The app will consume more data during uploads, averaging about 2MB per photo and much more for videos.

It's no surprise, then, that spending an hour daily on Instagram for a week can run your data balance down by 4.2 GB - if you're only scrolling through your home feed.

With respect to use patterns, there's a noticeable increase in the number of videos posted, as well as stark competition among 'insta celebrities' for a presence on the Explore page. In terms of functionality, there are now Instagram Stories and Instagram Reels, more filters and edits for uploading media, and more integrations with third-party apps. With the addition of more functionality over the years and a change in how users navigate the platform, Instagram's data consumption has certainly increased. Today we're taking a look at a few common apps that are also notorious data hogs, along with a few suggestions on how to keep them in check. And most notoriously, many smartphone apps consume data while running in the background. Similarly, classic social media apps like Instagram and Facebook hook users on not only viewing multimedia posted by others but also posting theirs in high quality. Platforms like TikTok, which provides a new and high-quality video with every swipe, consume data through these rapid video downloads. Smartphone apps guzzle data in a variety of ways. And with frequent use of data-demanding apps and services, it is not uncommon to spend up to thrice the average amount on data.

Obtaining data to use the internet already costs a lot of money: the average American, for instance, spends almost $100 per month and about $1,166 annually on internet plans and streaming subscriptions only (via ). In terms of data consumption, however, some applications may be going too far to deliver these experiences to their users.

Tiktok data saver