If you’re an Android user and you’re bugged by the fact you’re not getting enough out of your data plan, then you’ll be delighted to know that Opera Max is here to help save the day.

What the hell is Opera Max?

Opera Max is a free data-savings app for your phone which lets you get the most out of your data plan.  It compresses videos, photos and text in the apps that you use, which allows you to have more mobile data to use. For instance, you pay $40 a month for 1GB of data. With Opera Max installed, that 1GB of data is stretched to 1.5GB per month without additional cost.

Not only does it stretch your data limit further, Opera Max also gives you better control of how apps uses data. Open the Opera Max app and you’ll see a timeline of app data usage and how much data you’re saving every month. You see the total of data used and data saved, plus apps are listed individually so you can easily see which apps are data hogs.

“The real kicker is that we save you heaps of data on those heavy videos you watch. So now, by using Opera Max, all the fun videos from Vine, YouTube or any of these other apps will load faster, more efficiently, and eat up less of your data plan. In other words: No more of that annoying buffering stuff. We’ve made a video to show you how Opera Max works and what it can do for you,” Opera posted on its official blog.

How does it save on data usage?

First, you need to download Opera Max. The moment the app is downloaded on your device, it starts compressing and rerouting data via a VPN to the data-savings cloud. Non-encrypted data requests are then sent through Opera’s compression servers to optimize video, images, and websites which results in less data consumption.

“As ‘kings of compression,’ we think Opera Max is the next step in the evolution of this technology, which will intelligently compress data across apps, not just your browser,” Sergey Lossev, the head of product at Opera Max, says.

Android users who pre-registered for Opera Max in the US and Europe can now download it from Google Play, and the app will see a gradual release in other regions around the globe.