K-9 Mail is a hungry dog: How to stop it from eating up all your data
I use my unlocked Samsung Galaxy Nexus on AT&T, but only because I want to save myself from paying the ETF (early termination fee) money. I’m stuck with the carrier until October of next year, since October 2011 is the month in which I purchased my iPhone 4S – and unfortunately re-signed my contract.
As an AT&T customer, I’m forced to use one of a limited number of capped data plans. I have the (no longer offered) 200MB per month plan, since I typically don’t use my phone for much more than checking emails when I’m away from WiFi. Unfortunately, even that task has proven to be quite a risk on my measly .2GB monthly plan – all thanks to K-9 Mail.
Even more unfortunate is the fact that I can’t give email up on the go. Of course, there seems to be a workaround for most everything, and here’s mine:
Luckily for me, Android provides a lot of customization – including a handy checkbox that restricts background data. You can find this in the Settings app and going to the Data Usage pane. Next, scroll down until you find K-9, press on it, and scroll down to the bottom of that page until you find the checkbox. Tap on it to restrict background data!
Now, this also restricts the ability for K-9 to sync automatically while you’re in a mobile network; that is, you’ll have to go into K-9 and manually hit “Check Mail.” I personally find this to be a small price to pay for less data usage, but whether this is worth it to you will depend on your data plan and what apps you use.
I’m disappointed in myself that I let K-9 use background data for so long. Hopefully this quick tip will help keep your data usage down so you can afford your monthly bills.
