How much data are the most popular mobile applications of 2019

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In a hopelessly connected world, staying connected to the Internet is essential to enjoy the main Internet services. WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Netflix ... There are many applications that require an Internet connection to work. Unfortunately, the bulk of Spanish companies have limited data rates, in such a way that we are forced to control how much data is consumed by the applications we use the most on a day-to-day basis . This time we have compiled several of the most popular applications of 2019 to make a count of what they consume if we talk about mobile data.

How much data does WhatsApp consume

The quintessential messaging app. The consumption of WhatsApp depends entirely on the use we make of it. If we make use of voice calls or video calls from the application, consumption will increase exponentially. If, on the contrary, we send messages and voice notes, the consumption will be much lower than in the first case .

how much data does whatsapp consume

The way to see how much WhatsApp consumes is as simple as accessing the Data Usage section within the app settings. We have analyzed all the data of the application and we can establish the following figures:

  • WhatsApp messages : about 0.0013 MB per message (113 MB consumed among 84,000 messages sent and received).
  • WhatsApp calls (video calls and voice calls) : about 0.10 MB per voice or video call (8.6 GB consumed among 79 calls sent and made).
  • Audios, videos, voice notes : the cost depends on the weight of each of the elements. In this case it is simpler because the weight of each audio is indicated in the message itself.

However, the application does not show the exact consumption of each message, voice call or video call, but an average of all the elements. In general, a one-minute video call will consume about 7MB on average , while voice calls will be around 0.35MB per minute. Voice memos, for example, consume about 0.14 MB per minute in length , and messages just over 0.0007 MB.

How much data does Spotify spend on mobile

At the end of last year the Android Authority portal made an exhaustive analysis of the consumption of Spotify on Android and iOS. As with WhatsApp, the total consumption of the app depends entirely on the use we make of it: the higher the sound quality, the more data it will consume.

Low music quality (about 24 Kbps)

  • Data consumed per minute : about 0.18 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 10.8 MB

Average or normal music quality (about 96 Kbps)

  • Data consumed per minute : about 0.72 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 43.2 MB

High music quality (about 160 Kbps)

  • Data consumed per minute : about 1.2 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 72 MB

Very high music quality (about 320 Kbps)

  • Data consumed per minute : about 2.4 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 144 MB

How much data YouTube consumes on Android and iOS

In April of this year we published an article commenting on the consumption of the YouTube application on tuexpertomovil.com. Like Spotify, the consumption of the app for Android and iOS depends on the quality of the video that we are playing.

Video quality at 144p

  • Data consumed per minute : about 1.90 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 114 MB

Video quality at 240p

  • Data consumed per minute : about 2.70 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 162 MB

360p video quality

  • Data consumed per minute : about 4.40 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 264 MB

Video quality at 480p

  • Data consumed per minute : about 7.70 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 462 MB

Video quality at 720p (HD)

  • Data consumed per minute : about 14.50 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 870 MB

1080p video quality (Full HD)

  • Data consumed per minute : about 27.61 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 1.65 GB

How much data does Netflix spend on mobile

In the case of Netflix, the platform itself shows the consumption of the application on iOS and Android depending on the video quality that we have selected. In automatic mode Netflix will play the content at the highest possible quality depending on the Internet speed.

how much does netflix consume

It is to be assumed, therefore, that if we have 4G + coverage, the application will play videos in High quality (HD, Full HD, 4K…).

Low video quality

  • Data consumed per minute : about 5 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 0.3 GB

Average video quality

  • Data consumed per minute : about 11.66 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 0.7 GB

High video quality

  • Data consumed per minute : about 50 MB in HD and 116 MB in 4K
  • Data consumed per hour : about 3 GB in HD and 7 GB in 4K

How many megabytes does Facebook consume

Due to the complexity of the application in terms of content, estimating how much data Facebook spends is quite complex.

If we browse the application wall without interacting with multimedia elements (videos, GIF images, links to external pages, inserted advertising…), consumption is around one mega per minute: about 0.8 MB in our case. In case of accessing content like the one just mentioned, consumption can skyrocket up to several megabytes per minute.

How much data does Twitter consume on mobile

With Twitter the situation is very similar to that of Facebook. Being made up of dynamic content, consumption may vary depending on how we use it. In our tests, a minute of browsing is around 0.9 MB, although it can reach 1.2 MB if we interact with some multimedia element.

How much mobile data does Instagram spend

The consumption of Instagram, such as Twitter and Facebook, largely depends on our way of interacting with the application. Last month when we grew up we did some tests on Tuexpertoapps.com and we were able to conclude that viewing 5 or 6 photos in the Instagram feed can consume an average of between 1 and 2 MB . The rest of the elements are fixed as follows:

  • Videos in feed and Stories : about 3 MB depending on the duration
  • Direct : about 10 MB per minute

It should be clarified that the resolution of the elements of Instagram depend on the resolution of the screen . So, if we have a mobile phone with an HD screen, the application will show images and videos with a maximum resolution of 720 points.

How much does the Google Maps application spend

Although it may seem the opposite, Google Maps is one of the applications with the lowest consumption of data per minute. Different tests have shown that the application has a consumption of 0.6 MB per minute , although it should be noted that it has an Offline mode that allows us to download the maps beforehand, and therefore, reduce data consumption to 0.

Based on the previous estimate we can define the following expense:

  • Data consumed per 10 minutes : about 6 MB
  • Data consumed per 30 minutes : about 18 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 36 MB

How much data does HBO consume on Android and iOS

Unlike Netflix, HBO has not published the average consumption of its mobile application. Given that the platform does not allow to switch between different qualities, different users of Forocoches and other renowned forums have ventured to calculate what HBO consumes on mobile: around 1.5 GB per viewing hour . Being limited by the same measuring rod in qualitative terms, it is expected that consumption will remain regardless of the type of content to be viewed, or what is the same, a Game of Thrones chapter consumes the same as a Chernobyl chapter .

How much data does Pokémon Go consume on mobile

One of the most popular games of the last decade. The case of the creation of Niantic is very similar to that of Google Maps: its impact on our data rate is practically minimal. Bussines Insider, a well-known English-speaking portal, released the data that confirmed the previous statement: 3 MB per hour . In a workday of 8 hours, this consumption takes us to 25 MB, ridiculous compared to other applications such as Instagram.

How much data does Call of Duty Mobile consume?

how much does call of duty mobile consume

Last week our colleagues from Engadget released the data on the consumption of mobile data from Call of Duty Mobile, the game launched by Activision together with Tencent that already has several million downloads behind it. The conclusion that the original news leaves us leaves us with the following scheme:

Team Duel Mode

  • Data consumed per 10 minutes : about 1.02 MB
  • Data consumed per 30 minutes : about 32 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 64 MB

Battle Royale mode

  • Data consumed per 10 minutes : about 0.37 MB
  • Data consumed per 30 minutes : about 11.2 MB
  • Data consumed per hour : about 22.4 MB

Tricks to reduce data consumption

Reducing the consumption of data on the mobile is something that depends entirely on each application. In the case of Spotify, HBO or Netflix, we can resort to downloading the content to use the applications offline .

If we opt for applications that require an Internet connection, as is the case with YouTube, we can reduce the impact on our rate by always choosing the lowest quality of reproduction . In the case of social networks, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have options that allow us to save data. Twitter also has an option that allows us to hide multimedia content (videos, images, GIFs ...) from our wall with links that lead us to view the original content.

Another of the tricks that we can apply to reduce data consumption in the rate is to decrease the resolution of the phone through the screen settings . On Samsung mobiles this process is as simple as going to the Screen section within the Settings application. With this, applications like Instagram will show the images at a lower resolution. Also Google Chrome and, ultimately, any browser that uses image scaling based on panel resolution.