Kenyans sound off Safaricom for excessive data consumption, but we have some potential reasons why and solutions

Some Kenyans are fed up with excessive consumption of their Safaricom data bundles. Social media is buzzing with rants, jokes, and a sense of helplessness. Phrases like “bundles zimeisha haraka aki” and “Safaricom needs to explain” have become common on Facebook and X feeds. Interestingly, it’s not even a new issue, as you can see below from this 2019 post on X:

So @SafaricomPLC @Safaricom_Care want to mean I used 1GB of data for only 30 MINUTES while using only twitter and whatsapp . Wacheni ukora jameni !!🤨🤨 Wakora network !!

— StarTimes Kenya 🇰🇪 (@StarTimesKenya) January 28, 2019

While it’s important to understand that Safaricom likely isn’t intentionally out to get you, there are real reasons why your data usage might feel out of control. Let’s unpack the common gripes Kenyans have, then dive into possible solutions to put you back in the driver’s seat.

Before getting any farther, it’s worth pointing out that Safaricom bills data usage based on the volume of data the apps installed on your phone accessed. Not the duration of time since you bought the data bundle. That said, there are a few potential reasons why your Safaricom data keeps disappearing so quickly.

• Sneaky background apps: Your phone is a chatterbox, constantly sending and receiving data even when you’re not actively using it. Apps like Instagram, Facebook, and others are notorious for consuming data behind the scenes.
• The auto-play or auto-download trap: You open Facebook or Instagram to quickly check one thing, then suddenly an hour has passed, and so has your data. Auto-playing videos on social media platforms gobble up your bundle without you even consciously clicking them. This is also true for auto-downloading media on apps like WhatsApp and Telegram. It will eat through your data so fast that you won’t even notice.
• Hidden updates: Your phone and the apps on it are constantly getting upgrades, some big, some small. Some of these updates happen in the background, using up your data without you even knowing.

Enough about the problems. Here are some of the things you can do to stop feeling like a victim of vanishing data. It might take a bit of digging into your phone’s settings, but the feeling of being in charge of your bundle is totally worth it.

• Become a data detective: Find out exactly which apps are consuming the most data and once you expose the thieves hiding in your phone, you should be in a good position to take charge. Both Android itself and the MySafaricom app offer powerful tools for this:
• MySafaricom app advantage: The MySafaricom app often gives you an even more detailed breakdown of your data usage, and it can alert you to apps that are unexpectedly data-hungry. You can also monitor your data usage through the app.
• Built-in Android tools: Your phone’s settings (usually under “Network & Internet” -> “Data Usage.” You can also do a simple search for “data usage” in the settings app) will still show you overall data usage, letting you compare it with what the MySafaricom app reports to spot any discrepancies.
• Restrict background data: Now this is where you get into the driver’s seat. Once you know who the culprits are, it’s time for some tough love. Limit how much data certain apps can use in the background. Here’s how:
• Stay within the “Data Usage” section of your settings. Tap on an app you want to restrict.
• Look for a toggle switch called “Background Data” or “Restrict Background Data” and turn it OFF.
• Still in the “Data usage” section, you can decide to opt some apps out of mobile data usage such that they only connect to the internet when you’re on a Wi-Fi connection. System apps like the Google Play Store are a good fit for this.
• Outsmart auto-play and auto-download: Disable auto-play and auto-download within your social media apps. Each app has its own settings, but here are a few common ones, or at least the ones I interact with:
• Facebook: Tap on your profile photo in the top right corner -> Settings & Privacy -> Settings -> Media. Besides auto-play, this page also lets you select the video quality, and I suggest you check the “Data Saver” option under the Video quality section. You can also enable the option to reduce 3D photo motion.
• Instagram: Instagram is another app that’s heavy on data usage if left unchecked. Go to your profile in the bottom right corner and then tap on the 3 lines in the top right corner of your screen to open Settings. Tap on Data usage and media quality -> Data Saver and toggle it on. When enabled, Instagram videos will not play automatically. Instead, you decide what and what not to play. Leave the other option media upload quality untouched.
• Telegram: There’s a growing interest in Telegram in Kenya for different reasons. Regardless of why you downloaded the app, how you use it could determine how long that 2GB data bundle you just bought lasts. In the top-left corner, tap on the three lines and then tap on Settings -> Data and Storage -> Data Usage -> Mobile -> Auto-download Settings. Here, you can either turn off the option to auto-download media, or customize how media is downloaded. There are pre-set options to pick from. Selecting “Low” will only auto-download photos. “Medium” option auto-downloads photos, videos of up to 2.5MB and Telegram Stories. “Custom” adds files of up to 1MB to the list of auto-downloads and ups the video size to 10MB while selecting “High” auto-downloads media files of up to 3MB and videos of up to 15MB. I suggest completely turning off auto-downloads.
• WhatsApp: WhatsApp is another potential data hog on your Android phone, especially if you happen to be in a couple of those groups that everyone except you is actively sharing media. Tap on the three dots in the top right corner to find Settings -> Storage and data. Here, you can choose to use less data for calls, although this may affect the overall quality. By default, the media upload quality is set at “Standard quality”, so leave it at that. As for the media auto-download section, uncheck all options under “When using mobile data” so that you only get to decide what media, including photos, to download in those WhatsApp group chats.
• X: Formerly known as Twitter, X also has in-app data saving settings that you can use to reduce data consumption on Safaricom. Tap on your avatar in the top left corner and then Settings and privacy -> Accessibility, display and languages -> Data usage. Under “Images”, select “Wi-Fi only” for loading and uploading high-quality images on X. Under “Video”, make sure “Wi-Fi only” is selected for high-quality video playback, uploads and auto-play. Alternatively, you can avoid all of the above hassles by simply enabling “Data Saver” to prevent X videos and other media from auto-playing or auto-downloading.
• YouTube: For YouTube users, the app also has built-in settings to help you save data. Tap on your account’s avatar in the bottom right corner and then the settings cog in the top right corner. Under the “Data saving” setting, you can choose to enable “Data saving mode” to reduce video quality when watching, download quality, smart downloads quality, and even set a mobile data usage reminder when you hit a certain amount. The settings menu also has options to tweak video auto-play, video quality preferences, as well as background playback and downloads.
• Choose your download battles: Watching Netflix or downloading big files? Save those for when you’re on Wi-Fi. Your mobile data is precious.

In addition to the in-app settings discussed above, here are a few more tricks to add to your locker.

• Close apps properly: Don’t just swipe them away. Make sure to actually close apps when you’re finished with them, especially resource-intensive ones like games or navigation apps like Google Maps.
• Offline is your friend: Download music, podcasts, or even articles for offline access when you have a solid Wi-Fi connection. You can then enjoy your downloaded media offline without relying on mobile data.
• Data-saving apps: Web browsers like Opera Mini are designed to use less data, so these and other data-saving apps should be your best friends. Unfortunately, Google axed the data saver mode from Chrome a couple of years back. However, there are several other “Lite” apps in the Google Play Store specifically for data-saving purposes, so be sure to check them out to help manage your data usage on Safaricom.
• The low-quality option: When streaming or even watching video or music, choose lower quality settings whenever possible. Most apps have options to tweak these settings, so be sure to dig around. For instance, on YouTube videos, simply tap on the settings cog on the screen and you should see the “Quality” option at the top of the little menu that pops up. Sometimes, you don’t need crystal-clear HD quality on a tiny phone screen anyway, and your data will go much further. This is also true for photos, especially since today’s smartphone cameras capture so much data in photos that leave users with large files of 5MB and even more. These photos can be huge data hogs when uploading and viewing them on social media in full resolution.
• Download or update apps on Wi-Fi: As much as possible, try to update your apps or download system updates when on Wi-Fi. You can set this in the Google Play Store by tapping on your profile icon in the top right corner > Settings > Network preferences > App download preferences and select “Over Wi-Fi only” then hit OK. While at it, you can also tweak the Auto-update settings to either “Over Wi-Fi only” or “Don’t auto-update apps” so that you’re dully in charge of when to do the updates. There’s also another option to customize video auto-play, so be sure to pick the right option here as well.

It doesn’t stop here, though. You’ll have to keep researching and experimenting to become a true data management master. The more you understand your phone’s habits, the better you can maximize your bundles. Got more questions or tricks of your own? Share in the comments and let’s help each other beat the data drain.