Often there is such a situation that after buying a smartphone or tablet based on the Android system, the user discovers that the balance on his SIM card begins to quickly tend to zero. What is the reason for such financial miracles?
Cause and investigation
This is due to the fact that numerous applications and games on the device independently go online and download updates for themselves. Then the question arises before the user: how to disable automatic application updates ?
“Android” is a smart system, but without a user it cannot disable updates, so he will have to do it himself. In fact, disabling updates is not difficult - it is a very simple operation. Any person can cope with it, even one who has never encountered this and does not know how to disable updates on Android.
Android operating system updates
Android developers are constantly releasing updates for it, which are useful in that they fix critical errors and add new features. At the same time, each update has a size of about 2 GB, and, of course, downloading such an update at a paid tariff will be very expensive. Next, we will consider a method of how to disable the automatic update of the "Android" device and its system.
To do this, go to “Device Settings” (maybe just “Settings”), then - in the “About Device” menu, select “Software Update” and uncheck the box next to the “Auto Update” line. Now the operating system will not be updated automatically, and the user will be able to independently update it at any time.
Sync with online services
Some applications have a synchronization function with online services: calendar; Online contacts cards; various applications for social networks; Twitter time and date synchronization; games; and many others.
Synchronization actually happens quite often, and it also consumes traffic. Disabling synchronization will not affect the operation of applications in any way, it’s the same as disabling updates on Android - only what the user needs at the moment will work with the network.
To disable synchronization, you must again go to the "Device Settings", there find the item "Accounts and Sync" and uncheck the "Background". After these actions, applications running in the background will no longer access online services.
Updates via Google Play
Google Play is a service that allows you to download paid and free applications for Android. Many applications are updated through it, so first you need to launch the Google Play application, then on the “Android” device click the “Options” button and go to the “Settings” menu, find the “Auto-update applications” menu item and select the option “Only via Wi-Fi” Fi. " It is also worth disabling the update check by unchecking the "Notifications" item.
Thus, all updates will be installed only when the device detects a Wi-Fi network. This method is good because updating games on the Android device consumes a lot of Internet traffic, and this is only possible when using a Wi-Fi network or unlimited tariff. If updates are not needed at all, then at the last stage you can select the option “Never” instead of “Only via Wi-Fi”.
But it’s worth noting that in this way, disable the current Android application update will not allow, therefore it is necessary to reboot the device if there are current updates in the notification area.
Mobile data
Many applications have been created for the Android system, and many of them are updated from their own servers, so the previous method is not always effective, since it is not possible to disable updates on Android through Google Play for such applications. Also, many of them download annoying ads, which also consumes Internet traffic.
For this case, you can disable data transfer over the mobile network. To do this, go to "Device Settings", then go to the "Advanced Network Settings" menu, select the "Mobile Networks" item and uncheck all there - these are "Mobile Data" and "Data in Roaming". If you suddenly need mobile Internet, then it is easy to turn it on, having done all this in the reverse order.
In new versions of Android, you can enable and disable mobile data using the quick access button located at the top in the notification panel.
Firewall and antivirus
For personal computers, such programs have long existed - for example, a firewall. This program allows the user to give permission to access the Internet only to those applications that he needs to work on the network, and for everyone else, access to the global network is blocked.
There are also such firewall applications for Android. There are several types of them. The advantage of such applications is that they block Internet access to all applications that are not in the white list. In the firewall, you can configure white and black lists of Internet addresses where applications turn for updates and for advertising. Also, for each application, you can configure the type of Internet connection: local data transfer; Wi-Fi Mobile data roaming mobile data.
Probably everyone knows about antiviruses, at least firsthand. These applications have the same blocking functions as firewalls, but at the same time help protect the device from viruses and malicious applications.
Using a firewall or antivirus, you can turn off updates on Android with one click and enable them. This is a very convenient and highly effective way.
In the age of high technology, few can do without the Internet, especially without a mobile one. But developers of applications for mobile devices do not always give the user the opportunity to configure the update settings themselves, thereby causing him financial damage, and the methods discussed will help save money, time and nerves. If possible, it is advisable to use all of the above methods in order to protect yourself and your wallet.