Simply stated, my smartphone is my lifeline.
In this day and age, we don’t just use our phones to make calls anymore. In fact, we rely on them for pretty much everything.
Seriously — our phones function as alarm clocks, cameras, instant messaging devices, mini-GPS systems, and more. Regardless of what you need, I can guarantee there’s an app for that.
As someone who lives far from home, I use my phone constantly to communicate with my family. I cannot imagine my life without my regular FaceTime sessions with my mom and cat, Carter.
Or the music streaming services my dad and I use to share playlists.
Because I depend on my phone for so many things in life, losing power during the day can be seriously problematic. Have you ever desperately needed to call a friend, only to find your battery is drained? Or lost power right before taking the perfect picture? Ugh, we all know the struggle.
What I didn’t realize, though, is that you can avoid — er, delay — the dreaded 0% with a few simple tricks! After reading this list of 10 easy tech hacks, you can stop stressing about battery loss and start counting on your device when you need it most.
Be sure to SHARE these with your friends and family on Facebook!
1. Don’t Let Your Phone Battery Get Too Hot
Keeping your battery healthy is the first step in maintaining your phone’s charge. According to Popular Mechanics, you shouldn’t leave your phone in overheated spaces, like saunas or hot cars.
Oh, and those tempting “quick chargers” you see in every gas station and drug store? Be careful! These high-voltage contraptions often create excess heat, which can gradually degrade battery life.
2. Turn Off Location Services When You Don’t Need Them
As Digital Trends notes, location services rely on radio waves and satellite activity to know your precise location. Therefore, it’s unsurprising that GPS tracking requires a crazy amount of energy to function.
Disable location services unless you are using applications where they are completely essential, like maps.
3. Minimize Your Screen’s Timeout Time
You can save a considerable amount of battery simply by adjusting your “Auto-Lock” options.
Lessening your timeout time will signal your phone to go into “sleep” mode more quickly; that way, your display won’t waste unnecessary energy when you set your cell aside.
4. When You Do Charge Your Phone, Do It In Spurts
According to Popular Mechanics, you should avoid charging your phone only once its battery has been completely run down. Instead, it’s healthier for your battery life to do a few small charges throughout the day.
Digital Trends recommends that you shoot to keep a 20-80% charge throughout the day.
5. Ditch The Vibration Setting
Who ever would have guessed that vibrate mode steals more battery than regular ring tones? Save your charge by disabling vibration features for calls and messages.
Reviewed.com also recommends that you turn off keyboard clicks; not only will this help you save battery, but it will save you the distraction of unnecessary vibration while typing.
6. Don’t Rely On Auto-Update To Keep Your Apps Fresh
The automatic update function may help you stay up to date with your applications, but it is a silent battery killer.
Deselect the auto option and instead opt for manual updates. That way, your phone won’t be constantly searching for a signal to update all of your apps — many of which you probably rarely open.
7. Limit Push Notifications
Have you ever glanced at your screen, only to find it flooded with push notifications? Unfortunately, every time your phone flashes with a notification, it is stealing some of your battery’s precious juice.
To help boost the durability of your charge, keep push notifications on only for the most necessary applications (i.e. messaging and email) and disable the rest.
8. Dim The Screen
Keeping your phone screen on full brightness is one of the quickest ways to drain your battery. According to Reviewed.com, opting for a dim brightness setting helps save battery by lowering your phone’s operating temperature.
To avoid having to constantly adjust your screen between light and dark, simply select “auto-brightness.”
9. Exit Out Of Applications After Using Them
When trying to juggle the use of multiple applications at once, it can be easy to forget to close the ones you aren’t using. Although tabbed applications are out of sight, they continue to run in the background and eat up battery quickly.
Save yourself some extra juice by simply exiting out of the tabs you don’t need.
10. Turn Off Bluetooth And Wifi When Not In Use
Although these features prove extremely useful when making wireless phone calls in the car or seeking internet connection in the office, they should not be kept on all the time.
According to Tech Advisor, Wifi and Bluetooth are constantly in search of signals when you are out and about, and this can use up an unnecessary percentage of your battery. Simply disable these features when not using them directly.
These tips and tricks are guaranteed to make your phone battery last longer than ever before.
Let us know of any other power-saving suggestions you have, and SHARE this useful list with your Facebook friends!
