There’s a single smartphone app that will save you a lot of money, especially if you’re on a pricey contract with a limited data bundle.
Onavo Extend could save you as much as 80% on your data bill. It’s available for iPhone, iPad (Onavo in App Store), and (from earlier this year) certain Android devices on version 4.0/ice Cream Sandwich (Onavo in Google Play).
And it’s free.
(Many readers will have this app already. It’s the automatic suggestion on tons of websites of which app to install when you get an iPhone. If you have it, you’ve already saving money and don’t need to read on).
Onavo Extend relies on data compression technology between the connection to your mobile network and the internet (or apps). The major saving comes through far better compression of images on the web and within apps.
The Opera Mini browser for mobile phones works in a similar way, but with the link to the compression layer built into the app. BlackBerry devices use a proprietary global APN to achieve similar compression and efficiency.
Onavo installs a configuration profile to iOS devices (which includes your network’s original APN settings, with some modifications). The app walks you through the whole install process.
Onavo
But is it safe? The type of data moving through Onavo’s servers is the exact same as that routing through your mobile operator’s network. “Onavo Extend does not store any content of the data, and cannot read encrypted SSL (HTTPS) traffic.”
Any encrypted or secure data is inaccessible to Onavo. So, sessions on my FNB Banking App aren’t routed through its servers (fine print about the service and exactly what is routed where is available here).
In the past fortnight, I’ve saved 34% of my total data usage. Some of the savings per app:
- 70% on Maps
- 62% on Instagram
- 43% on Mobile Safari (web)
- 35% on Tweetbot
These are significant numbers, especially considering that I regularly use around 1GB of mobile data in a month. Across the two week period, I’ve saved 110MB of a total of 325MB (34%), which is nothing short of impressive.
Onavo data savings
Practically, if you’re rationing yourself down to 500MB (or even 250MB!) per month, you’re going to be able to use twice as much data or reduce your bundle size.
It doesn’t work while you’re connected on a Wi-Fi network (the assumption is you don’t need to, even though these connections are also pricey in South Africa!). While Onavo is probably not that popular on iPads overseas, given the widespread availability of (mostly free) Wi-Fi networks, it’s invaluable in this market.
For now, the apps are free, although Onavo cautions that “in the future, some apps may come at a cost”. At a low price, it’ll be worth paying for.
It’s launched a second app for Android (supports most versions from 2.2 upwards) called Onavo Count. This app is a simple monitor which will alert you to the apps which hog data (you can restrict these to Wi-Fi only, for example).
Expect additional innovation from Onavo around these kinds of apps/features which provide additional insight into and control over your usage.
Get the app. It’s that simple.
