Netflix wants to help you save on data overage charges

The highly popular streaming service Netflix announced it has integrated a new feature into its app for mobile devices that will allow you some control on the amount of cellular data you are using while streaming movies and TV shows with the app.

In the updated version of the app, for both iOS and Android devices, there is a new setting called “Cellular Data Usage,” where you can set your device to a higher or lower usage setting, set to “Automatic” by default.

The company said under the default setting, you will be able to watch around three hours of streaming video for each 1GB of data, an equivalent of around 600 Kilobits per second.  The service said it had found that setting provided a good balance of quality video streaming and an economy of data usage.

The setting will only be applicable when you are not on a Wi-Fi network when data overages don’t apply, but only works when you are using cellular data, according to an article on  TechCrunch.com.

Director of Product Innovation at Netflix, Eddy Wu said, “We are always working on ways to improve picture quality while streaming more efficiently, so bitrates could change over time. As with all streaming, actual data usage can vary based on your device capabilities and network conditions. Your mobile carrier also may impact the actual data usage even if you elect a higher setting in the Netflix app.”

The company announced earlier that it had plans to introduce a mobile device “data saver” feature at some point.  The feature was mentioned to the press at the Mobile World Congress, saying it would be made available during 2016.

Some users may find the feature beneficial to them, but Netflix is not the top data-using service on most smartphones.  According to the article, Sandvine’s year-end report from 2015 listed YouTube as the top consumer of customers’ mobile bandwidth, but Netflix did make the top ten.

The option to save on data usage can be found under the “App Settings” menu on your device.