From people who recently upgraded to the latest model of iPhone or Android and want to get the most out of it to those who've realized their current phone isn't lasting as long as it used to, it's no surprise a lot of s want their battery life to last longer. However, knowing the best way to go about it can be tricky.
Luckily, there are plenty of tips and tricks that can go a long way to helping out with this, and most are incredibly simple and convenient to boot. From enabling adaptive battery modes to keeping Wi-Fi turned off on the go, these are some of the best ways to keep that smartphone going as long as possible.
Lowering Screen Brightness Is One Way To Preserve Battery
Although it's easy to get used to a certain level of screen brightness and not want to alter it unless it's necessary, it's one of the simplest changes to make that can help keep the battery going longer. ing a brighter screen takes more energy so reducing brightness can make a significant difference.
Using adaptive brightness can also help with this as the screen will dim automatically for lower light levels, which also helps prevent the painful experience of being blinded when looking at a bright screen in a dark room.
It's Smart To Turn Off Wi-Fi And Bluetooth While On The Go
One of the downsides of smartphones is that they can feel like they're useless unless they're always connected to the internet and other devices, but sometimes it's better to cut them off. Turning off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth whilst on the move is a great example as it can help slow down a draining battery.
That's because a smartphone will keep looking to connect otherwise, constantly scanning to see if new Wi-Fi networks have turned up, for example, meaning there's a constant unnecessary process taking place in the background. Relying on mobile data might not be ideal, but it can be better for battery life.
Turning Off Siri, Cortana, Or Google Assistant May Help With Background Usage
Although it's likely that most of a phone's battery usage will occur when the is actually holding it, it's still important to think about the background processes that may be draining it even while it's out of use. Going into settings and checking which processes are using the most battery can yield surprising results.
For one process that's simple to turn off and unnecessary for most people, look no further than smart assistants like Siri, Cortana, and Google Assistant. Any service that's constantly listening for that "always on" convenience will contribute to background usage, so it's worth switching off. There are some things no smartphone should live without but smart assistants aren't one of them.
Enabling Adaptive Battery Mode Helps Your Phone Help You
Whilst there are plenty of manual ways to get the most out of a phone's battery life, sometimes it's better to leave it up to algorithms designed specifically for that task. For Android phones, for example, there's an Adaptive Battery mode that uses AI to ensure your phone's battery lasts as long as possible.
There may not be a direct equivalent for iPhone, but both have systems to automatically monitor how much battery background apps are using. Turning off everything by force may seem like a simple solution but frequently stopping and restarting apps can actually be worse for battery life. Instead, the "Background App Refresh" setting allows the to decide which apps should get updated in the background on iPhone whilst Android has similar ways of restricting individual apps.
Setting The Screen To Switch Off Sooner Can Help
For small ways of boosting battery performance that won't risk breaking anything on the smartphone, it's worth taking another look at screen settings. Having the screen running is one of the biggest factors in battery usage so anything that ensures it's on for less time helps.
Setting the screen to switch off and the phone to lock itself much sooner from inactivity can be an easy and unobtrusive way to do this, and it's especially useful to anyone in the habit of leaving the phone on and getting distracted by other things.
Turning Off Vibrations Can Help With Battery Drain
Though a lot of s are already well aware of how their phone's visual elements could be contributing to how fast their battery is draining, far fewer bear in mind how audio elements could be doing the same. For anyone that gets a lot of notifications, noisy alerts and vibrations could be making a difference too.
For some, putting the device onto silent mode might not be feasible but turning down the volume on alerts and switching off vibrate are equally worth doing. It's easy to get used to the keyboard vibrating with each tap, but it's worth getting out of the habit to ensure a longer-lasting battery.
Changing To Dark Mode Gets The Most Out Of OLED Devices
OLED devices can be amazing when it comes to visuals, but they also have some unique quirks compared to other screen types and that can actually be helpful when it comes to preserving phone battery. Because of the way OLED screens work, the diodes don't actually need to light up when showing pitch-black backgrounds.
That's great news for s that enjoy using dark mode and less bright themes when using their mobile devices. Many top-of-the-range devices do make use of OLED screens so, for those who haven't yet converted, learning to like dark mode is another simple way to try and save battery.
Turning Off Location Services Is Also Good For Battery
The good news for anyone that leaves GPS switched on as a rule is that it shouldn't be using battery except when location services actually come into usage. The bad news is that a lot of apps and services do automatically make use of location services when they can, which could make a difference.
According to The Verge, studies have shown that having a weaker signal also causes the battery to drain faster as the device attempts to establish a consistent connection. That's why the simplest solution may be to turn off location tracking when it's not needed.
Looking After General Battery Health Can Help Long Term
Anyone that's owned a smartphone over the course of many years will likely have noticed that the battery deteriorates over time, and it drains much faster toward the end. Although that's an unavoidable consequence of long-term use, there are some ways to slow down this decline.
Things that put a strain on the battery and cause it to deteriorate faster include using faster charging options, charging the phone to 100% and beyond, and frequently letting it fall to 0%. Switching off fast charging or using slower charging options, avoiding leaving the device on charge for too long, and keeping on top of its battery life can all help slow down that decline.
Getting Familiar With The Battery Usage Settings Can Also Help
Unfortunately, everyone uses their devices differently, so there's no guarantee that what works for one will work for any other. That's why one of the best things to do is to go into the battery usage section of device settings and get familiar with the data it's returning.
If it's not readable or detailed enough to do the job, there are apps out there that can also help monitor and understand which factors are contributing the most to a fast-draining battery. Doing so can help to reveal if there are any specific activities or settings that are harming an individual device's battery life outside the obvious ones.