Ever get a phone bill that surprised you with the amount of data that you went through over the previous month? Or, perhaps you receive notifications that you’re on the brink of going through your data and don’t know why. If either of these situations sounds like you, then you’ll be interested in Google’s new Android app.
Called Datally, (pronounced “day tally”) it’s a lightweight (6MB) app that helps Android users get a feel for what’s chewing through your data. Moreover, it gives control over how data can be used; apps can be blocked with the tap of a button.
Available for phones running Android 5.0 or newer, Datally presents a visual glance at hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly data usage. In essence, it can identify if there are certain trends in your data consumption. Are you a heavy data user at night? On the weekends? Tuesdays? Are you slowly creeping higher and higher each month?
Datally will also tell you if there’s a public Wi-Fi nearby and help you to connect, freeing you from your carrier’s data network. Additionally, you can rate the Wi-Fi hotspot for other users so they can better understand if it’s fast or stable.
To be clear, Android does offer a lot of these tools at the platform level. The difference, though, is that this standalone app is much more direct and user friendly. The interface for Datally is simply more obvious and helps spell things out, throwing in a few helpful extras for good measure.
Looking ahead, Google plans to add in a couple of features to Datally. On the horizon are balance checking and balance expiration reminders as well as proactive usage warnings and controls.
