadata to a third-party server for further analysis. You can also choose to disable background data usage for apps that are quickly consuming your Internet plan. So, if you want to prevent Android apps from using data in the background, follow our simple tutorial below.
Prevent Android Apps from Using Data in the Background (2021)
1. To prevent an app from using data in the background, press and hold the app’s icon and tap “Application information” in the drop-down menu. On some devices you may need to tap the “i” icon.
2. Alternatively, you can open Settings -> Apps & Notifications and Go to “See all apps” To find the list of all installed apps on your Android phone. Now open the app you want to disable background data usage. You will be taken directly to the App Info page of the app in question.
3. Once you are here, tap on “Mobile data & WiFi” and Disable the toggle next to “Background data”. Doing so will stop the app from sending or receiving data in the background. Note that the app may continue to use data while it is open.
4. In case you want to completely turn off data access to an application (even when the application is open), Enable the toggle next to “Disable WiFi” and “Disable Data Usage”. Restricts the app from using mobile data or WiFi even when the app is active. Note that this option is only available on Android 11.
5. If you are on Android 10 or lower, you need to turn on “Data Usage” and Disable the “background data” toggle.
5. There is no option to disable background data usage in MIUI, but you can completely turn off an app’s data usage. Open the App Info page by following step 1 or 2 above and then select “Restrict data usage”. Here, uncheck “WiFi” and “Mobile data” and tap “OK”. This much.
Stop Android Apps From Using Background Mobile Data
This is how you can stop Android apps from using your data in the foreground. If you are running Realme UI or other flavors of Android, the procedure is almost similar. Just open the App Info page and disable data usage. Anyway, that’s it for us. If you want to know about similar hidden Android features, head over to our dedicated article. And if you have any questions, let us know in the comment section below.
