It’s easy to burn through data with an iPhone or iPad, whether you’re using a Wi-Fi network or a cellular one. In iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, Apple has extended a tool that used to be only available as part of Low Power Mode and made it a separate switch: Low Data Mode.
With Low Power Mode, Apple wanted to make sure anything that used up battery life was reduced. So in addition to behind-the-scenes tweaks, it also halted data use by apps in the background and stops automatic email retrieval, among other things.
Now you can use just this data-saving mode separately with both Wi-Fi and cellular connections to conserve data usage. That can be helpful if you want to restrict use over cellular because you have a limited pool of data available or are reaching the top of your “unlimited” plan before the carrier throttles you to a lower speed.
