Android is designed to be gentle with your mobile data, but all bets are off when you get on WiFi. Your phone will likely save large downloads until the instant you reconnect to WiFi, but not all networks should be treated the same. Some WiFi hotspots are metered, and Android P makes it quicker and easier to tell the device when that is the case.
It has been possible to mark a network as metered in the last few versions of Android, but it’s buried in the Data Saver settings. Google made the process of marking a network as metered vastly easier in Android P. All you need to do is open your WiFi settings, tap on a network, and find the “Metered” option under “Advanced.” Open that, and you can set the network as default network preference, metered, or unmetered.
A metered network is treated as a mobile network, so background processes like Play Store updates won’t just gobble up a few hundred megabytes on a whim. This change is just one of several WiFi tweaks including a new details page for the network and up/down arrows to the left of the new round Quick Settings icon.
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