A shiny new smartphone stays that way only for the first few weeks of use. Soon enough, the charm wears off as you pile apps onto it and you’re forced to strategize how to improve your Android’s battery life to get a full day’s use out of it. Longer-lasting batteries on Android are cherished features that we use to the fullest in most cases, but no matter which model you use, the battery does wear down over time. While there’s no way to entirely avoid wearing the device out other than ceasing to use them, our best course of action is to incorporate little tips and tricks into our everyday lives to boost the Android battery and help it last longer.
If that sounds like it would be a useful guide for you, then let’s dive into some ways to improve your Android battery. Most of these will work on iOS devices too, so maybe you still have something to learn here.
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Ways to Improve an Android’s Battery Life
There are two situations where you might find yourself wondering about boosting your phone battery life—first, in an emergency situation where you need to make your phone last a little longer until you can get to a charger or, second, when you want to improve the general health of your device and monitor the battery drain. In the first situation, where you need to focus on preserving and extending the Android’s battery life, here are some tips that can come in handy:
- Close any apps that are running in the background
- Turn off the GPS tracker or location services if you do not need it
- Bring down the screen brightness and turn off the “Always On” mode in your display settings if it’s in use
- If you’re not using your Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections, turn it off until you need it
- Turn off any additional UI features that are non-essential such as swipe animations, active listening, lift to wake, etc.
- Turn off keyboard sounds and vibrations and reduce the screen timeout time so the screen doesn’t drain your battery
- If you really need the battery to last longer on your Android, turn on the power saver mode. It will reduce the functionality of your phone significantly, but you’ll still be able to use select apps that are essential to get you home to a charger
It’s a good idea to invest in a power bank or portable battery so you always have a backup battery source on the go. There are days when you might be forced to leave your phone at home and no amount of boosting your phone battery life will be sufficient to get you through the day. In case of such emergencies, a power battery will come in handy—as long as you check it regularly to ensure it is charged.
Tips to Extend Android Battery Life in the Long Run
To improve your Android battery life, there are a few things you could make in how you use your smartphone. Obviously using your phone less might be a good idea. We are so used to picking up and unlocking our phones every few minutes, even when we have no notifications and nothing particular to check either. The habit can wear your battery down over time. Limiting your screen time is a good tip, both for your device and for your peace of mind.
Limit the Number of Apps That Run In the Background
Apps that have permission to keep running in the background are generally not harmful to your device as they use up very little memory and battery. Still, if you want to minimize the drain, go into your battery settings and check which apps are using the most of your battery power. If you don’t need the apps, you can go right ahead and delete them, but that’s going to be unlikely. Instead, you can then determine if you want those apps to have permission to run in the background or not.
To boost your phone battery life, you can also swipe close all your apps before you put your phone down every time.
Turn Off Unnecessary Features To Boost Phone Battery Life
Smartphones come with a lot of features that make your device more fun to use or they add a touch of style that can make you feel like you’re using a truly premium device. Again, these features don’t necessarily demand a lot of power from your smartphone, but they do stack up over time. Haptic feedback and keyboard tones while typing are a nice detail for some, but if you’re very serious about monitoring battery drain, turning these features off may help. Other features like swipe animations, screen time-out durations, and always-on screens are always non-essential so you get to decide what stays and what goes.
Turn On Adaptive Brightness or Manually Lower It When It’s Not Necessary
To improve your Android battery life, turn on adaptive brightness on your device so the screen brightness is automatically reduced as you move in and out of different settings. If the adaptive feature doesn’t work too well on your device, you can manually turn it down yourself when you don’t need to be blinded by your screen or aren’t outdoors. Using darker themes or using dark mode on your apps may also be marginally helpful.
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Don’t Overcharge Your Device—Prime Tip to Extend Android Battery
Many of us have a habit of using our smartphones until the last second of being awake, waiting until our eyes droop shut to plug our phones in to charge overnight. It might feel convenient to put your phone on charge and wake up with it ready to go the next stay, but unfortunately, this only hurts your battery in the long run. Under ideal conditions, it is best to charge your device up to around 80 percent rather than taking it up to 100 percent every time.
Even if you charge it to 100 just to be sure it lasts you through the day, it’s better to do it before you go to sleep or finish charging before you leave for work in the morning. Leaving it to charge overnight means the device constantly fluctuates between 99 and 100 all night as it remains plugged in, wearing the device down. You can also try and avoid using your smartphone when it is charging. It isn’t inherently dangerous or bad to do it, but the phone may heat up and charge slower when you use it as it charges, so it’s best avoided.
Turn off Any Unnecessary Connections
To improve your battery life, turn off and disconnect any services that you do not need. If you’re not using your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, turn it off. If you don’t have any need to connect with a nearby device, turn the scanner off so your device doesn’t waste energy searching for alternate connections. Similarly, if you don’t frequently rely on Google Assistant, turn the voice common, “Always listening” setting off.
Update Your Apps Regularly and Avoid Downloading Shady Files
Updated apps mean more optimized apps, which means they might be better for the overall health of your device. Try to update your apps regularly to boost your phone battery and this will bring additional benefits like battery security and optimization. Additionally, just like you would with your laptop, avoid clicking on any links you don’t recognize or downloading files from untrustworthy sources. Malware and viruses are always sly battery drainers that you can’t identify easily and avoiding them entirely is a good strategy.
These simple ways to improve your Android battery may require you to make some lifestyle changes but if you’re consistent with them, you could end up with a longer battery on Android—or iOS if that’s what you use.