A $10 Android App Could Save You Hundreds in Overages

 

One of the most challenging aspects of managing a mobile device is keeping tabs on how much data it uses during a monthly billing cycle. Sure, folks like me on an unlimited data plan don’t have to worry about this, but the two largest U.S. carriers now only offer tiered tablet data plans. And while most smartphone plans are unlimited today, Verizon has already stated that by this summer, those are likely to vanish; consumers will instead buy buckets of data by the megabyte or gigabyte.

While many carriers allow the setup of alerts when you get close to using up your data, such systems are often fairly basic and not configurable by the end user. Fans of the Android platform today have a new tool to help manage data usage, and although I personally don’t need it yet, I recommend it for those that do. The software is called SPB Wireless Monitor and it costs $9.95, which could be far less than any data overages you might pay without such a tool.

I installed SPB Wireless Monitor earlier today from the Android Market on my Samsung Galaxy Tab and put it through the paces. Here’s how it works: You set personalized alerts based on an amount of data, or the cost of your data, and the application quietly monitors the data used by your smartphone or tablet. You can even set multiple alerts in case you want a wide range of notifications. When the software sees that your data use has crossed a threshold, it immediately creates a standard, local Android notification to alert you. It’s that simple. But that’s not to say the app itself is unsophisticated.

To better understand exactly what applications are using data on your device, SPB Wireless Monitor keeps track at the individual application level. One button tap will show you a listing of all apps that used data, along with how much bandwidth each has used. And all data monitoring, even the alerts, can be applied to either 3G or Wi-Fi connections. Other key features include:

• Per-application traffic reports or time-based reports (Android 2.2 or up)
• Daily, monthly, yearly or custom period cost reports
• Report sharing and exporting as CSV files
• Peak and off-peak tariffs support with 300+ different service plans from various countries
• Home screen widget

Again, I don’t personally need this app because I have an unlimited plan. But I’m actually considering a purchase anyway just to see which apps use most of my bandwidth, because it’s that solid a tool. And who knows how much longer I’ll actually be able to keep that unlimited plan.