Smartphone batteries are notorious for draining at a rate that leaves many puzzled. You’ve only been using it to text, make a few phone calls, and play a few games, so why can’t it last longer than a day?
The answer lies in the fact that smartphones are doing more than phones have ever had to do before. That’s obvious. But it’s precisely because they’re doing more that the rate of energy consumption has skyrocketed. Phone batteries can only cope with so much activity before they’re down and out for the day.
So if you don’t want to carry an unwieldy phone charger around with you in the hopes that there’ll be a plug or USB port nearby, follow these simple tips to make your smartphone battery last longer between pit stops.
1. Tone down the display backlighting
Having a display back-lit screen that can be seen 50 miles away on a clear day is an unnecessary drain on your smartphone’s power. Usually the level of intensity is left as-is when your smartphone comes out of its box, as people think it’s simply normal to have it at that brightness. Consider changing the display backlighting to a more moderate level (usually found under ‘Settings’), to reduce energy consumption and make it easier on your eyes.
2. Turn off Push notifications
These are the things that pop up immediately on the main screen, like email, text, and game notifications, and cause significant battery drain. If you’re running low on juice, turn ‘em off!
3. Turn off GPS and WiFi
Apps don’t really need location checks, and you don’t need WiFi when you’re eating or driving. Keep these two services off, and only turn them on when you need them, to save power.
4. Turn off Bluetooth
Just like GPS and WiFi – Bluetooth is a power hungry feature and if left on, will only drain your smartphones battery even faster.
5. Turn off vibrate
Vibrations actually use up more power than ringtones. The sounds produced by ringtones are just very tiny vibrations in your smartphone’s speaker. Compare that to the shaking of the entire phone via vibrating a smart weight, playing a ringtone definitely zaps less of your battery.
6. Turn off keyboard tones
Not only are they really annoying, they are just going to drain your battery the more you type – so just turn them off.
7. Close applications
Apps consume battery power as long as there open. Shut apps down if they’re not in use, including nonessential apps running in the background.
8. Delete useless apps
Go through your phone and delete the apps that you downloaded for a laugh, but never use (Lightsaber Sound Effects app, anyone?). Apps all share a portion of your phone’s processor cycles, and burn through a lot of energy, even when you’re not physically using them. For all the other apps that you keep, make sure they’re updated to the latest versions, which are often more energy efficient.
9. Keep the temperature down
Overheating destroys laptops and it can wreck your smartphone, too. Excess heat causes the charge level on the battery to drop, meaning less power is available. Keep your phone out of the sun, and away from your body.
We Want to Hear From You
Send us an email at enquiries@advancedcomputers.co.nz or post onto our Facebook Page and let us know if these tips were valuable to you. Do you have any tips which may help to make our smartphone batteries last longer?
If you need any help with your smartphone feel free to call us today on 09 4448823 or send us an email at enquiries@advancedcomputers.co.nz for expert advice.