You’re out doing some holiday shopping when you see your battery is almost empty.
Wait, it was at 100% this morning, and you barely touched the thing all day!
What could you have done wrong to wear it down so quickly?
Could it be that cold winter weather?
Might be any of these common battery-drainers!
1.
Live wallpaper and other visual effects Yeah, they look cool, but they’re working
against you.
If you want your battery to last longer, choose a simple background image, preferably plain
black.
Also, get rid of all the widgets on your home screen if they update automatically.
2.
Power-hogging apps (oink-oink) Checking the battery usage regularly will
help you find out which apps take up too much power.
Do yourself a favor and think real hard if you need them.
If not, uninstall them without regrets and choose simpler alternatives if you can.
3.
You let apps pile up.
Hey, while you’re in there deleting power-hungry apps, check which ones in your vast collection
you don’t use that much.
Sure, it seems so tempting to have tons of them at your fingertips, but do you really
need 5 different apps with daily exercises (that, let’s be honest, you’re not doing!).
A great way to cut down is to delete the apps that serve the same purpose or ones you haven't
opened for a month or longer.
4.
Your screen is too bright.
The brighter your screen is, the more battery power is used.
You can either choose Auto mode for that feature or change it manually to gain more battery
life.
Besides, a dimmer screen will save your eyes from strain and dryness.
5.
You drain or charge the battery completely.
Your phone battery doesn't like extremes.
Hey who does?
So waiting to charge the gadget when it turns off is a bad idea.
The same goes for charging the phone all the way up to 100%.
It's best to keep the battery between 40 - 80%.
6.
Tons of push notifications Of course, alerts from some apps might be
important to you.
But do you really need to see when it's time to rate the restaurant you had dinner at recently?
Most new apps you've just downloaded automatically think the answer is yes.
So do some tweaking in the Settings and turn off any unnecessary notifications.
Otherwise, apps will constantly check if there's something new to show you on the screen, and
you already know that screen is a big energy waster!
7.
Bluetooth is always on.
On most devices, Bluetooth is on by default even if you don't use it much.
So if you don’t, just turn it off!
Your phone battery has to work harder if Bluetooth is on since this feature requires power to
constantly search for other devices.
Most phones let you control Bluetooth from the Quick Settings menu.
8.
You use your phone during charging.
Any device needs a break from work once in a while – your phone included.
Please let it rest while it's plugged in.
Or at least try to keep your phone idle most of the time while it's getting some juice.
If you keep gaming or watching videos, this can disrupt the battery charging cycle.
9.
A long screen timeout Without you changing it, the screen will automatically
turn off usually after 1-2 minutes of not being used.
That’s way too long for anybody, so cut down the screen timeout.
The shorter – the better!
You’ll notice a difference in your battery usage immediately.
10.
Bad service We all know how annoying places with spotty
reception are, but it's even worse for your phone.
It works overtime, constantly sending signals and searching for a tower.
When your phone fails to make a connection, it must send the signal again with increased
power.
As you can guess, this drains your battery fast.
Turn on Airplane Mode until the service gets back to normal or get on some Wi-Fi if you
can.
11.
You use the camera too much.
Selfies in the elevator, impromptu attempts at film-making glory (or recording your sleeping
cat because it’s just so precious!) – take it easy on the pics and videos.
It takes a lot of battery power to work the camera’s focus and record the images and
sounds.
12.
You don't use dark mode.
Some apps let you choose a black background instead of the standard, usually bright one.
Making that switch will have an impactful battery-saving effect since black pixels use
less power.
(Remember the tip with your wallpaper?)
Some phones even have an option of setting system-wide dark mode.
13.
Your phone gets cold.
Ever left your phone in the car on a freezing winter day?
“Yeah, but I just needed to pop into the store for a loaf of bread!”
It’s what you tell yourself, but then you quickly see that the poor thing works super
slowly after that or even shuts down completely for some time.
Get this – your battery works because all sorts of chemical reactions are happening
inside it.
Really low temperatures slow those crucial processes down.
So don’t let your digital friend get too cold!
14.
It's too hot for your phone!
Oh c’mon make up your mind.
No no -- stay with me here!
Remember that thing about phones not liking extremes?
I wasn’t kidding.
Your battery doesn't like being too hot either.
It can cause a loss of the electrolyte that helps your battery hold a charge.
If you're stuck outside on a scorching summer day, at least turn your phone off so that
it won't generate its own heat.
15.
Your apps update automatically.
When your phone has this feature on, it keeps looking for updates and starts downloading
it right away when one is available.
Pretty clear that auto update means a lot of activity is going on and taking away precious
battery juice.
Turn it off and start updating apps manually.
16.
You let your phone vibrate.
You don't need your gadget to vibrate if it's ringing.
Why make it do twice the work?
(“Because I’ll hear the alarm better… somehow… don’t ask questions!”)
Also, you can save a bit of battery power by turning off that little vibe your phone
gives off every time you press virtual keys.
So far, I’m guilty of almost all these.
Please let me know if you are too!
Down in the comments, you know the drill!
But there’s more…
17.
Multiple apps track your location.
There are apps (like maps and taxi services) that really need to know where you are to
work properly.
But many others just have this feature on by default.
Check what apps have GEO-locator enabled, and turn it off if it's unnecessary.
This way, you'll help your battery work less and solve privacy issues as well.
Not everyone on the Internet should know where you are at any given moment through your posts
on social media, right?
18.
You close background apps.
Many think this trick saves the battery, but in reality, it has the opposite effect.
Background apps aren’t active and don't use much power.
They’re just standing by ready to jump into action.
But if you manually close them and after some time, open them again, your phone has to spend
more energy on it.
Do it only if you need to re-start an unresponsive app.
19.
You use fast charge too often.
Yeah, it does help when you're in a hurry.
But using it all the time will turn this feature into a “fast drain.”
Try to let your phone get a good long charging sesh on a regular basis.
Slow and steady wins the race!
20.
You skip system updates.
Usually, operating system updates include bug fixes and tweaks – meaning they help
your phone perform better.
And good performance equals more efficient usage of the battery.
21.
You use an unofficial charger.
Official chargers have many safety settings like controlling the amount of current delivered
to the battery.
Not all off-brand chargers can do that.
And too much current delivered to a battery leads to its degradation.
So, if you've lost the charger that goes with your device, make sure your replacement is
approved by the phone’s manufacturer.
Hey, if you learned something new today, give me a call – no wait, we’re trying to save
battery!
Instead, give the video a like and share it with a friend!
And here are some other cool videos I think you'll enjoy.
Just click to the left or right, and stay on the Bright Side of life!