The purpose of the triangle symbol on your Samsung Galaxy phone

Your Samsung Galaxy smartphone is feature-packed with numerous on-screen icons to show you what's going on. One shows a broken triangle symbol that depicts two arrows pointing up and down. If you spot it, it's nothing sinister. It means Data Saver is active on your device, protecting your data allowance. So, what is Data Saver? What does it do, and how do you switch it off?

Data Saver is usually one of three triangle-shaped indicators:

• Data Saver, depicted by a broken triangle on a light background featuring two small arrows pointing up and down.
• A solid dark triangle with a centrally placed exclamation mark is an error warning. This may reflect a charging fault or a software glitch.
• A plain triangle means cellular roaming is active.

To add a little confusion, some icons can vary by phone model and carrier, but the above are the median meanings.

Many Galaxy users may never come across Data Saver, as it is usually off by default. The controls are situated in Settings > Connections > Data usage, where you toggle it on or off.

Samsung's Data Saver mode is neither good nor bad. It exists to help manage mobile data use. When active, apps cannot access the internet in the background — only your currently active app can do so, and as soon as you open another app, its connection stops. This also means background app processes such as uploading video will not take place. While not its primary purpose, Data Saver also nurses battery life by preventing background connections.

Data Saver isn't going to do much for you if you spend most of your time on a Wi-Fi network, as you have all the data you need. It comes into its own when your allocated monthly bandwidth runs low or when you are traveling. It is important to recognize that there are trade-offs to its use, as when in that mode, your background apps cannot do any of the following:

• Download updates
• Sync data
• Fetch new content
• Receive alerts and notifications

To overcome these limitations, you can give specific apps permission to continue working in the background while Data Saver is on.

1. Open Settings > Connections > Data usage.
2. Tap Allowed to use data while Data Saver is on.

Menu wording can differ depending on model and software version

In the next dialog, choose which apps you want to permit; typically these will be your communication apps, but you can assign this permission to any listed app.

Do I turn Data Saver on or off?

If you are mostly on Wi-Fi, you probably won't need Data Saver. However, if you are traveling and want to manage sometimes expensive roaming charges, you may need to turn it on.