How much data does Snapchat use?

Travel Mode did not disappear, it changed its name

If you look for Travel Mode in a recent version of Snapchat, you will not find a switch with that name. Snapchat's support centre now calls it Data Saver mode and says it is also known as Travel Mode, so any guide that mentions Travel Mode is talking about the same feature. Snapchat describes its purpose in one line: it can help reduce the app's mobile data usage.

There is no figure per hour or per Snap anywhere in Snapchat's help, and it is easy to see why. A Snap can be a single photo or a long video, a Story can be a few frames or a string of clips, and how much arrives depends on how many friends you have and how much they post. Data Saver does not promise smaller files. What it changes is the moment they download: when you ask for them, not before.

Switching it on, iPhone or Android

• Tap the gear icon on your Profile screen to open Settings.
• Scroll down to App & Privacy and tap My Privacy & Data.
• Under Manage My Data, tap Data Saver.
• Turn it on: a switch on iPhone, a checkbox on Android.

These are the steps in Snapchat's own article, and they are the same on both systems apart from the last tap. The useful detail is how long it stays on: Snapchat lets you choose 3 days, 1 week or Until Turned Off. For a long weekend away, 3 days covers it and the app goes back to normal by itself once you are home. For anything longer, Until Turned Off saves you from noticing halfway through the trip that it switched itself off on day eight.

What waits for a tap, and what does not

Snapchat names two things in its article: Snaps and Stories. With Data Saver on and the phone on mobile data, they are listed as usual but only load when you tap them. That is the whole saving: the app stops fetching content in advance that you might never open. If your friends send long video Snaps or post a lot of Stories you usually skip, that is where you will see the difference.

What the article leaves out matters too. It only describes behaviour on mobile data, and it does not mention chat text, the camera, Spotlight or the map. So do not assume everything is held back. And a Snap you tap still downloads in full, which means the setting helps most if you skip a lot and helps little if you open everything anyway.

Memories: the part that goes up, not down

Snaps you save to Memories are backed up to Snapchat, and that upload also uses your connection. To see whether it has finished, open Settings, tap My App and then Memories, and look at Backup Progress: it should say Complete. If it shows a number of Snaps remaining or No Network Connection, the backup is not finished, and Snapchat asks for good cellular service or Wi-Fi to complete it.

Check this before you reinstall the app, log in on another phone or log out during the trip. Snapchat warns that Memories that were not backed up cannot be recovered. It also says it does not back up your camera roll, so photos taken with the phone's own camera need their own backup; this guide covers how iCloud Photos and Google Photos handle mobile data.

A quick look every evening instead of a test day

With no official figure, the counter on your phone is the number that counts. On an iPhone, the Snapchat line in Settings, Mobile Data shows what it has used since the statistics were last reset; on Android, the list per app is in the network settings. This guide shows where on each phone, and how to make sure you are reading the travel line.

A simple routine works well on a trip. Reset the statistics the day you land and glance at the Snapchat line each evening. Divide your plan by the number of days and you have a daily allowance. If Snapchat alone has taken half of it by the second evening, that is the moment to turn Data Saver on or leave Stories for the hotel Wi-Fi. Remember that the counter adds up what you send as well as what you watch.

Limits the phone can add

If there are days when you would rather keep Snapchat off mobile data entirely, the phone can do it for you. On an iPhone, every app has its own switch in the Mobile Data list, and Low Data Mode cuts background activity on the line where you turn it on. On Android, Data Saver restricts background data for every app you do not exempt. The guides for iPhone and Android go through both.

On a data-only travel eSIM, Snapchat works as it does at home, because chats and Snaps travel over the data connection, not over your phone number. If you are still choosing how much data to take, Snapchat is an app where a light user and a heavy user can be far apart, so a few days of reading your own counter at home tells you more than any average.