London - We’ve all read the horror stories of holidaymakers returning home to discover a huge cellphone bill after using their mobile abroad.
Here is how you can make sure your dream holiday doesn’t end up costing an arm and a leg thanks to the trusty cellphone…
Get a local SIM
If you don’t need to keep your number while abroad look at investing in a local SIM card. This will be much cheaper to make calls with at your destination and should come with a bundle of data.
Be careful to check the call costs, though, as calling home could be expensive and if you give your number out those calling you will be charged international rates.
SMS for free
The cost of sending SMSes can add up. Make sure you are connected over wi-fi, then you can e-mail, or use an instant messaging app like WhatsApp or Skype, to message your friends for free.
Check your data-roaming
When using your phone abroad, avoid big data roaming bills by turning data roaming off. This will prevent your phone from connecting to overseas data providers.
Before you travel, speak to your local network and see if they have bundles for your destination.
Use apps such as My Data Manager, Data Usage, Data Monitor to help you track and manage your data usage – these can help ensure you don’t go over your allowance and incur unnecessary charges.
Restrict data usage on your device
It’s a good idea to disable apps which are consuming the most data. Video-chatting, for instance, uses up lots of data.
Disable background
app refresh
On smartphones, apps can automatically refresh with new information, even when they’re not currently open and being used. That way when you come back to the app later on, it’ll already be updated with new information automatically.
Turn off automatic updates
Available updates for apps and operating systems can use a lot of data when they download. Make sure you only update and turn this feature on when you’re using wi-fi only.
Restrict video auto play
Stop videos from playing on iOS or Android when you’re using your data connection to browse Facebook by setting the “Auto play on wi-fi only” option.
Similarly for news apps, turn off auto play and select the “On wi-fi only” setting.
Daily Mail