[AC Question]

I try to use Google play store and it says I can't because background data is not enabled? I've tried but can't find it under settings

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Go to Settings>Data Usage, tap Menu, then make sure the Restrict Background Data option is turned off. If it aready is, then look for the Play Store in that menu, tap it, and make sure the Restrict Background Data that's specific to that app is turned off.

[f014980]

Trying to turn my background data on so I can use my Play Store. Can't find it in my settings.

[B. Diddy]

Trying to turn my background data on so I can use my Play Store. Can't find it in my settings.

Welcome to Android Central! Go to Settings>Data Usage (in the main system settings). Look for the Restrict Background Data option there. You may have to tap the 3-vertical dot menu button at the upper corner to find it. You can also tap Google Play Store to see if it is specifically having its background data restricted.

[Al Thompson1]

Go to Settings>Data Usage (in the main system settings). Look for the Restrict Background Data option there.

This raises a question for me: Is there any time that the Restrict Background Data should be used on a particular app? What is the purpose of this option in general usage?

[B. Diddy]

If an app isn't in the foreground (i.e., when you have it open on the screen and are actively using it), then it's in the background. Apps in the background can still access the web, to refresh data like news, weather, sports scores, social media posts, etc. Apps like this can sometimes use quite a lot of data in the background. You might be able to decrease the frequency of the app's data refreshing, but even then the app might still be doing it at some baseline level. Restricting background data will prevent this from happening at all.

The downside is that you won't get notifications about things like new emails, social media posts, etc, until you actually open that app.