HomeHow To Minimize Data Usage when Streaming on Netflix

How To Minimize Data Usage when Streaming on Netflix

It is estimated that Nigerian spend over N197 billion on internet data every month.
A lot of people complain of their data getting exhausted before the expected period. This is so because most people make use of certain App’s that are data consuming.
Netflix is one App that is data consuming because of its nature of online streaming of movies.

Here, I’ll give you a few tips that will help minimize the amount of data you use in streaming movies on Netflix.

ADJUST STREAMING AND AUDIO QUALITY

According to Netflix, Watching TV shows or movies on Netflix uses about 1GB of data per hour for each stream of standard definition video, and up to 3GB per hour for each stream of HD video

By adjusting the streaming and audio option in your profile on the Netflix app, you can actually save a significant amount of data. This helps to improve the streaming, and audio quality of every movie you stream and in turn enables you to save more data over time.

HOW TO ADJUST QUALITY

  • You must sign in to the account which you want to change the settings on.
  • Once you’ve signed in, select the Account option.
  • Once in the Account menu, scroll down to the “My Profile” icon at the bottom of the page.
  • Next, you select the Playback Settings option; you will then be presented with a list of options which you must choose from.

Playback options include:

  • Auto – Default video quality and data usage. This is a perfect option to keep your data under control while you’re streaming.
  • High – Best video quality, Up to 3GB per hour for HD, Up to 7GB per hour for UHD.

Medium – Stand Definition video quality. Up to 0.7GB per hour.
Low – Basic video quality. Up to 0.3GB per hour, Keep in mind that you might experience worse audio or video quality on this option.

Once you have selected your preferred option, click the Save button.

OFFLINE VIEWING

If you really need your data usage to go down, you should consider looking into Offline Viewing with Netflix. Up until recently, Netflix didn’t provide options to download movies for offline use, but that has changed, all you just need to have an active Netflix subscription and the latest version of the App.

This is a very good way to save data; you can simply use a Wi-Fi network to download a movie and watch later without an internet connection.

Note– For now, downloading a movie for offline viewing is limited to the Netflix App, which is available on both Android and iOS. The functionality is also built into the App for Windows 10 and later windows. Also, not all movies and contents can be downloaded.

How to download

Open up the Netflix app on your mobile phone, and then select the movie you intend to download – you will see a download icon next to the movie.

Tap on the download icon next to the movie you are interested in. When the download is finished, you’ll be accessible the movie from the “My Downloads section in Netflix.”

ADJUSTING CELLULAR DATA USAGE

  • Open the Netflix App on your phone, select the menu icon on the bottom right corner.
    Select “App settings.”
  • Next, you select “cellular data usage.”

A couple of options will pop up, including:

  • Automatic or data saver– this option is most likely the best if you’re considering reducing your data usage on Netflix. These options help keep Netflix under control while you’re streaming.
  • Wi-Fi only.
  • Unlimited —Unlimited is definitely not the option for you if you’re looking at reducing data consumption on Netflix. This option allows Netflix to use up to 1GB of data per 20 minutes of watching.

Select your preferred option and save the setting.

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About Author

Samuel Afolabi is a lazy tech-savvy that loves writing almost all tech-related kinds of stuff. He is the Editor-in-Chief of TechVaz. You can connect with him socially :)

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