Low Data Mode

Currently, when you get one of those dreaded “You’ve used 95% of your data” notifications from your cellular carrier, your options are somewhat limited. Many users simply panic and turn off cellular data entirely until the end of the month, while others may be more selective in disabling cellular data only for particularly data-hungry apps. Either way, however, the choice is a binary one — whether it’s for an app or for your entire phone, you either leave data on and take your chances, or turn it off and lose access when you’re away from Wi-Fi.

Mentioned only briefly, but highlighted in Apple’s list of other iOS 13 features, a new “Low Data Mode” looks like it will offer a useful alternative for users who have small data plans, or are simply running close to the edge.

While we don’t yet know exactly what it will do, it seems like it will be a way of telling iOS 13 to get much more conservative about how it uses data, in much the same way that Low Power mode works for preserving battery life. How this will work with third-party apps is more of a mystery, however, but we’re hoping that either Apple will enforce it at the iOS level somehow, or that developers will eagerly jump on board (we’re looking at you, Google and Facebook).