Google wants you to have more granular control over how your smartphone uses the limited data you have with a tool known as Triangle.
The search engine giant is currently testing the Triangle app in the Philippines with an aim of making it available in other developing markets in the coming days. With this app, smartphone users will be able to better manage their mobile data usage by viewing the data balance, checking the apps that are using the most data or even block specific apps from using your limited data package.
Guys in developed countries like the U.S. where unlimited data plans are a norm may not see the importance of this Triangle app, however, those in areas where data packs are limited will definitely enjoy having this app on their phones.
It’s not the first time that Google is trying to give users the ability to enjoy more control over how data is used on their Android phones. We’ve had features such as Data Saver make their way into the official Google Chrome web browser and some select devices already enjoy inbuilt data-saving features, such as the Data Saver available for Google Pixel and Pixel XL users. However, with Triangle, Google wants you to have much better control over your apps as opposed to what the likes of Data Saver can do.
As noted, this Triangle app can be used to determine how each individual app uses data. Whether you want to limit the time an app uses data to just 10 minutes, 30 minutes or “Always”, this app has your back. You will also be able to check out the remaining data balance as well as see which apps are using the most data on your phone.
There’s nowhere that Google has announced this Triangle app, but the app is available for download on the official Google Play Store for those in the Philippines and thanks to a number of forums, we know that this app has been around since April.
We don’t know if and when the Triangle app will make its way to other emerging markets, but it’s possible that it won’t be long before Google rolls it out to everyone who wishes to better manage their mobile data.
Update: After months of testing, Google has finally made this data-saving app available to everyone. One thing, though, is that the app has been renamed to Datally and it can now be downloaded via the Google Play Store.