In an ideal world we’d all be able to afford the maximum unlimited data accounts with our shiny new smartphones, but it’s not an ideal world and we mostly have to settle for some sort of data cap each month. The real problem comes when we exceed the limits though, because that can get expensive, fast. Now there’s a way to track and avoid over-charges on your Android handset.

3G Watchdog is a free app which will monitor your 3G/4G and general data usage on your phone, and warn if you’re in danger of exceeding the limit in any one month. You can also view a traffic history of your phone to see when you used most data, and also set alerts if you approach dangerous points (e.g. 75% of your monthly quota etc).

We’ve been using it for a while, and by far the most useful feature is the real time traffic display which gives you an almost live reading of your usage and goes well beyond the standard Android data usage tracker which is a default.

We also like the status bar alert, which gives a color coded display as you run through your quota, with green, orange and the alarming red to make sure you keep track of your use at all times. You get to set up your limits and exact data plan dates so you can make sure it’s locked into your particular plan, which is again really useful. A great little tool for all you data heads out there.