Tip of the Week: 7 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Android Battery

Virtually every tech user wishes their mobile device battery would last longer, yet not every user understands that they can achieve this simply by adjusting their device settings. Here are seven simple adjustments you can make to your Android device to make your battery power last longer.

Dim Your Screen
Go to Settings > Display and toggle Adaptive brightness.

Changing the brightness of your screen can make a big diffrence in the life of a battery. Even if your screen is just a little bit brighter than it needs to be, it is wasting juice, making you run to a wall charger more often. You can also adjust how long the device stays powered on after it’s activated. Do you really need your screen activated for a full minute after each notification?

Turn Off Location Service (GPS)
Go to Settings > General > Location.

If your phone’s location service is enabled, your device will consume a lot of energy trying to stay connected to GPS satellites. You probably don’t actually need it activated unless you’re using an app that requires location information, like Google Maps. If you’re not using a GPS-dependant app, then it’s in your battery’s best interest to turn location service off until you need it.

Disable WiFi When Out and About
Go to Settings > WiFi, Bluetooth, or Data Usage.

You’ll want to keep your device’s WiFi on when you’re settled in at work or home, but when you’re on the go, turn off WiFi in order to save battery power. If you don’t, your phone is going to use significant juice to actively look for and connect to every new WiFi signal it comes across--which could be many if you’re traveling through a heavily populated area.

Turn Vibration Off
Hit the Volume Down key until you feel the phone vibrate, then hit it once more to silence all notifications.

Having your phone vibrate comes in handy when you’re in a social setting requiring you to keep noise to a minimum, but if you’re trying to conserve battery power, you might be able to do without it. It takes a significant amount of energy to get your phone to vibrate. Keep in mind, though, with your phone’s vibration turned off, you'll want to keep your device within view so you can see any incoming notification.

Manually Update App
Go to Play Store > Settings > Auto-update apps, and turn auto-update off or set it to update over WiFi only.

Since updating your apps automatically is the default setting, you may not think twice about having this auto update activated. However, if you want to conserve battery power, then you should. Otherwise, your device may start automatically updating its apps and pulling huge chunks of data from the Play Store at the worst possible time for your dying battery.

Disable Background Data
Go to Settings > Data Usage.

You may think you’ve closed your app, but that doesn’t mean it’s still not open in the background performing battery-draining activities. Think back to our second example. Some apps still tap into the GPS settings to track your activity, even though you’ve closed it. Many apps utilize background activity, which unnecessarily drains the battery. When you’re in a pinch, disable background data. However, if you access an app and find it not working as it should, you may want to turn the background data back on to see if that resolves the issue.

Airplane Mode
Go to Settings > Connections > More networks > Airplane mode.

Airplane mode is a handy last-ditch option when your battery is close to dead and you still need to use your device’s core apps, like calendar, contacts, calculator, etc. Switching to airplane mode will disconnect your device from any network, and thus, save you a whole lot of battery power. Granted, you won’t be able to do nearly as much work with your device as you would if you were connected to a network, but you’ll still be able to quickly check what time it is and use your alarm.

Of course, adjusting the settings is just one battery-saving best practice. You can also try replacing the battery altogether if your model will allow for it, and there are some external devices you can plug into your phone that will extend your battery power as well. How do you keep your battery going strong? Let us know in the comments.