Makers of Data management app, Opera Max say they have added Smart Alert feature to let consumers detect excessive background data usage.
When your data usage exceed 10 MB per week, Opera Max’s Smart Alerts automatically identify apps that use a lot of data in the background and then notifies the user about how to manage these data-hungry apps. The feature lets the mobile phone get an easy, two-tap way to block apps from using the mobile data.
These alerts will show up inside Opera Max as a card in the Data usage timeline, a card in App management and in the OS notification bar, to help better manage background data consumption. The user will also get a pop-up when Opera Max detects heavy, rapid background data usage.
The introduction of Smart Alert comes at a time when a new app usage finding conducted through millions of Opera Max users, shows that average over 30% of all data is used by apps running in the background.
According to the finding, Facebook Messenger and Gmail top the background data draining chart with 73% while Google drive and WhatsApp showed more than 50% background data usage.
“Most apps are made to give a great user experience, not to save data. If you fetch background data through your data plan, it’s like throwing away $1 out of every $3 you spend on your mobile data plan” Sergey Lossev, Product Manager at Opera Software says.
According to Opera, “most people are not aware of this background data drain and may not have authorized it, nor do they know how to stop it from happening. That is why, today, we are introducing Smart Alerts in Opera Max.”
“Smart Alerts help you easily manage your background data usage, as well as getting helpful tips and suggestions on how to prevent apps from devouring your data”, Lossev adds.
Estimated percentages of data used by popular apps on the background are as follows: Facebook Messenger and Gmail 73% each, Google Drive 57%, Whatsapp 54% and Google Hangouts 39%.