Tech News: Google’s newly launched app helps users save on data usage

Google has added another useful app to the growing mobile applications universe. The giant technology firm on Thursday (November 30) officially launched Datally, a free app that was designed to help users understand and control data usage on their smartphones.

Datally will indicate which apps are consuming data the most and determine the times of the day when data usage surges. At the same time, it will also suggest ways to lower data usage based on a user’s regular online activities. It can even suggest available Wi-Fi networks nearby so you connect to the Internet more safely and smoothly and later on rate those networks based on their actual usage experience.

 

Helpful features
The user can monitor his/her data usage on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The new app’s main feature called Data Saver facilitates control of data on an app-by-app basis. This way, a user can choose to use data only on apps that he/she cares most about.

Data Saver is unique because of its bubble, which appears every time a running up is using up data. Data Saver bubble shows the current data usage rate so a user can instantly opt to block that app from continuously using data. Thus, this feature is like an actual speedometer for smartphone data.

Better than built-in Android data counter
You may think that Datally could just be an app version of the data monitoring features that are already built-in with Android. Almost all of the new app’s functions could be accessed directly through Android. However, Datally is the better and more useful version.

First, all the features you would need are not anymore hidden within the settings menu. Second, those features are spelled out more neatly inside Datally. And lastly, because it is a standalone app, Datally could be found and accessed more easily and readily.

For the next billion users worldwide
Datally is part of Google’s the next billion initiative—a goal set by the giant tech firm to win over the remaining non-smartphone consumers especially in developing countries. Though the app is available globally, it is strategically focused on target users in Southeast Asia and India, where most consumers prefer to use prepaid SIM cards that come with limited data allocation.

This is also the reason why Datally is mindful about storage management. The app could take up just about 6MB of space when downloaded and installed in a compatible smartphone (an Android phone running on 5.0 version/Lollipop or newer).

Interestingly, Google tested Datally in the Philippines. Early this year, the company tapped selected Android mobile users in the country to be among the first ones to download and use the app (which was called Triangle during its actual test phase). The goal was to find out how future users can take advantage of the program. Throughout this period, Google found that the app’s users actually lowered their monthly data usage by up to 30% on average.

Datally can be downloaded for free on the Google Play Store.


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