Data and Battery Usage on Android

Pocket is designed to make efficient use of your cellular data and battery. However, if you would like to optimize Pocket to work best with your device and data plan, here are some things to consider.

Syncing, Downloading and Battery Consumption

While syncing, Pocket checks for changes to your account. This includes updates to your saved items, Tags, scroll position, and more. When syncing, data and battery usage is minimal, because only metadata is sent and received.

If new items are found while syncing, Pocket will begin downloading them for offline use. Since this process downloads the content of each page, it can consume more data and battery, especially if a large number of pages were saved since the last sync. The data consumption during a download session is approximately the same amount as if you visited each new page in your mobile browser.

Here are settings you can change to optimize Pocket for data and battery usage:

Download Only on WiFi

This setting prevents Pocket from downloading content while using cellular data, preserving both data battery usage. The background sync will still occur, but new items will not be made available for offline access until a WiFi connection is restored.

Background Syncing

Pocket will sync changes instantly by default, which is most efficient for battery consumption during normal use. However if a large amount of pages are saved each day, changing Background Syncing to a less frequent interval may help preserve battery life.