IS YOUR ANDROID PHONE USING TOO MUCH DATA? HERE’S THE SOLUTION, USING FIREWALLS

Is your Android phone drilling a hole
in your pocket
with the way it
uses up data?
Is your
Android device
using up too
much data? If
you forget to
turn off mobile
data on your device overnight, does your
heart pound or do you get angry at your
"silly mistake" when you suddenly realize in
the morning? If your answer is YES to any
of the questions above, then I think I have
a solution for you.
Lots of people have proffered this solution,
however, to my amazement, few people
know about it and most of those posts do
not explicitly explain, step by step, in clear
terms how a new or intermediate user can
go about these steps.
So I'd try my best to be as detailed as
possible.

There are two basic solutions…

SOLUTION ONE :
You need to install a little
widget like a "Data switch " on your device.
By simply tapping it, you can turn on or
turn off you data. This actually simplifies
the process of traditionally turning off your
data, which usually is a long process.
Saves you the hassle. Right?
Unfortunately, if you inadvertently leave the
data on for too long, you still find your
Android device voraciously guzzling your
data. That's not fair, is it? Android isn't
data friendly in that aspect. Sorry.
There is however a hassle free method
which leaves you bothering less about
whether your data connection is left on
overnight or even the whole day and here it
is.
SOLUTION TWO :
You need to install a
firewall. Some firewalls require root access
(e.g AFWall+ , DroidWall , etc), while some
others don't require root access (e.g
NoRoot Data Firewall , Mobiwol , NoRoot
Firewall , etc).
Now a quick note, if your phone is rooted, I
suggest you download a firewall that
requires root access, but if your phone is
not rooted and you don't want it rooted,
download a firewall that does not require
root access.
If you are unsure about the root status of
your device or you don't just know what
rooting means, simply download any of the
firewalls that don't require root access.

Follow the instructions below once you
have the firewall installed. Note that the
firewall typically allows you to Deny/Allow
access to individual apps on your device
when you're connected to the internet via
Mobile Data or Wi-Fi (Note the icons).

– IF THE INSTALLED FIREWALL REQUIRES
ROOT ACCESS : Grant your firewall root
access if you get a prompt.
Open the firewall app and select only the
apps you want to grant access to the
internet (thereby reducing the amount of
overall data usage)
Ensure the firewall mode is set to
"whitelist" which means, only apps you
select will have access to the internet, all
unchecked apps will not have access to the
internet. If you prefer to use "blacklist"
however, it means apps you select will not
be able to access the internet, while
unchecked apps will be able to access the
internet. You need to pay attention to this
part.
Finally, select "apply rules" and make sure
the firewall is enabled. Usually, people do
every other step, but forget to enable the
firewall. Why on earth will you go through
all these steps and forget that?
[NOTE: If you get a notification saying your
firewall can't get root access, it's either
your phone isn't rooted (get it rooted/
install a firewall that doesn't require root
access) or the firewall is being blocked by
the app handling root requests (Usually
#SU binary installed while rooting your
device). Check the app handling super user
requests and ensure you set it to grant your
firewall root access.]

– IF THE INSTALLED FIREWALL DOES NOT
REQUIRE ROOT ACCESS : Open the firewall
app, click the part that says you understand
what you're doing and you trust the app,
then enable the app to filter all traffic by
clicking "enable" or "start" depending on
the app.
Next, try to use any of your apps that
normally access the internet. The firewall
will keep a list of apps that try to access
the internet in a "Pending access" tab for
you to review. Allow those you want to
grant internet access and deny others. Your
choice will affect the apps' subsequent
attempt to connect to the internet. If you
change your mind about an app later, you
can always return to grant or deny it
access.
Now you are done, you can go to bed
leaving your mobile data on. However, you
must remember that leaving it on drains
your battery faster.