Since we can no longer live without smartphones, there is nothing more frustrating than seeing your handset run out of battery. Checking Facebook or talking to your girlfriend on WhatsApp, only to see that painful warning message pop-up. Next thing you know it, you’re staring at a blank screen. Why does this happen though? Is it fixable?
Well, it happens because of various reasons and thankfully, it is fixable by optimizing your mobile phone settings a little bit. Here at What Mobile, we have compiled a list of six steps you can do to get more out of your battery.
Also please note that this information is for Android 4.1 version or higher, so some terminology may not match if you are using an older OS. For example “Battery” settings may be “Power” settings.
With that out of the way, here are six ways you can keep your Android battery going.
Perhaps the most important thing is to check which apps are draining your battery the most. In every Android device you can go to Settings > Device > Battery or Settings > Power > Battery. Here you will see a list of all the installed apps and how much battery and space they are consuming.
If you see a rarely used app that is eating your battery at an alarming rate, simply uninstall it. In Android 7, there is a feature called “Mobile Standby” where you can see how much each app consumes when your phone is on stand-by mode.
After you have deleted the guilty apps you don’t use, the next step is to refine them. Many free apps have heavy ad features which consume your battery. Consider using apps that do not have a lot of ads and if you cannot live without one, buy their premium ad-free version.
Apart from draining your battery, advertisements in apps also use massive amounts of unnecessary data. Buying the premium ad-free version will give you a better experience overall, so it’s highly recommended.
When it comes to battery consumption, GPS is an evil villain. After using Google Maps, you’ll quite often find large amounts of juice disappearing from your device. The thing is, GPS can be a tricky thing to manage. It will typically monitor your location all the time unless explicitly told otherwise – cue the conspiracy theorists about government spying on us.
The easy solution is to open Quick Settings and disable the GPS location. When you open Google Maps again, it will automatically tell you that your GPS is off and you need to turn it on. You can then turn it off again after using.
This tip comes from Sam Murray who runs a UK mobile phone site, he says:
“Many apps such as social networks, weather and news apps create a desktop widget when installed on the phone. These widgets drain a lot of battery as they sync with your phone’s system to get you updates. Try and keep as little widgets as you can manage on the homescreen.”
When you are in a low signal area, your smartphone will keep sending requests to the nearest radio frequency (RF) tower in a vain attempt to reconnect. In these such situations, your mobile phone eats a lot of your battery.
Best solution; turn on Airplane Mode when you are in low signal area. If the low signal area is in someone’s basement or office, you can turn on Wi-Fi with the Airplane Mode on and still enjoy the benefits of wireless communication.
Live wallpapers with their breathtaking animations can lighten up your phone. You can even interact with some of these wallpapers, making it feel like you’re in a sci-fi movie.
Unfortunately, they are also a nightmare for the battery. I wish there was a solution to this but no, there is no going around it. If you want a better battery life, you’ll have to delete the live wallpapers.
Got any more tips that we missed? Sound off in the comments below!
