Disable all mobile data-consuming apps Possible Duplicate:
  Preventing mobile data use for select apps on non-rooted phone?  




I'm going overseas tomorrow, with a travel SIM that supports mobile data - but it will be a precious resource. So I basically want to switch every app to "don't use mobile data unless I specifically tell you". Is there a list of steps I should go through?

I know I can simply "deactivate data network mode". But what I'm concerned about is that when I re-enable it, suddenly a lot of apps are going to want to update, or collect email, or refresh a Twitter feed or something.

It's a Samsung Galaxy Note with ICS.
To borrow an answer from a previous question I answered, you could use a firewall. By specifying rules for what programs are allowed to access the Internet, even enabling the connection would still block them in the firewall, and they would not access the net. This way, you can block any app except the apps you want to always be allowed (if any), and then unblock apps as needed.


  DroidWall - Front-end application for the powerful iptables Linux
  firewall. Allows you to restrict which apps can access the network.


This app does require root however, but I think it's important to understand that what you're asking about requires low-level system access, so managing this without root is probably not possible.