We find it increasingly hard to imagine life without smartphones. These small but mighty devices have become an essential part of our everyday reality. We use them for work, for fun and for leisure. They are not only a means of communication and a source of entertainment, but also an organisational tool and a lifestyle choice. No wonder we lose our cool when the battery is dead, which renders the phone useless. To avoid it, it’s good to remember about a few easy hacks to extend the battery life. Read on to discover 10 useful tips for an Android smartphone!
In this article you will find out:
- how to use your phone to save the battery,
- where to look for the battery saving mode in your phone,
- how to extend the uptime of your phone.
1. Reduce screen brightness
One of the first and ideas to extend battery life is to reduce the brightness of the screen. You need a very bright screen only when you’re using your phone outdoors, especially on a sunny day. Otherwise you can easily reduce it. The extra power will keep your smartphone going for a longer period of time.
It’s best to minimise the brightness and only increase it for a while when you need it – for example when watching a video. Try to avoid the automatic mode, which adjusts the brightness to the ambient light, because the mode itself is rather energy-consuming.
2. Switch off unused modules
Since we appreciate comfort and want to remain online 24/7, many modules in our phone are operating even when it’s not necessary. If you’re not using such functionalities as GPS, Bluetooth or NFC, disable them. They consume a lot of energy, so they effectively reduce battery life.
It’s usually the most difficult to give up the ongoing Internet connection – be it Wi-Fi or mobile data transfer. But don’t be deceived – there are times when you put your phone down to do something else. If not, try to include such moments in your daily routine. You won’t regret it. Plus, your phone battery will be much better off without any extra modules draining its power.
3. Shut down the apps in the background
Android is trying to keep as many apps going as possible, also in the background mode. This is for you to be able to open them quickly after a break and resume what you were doing. Although this is convenient for the user, it has an adverse impact on battery life.
Fortunately, it’s easy to shut down programmes operating in the background. In the Google system it’s usually enough to use one of the three main buttons on your home screen (the square one). You will see the apps that are currently launched. You can switch off some of them by sliding them to the side, or simply shut down all of them with an X. In some models the procedure might be different.
It’s good to manage the apps running in the background, but a healthy dose of balance is advisable. If there are programmes you use regularly, leave them on, because launching them repeatedly will use even more energy than keeping them on standby.
4. Disable backup
One of the easiest ways to extend battery life in an Android phone is disabling backup. The data, passwords and settings are saved on Google servers, so that you can use them on other devices as well. You can disable this function by unticking it in the settings.
If you need key data on other devices, you can at least try disabling the photo and video sync with Google cloud. Infrequent data transfer effectively extends battery life.
5. Say goodbye to the frills
Animated wallpapers, screensavers, attractive widgets. We all love those Android frills, don’t we? If only they didn’t drain your phone’s battery so much! Unfortunately, these attractive, eye-catching yet completely useless details often consume a lot of energy.
If you want to extend battery life, stick to the basic settings. Switch off all the unnecessary vibrations – for example when you’re writing a text message. You can also give up extra sounds, like when you unlock your phone or use individual buttons.
6. Keep the screen dark
It seems obvious, yet many of us seem to disregard it. When you stop using your phone, you usually just put it down without blanking the screen. You can count yourself lucky if the time before your phone goes to sleep is short. But sometimes it’s a minute, two or more, which means that your screen is on even when you’re not looking at it, all this time draining the battery.
Change the setting and reduce the time before the screen goes to sleep. And when you’re putting down your phone, make sure to blank the screen. Remember that the screen consumes a lot of energy.
7. Go for Wi-Fi
Experts point out that using Wi-Fi consumes less energy than connecting to the internet with 3G/4G/5G. When you’re at work or at home, switch off mobile data transmission. Not only will it extend battery life, but also minimise mobile data usage.
8. Manage the apps
Extending battery life also means you have to control the energy used by individual programmes on your phone. You can check it in the settings menu. If you believe one of the apps drains the battery more than it should, you need to decide whether you really need it. You can always check out an alternative solution from Play Store. If you want to keep the existing programme, make sure you switch it off to prevent it from running in the background.
9. Switch off continuous sync
This is the solution for the most desperate phone users. It will considerably reduce the functionality of your phone. You need to ask yourself whether you’re ready to give up mailbox or Facebook sync. If so, you won’t receive basic notifications on a current basis, but this might serve to boost the battery life.
10. Switch the battery saving mode on
Android phone designers realise how much energy each of the devices consumes. They try to meet the users half-way by offering the battery saving mode. This is when the system autonomously adjusts the settings by reducing screen brightness, limiting data transfer in the background or shutting down unused apps. Sometimes it also reduced the CPU performance, in order to extend battery life.
Extending battery life – Android
As you can see, it’s not so difficult to boost battery life in your phone. Your device has a lot of functions that drain your battery, although they don’t have to. Switch them off and launch the battery saving mode instead. And since it’s better to be safe than sorry, remember to have a Green Cell quick charger or powerbank at hand, just in case. This way you can charge your battery at any time and extend the uptime of your device.
