It’s extremely frustrating to look at your phone’s battery indicator and realize you only have a few minutes (or seconds) of screen time left before your phone shuts down. What if you were in the middle of an important text or phone conversation? What if you’re watching a movie on Netflix and your phone dies just before the movie ends?
Having your phone shut down unexpectedly is never fun. Occasionally, this could signify a hardware problem that requires your cell phone to be repaired. For other cases, you just need to learn a couple of tips to maximize your phone battery efficiency. In this blog post, we’ll share eight great ways on how to keep your phone from dying so quickly.
1. Turn on airplane mode
Now, at first this might seem counterintuitive. How can you keep your phone from dying if it’s on airplane mode? Well, what if you’re in the middle of something and can’t use your phone right away…but you want plenty of battery life for when you can? Turning on airplane mode (and/or turning off location tracking and GPS features) will save your battery for when you really need to use it. Plus, it will disable most notifications, allowing you to focus on your current task without distractions.
2. Dial down your screen’s brightness
One of the big battery-eaters on your phone is the screen itself. Keeping your screen lit and responsive to your swipes and taps decreases your battery more than you might realize. Yes, the decrease in available battery is incremental – but it does add up. To combat this drain, use your phone’s settings to lower screen brightness. See how dim you can get the screen while still being able to see/enjoy your phone. Additionally, set your phone’s screen to remain on for shorter periods of time – maybe to turn off after five minutes of inactivity instead of ten.
3. Utilize battery-saving power mode
There are probably two or three different battery modes on your phone – and you should definitely take advantage of them. On many Android devices, there are two: a medium mode and a maximum mode. Both decrease screen brightness, put apps to sleep, and generally help your phone use less battery power. (The levels of battery-saving helpfulness depend on what mode you employ.) These power-saving modes do a lot of the finicky techwork for you, leaving you plenty of time to focus on having fun with your phone.
4. Watch what apps you spend a lot of time on
Not all apps are created equal when it comes to the amount of battery power that they drain (or don’t drain). Lightweight apps, like planners, health trackers, texting services, and e-readers take very little energy to do their jobs. On the other hand, cameras, image editors, games, and streaming services all put a lot more strain on your phone’s battery. If you’re trying to extend your device’s battery life, steer clear of apps that are full of animations and other graphics.
5. Disable vibrations
Many people like to set their phone on ‘vibrate’ mode because the subtle sound and tactile sensation is more fun than an annoying notification noise (or total lack of notifications). However, vibrations can greatly drain your phone’s battery over time. It makes sense: instead of sending out a simple sound, your phone has to actually move (slightly, yes, but it’s still movement). The amount of energy needed for that action lessens your phone’s battery life. So you might want to consider switching to a different notification mode to save power.
6. Check out a battery saving app
If you’re not sure exactly what is draining your battery, consider installing a battery saving app. These apps (and there are dozens to choose from) will let you know exactly what apps and programs are the biggest obstacle to conserving phone battery. Once you know which apps are the problem, you can either stop them from running in the background or uninstall them altogether.
7. Keep an eye on your WiFi usage
Like most people, you probably take your phone just about everywhere you go. And you probably leave your WiFi on at all those places – even if there isn’t actually available WiFi. But when your phone searches for a WiFi connection and doesn’t find one, it will simply keep searching. This can drain battery life extremely quickly, but thankfully there’s a simple solution: just turn off your WiFi whenever you leave the house and let your mobile data take over instead. (Or if you don’t have any data, you might have to tough it out until you find WiFi again.)
8. Make sure you have charging hardware handy
Let’s face it – the absolute best way to save your phone’s battery is to actually, you know, charge your phone. Yes, there may not always be an available outlet…but that doesn’t have to stop you. Simply invest in a portable power bank and make sure to always carry a charger with you. Your phone will stay at a healthy power level and you won’t have to worry about doing the bare minimum with your phone just to save your battery.
