How to Save and Extend Your Mobile Battery Life

Alter Display

Newer mobiles tend to have larger displays, and these are often the no.1 culprit for draining battery. This is especially the case with the increasingly popular AMOLED displays, which use even more light to generate brighter colours. To lower the brightness of your mobile display:

iPhone

Select Settings > Display & Brightness > Manually adjust brightness on the scale.

Android

Select Settings > Display > Brightness > Manually adjust brightness on the scale.

Windows

Scroll down, select Arrow Icon > Settings > Brightness > Turn off Automatically Adjust > Select Level > Select Low

Reduce Screen Time-Out Delay

The delay between when you interact with your mobile and when the screen turns black uses a certain amount of power. This is because your display is lit up during that time, and remains so, until it once again turns dark. The amount of time your display is lit can be adjusted, to do this:

iPhone

Select Settings > General > Auto-Lock > The shortest amount of time you can set is 30 seconds.

Android

Select Settings > Display > Select Screen Timeout > Select the shortest time option

Windows

Scroll down, select Arrow Icon > select Settings > Lock and Wallpaper > Select Screen Timeout > Select 30 seconds (the shortest amount of time available)

Turn Off Bluetooth

Whenever your mobile’s Bluetooth is turned on, it’s continuously searching for other Bluetooth devices to connect to. If you’re not actually using Bluetooth, this can be a significant waste of power. To turn off Bluetooth:

iPhone

Select Settings > Select Bluetooth > Switch Bluetooth-Off

Android

Select Settings > Select Wireless & Networks > Select Bluetooth > Turn Bluetooth-Off

Windows

Scroll down, Select Arrow Icon > Select Settings > Select Bluetooth > Switch Bluetooth-Off

Turn off Wi-Fi

This is a similar situation with your Wi-Fi feature. Even when you’re not trying to connect to a router, if your Wi-Fi is turned on, then your device will still detect possible connections, which uses up its battery. If you’re on the last dregs of power, you’ll want to switch your Wi-Fi off. To do this:

iPhone

Select Settings > Select Wi-Fi > Switch Wi-Fi Off

Android

Select Settings > Select Wi-Fi > Switch Wi-Fi Off (additionally, select Advanced Wi-Fi > Make sure ‘Scanning Always Available’ is not selected)

Windows

Scroll down, select Arrow Icon > Select Settings > Select Wi-Fi > Switch Wi-Fi Off

Turn Off GPS

GPS and Location apps use up a ton of battery, this is because they’re constantly sending out signals in order to pinpoint your location. The obvious way of preventing battery loss is to not use these apps, but even then, they may still attempt to send off information in the background. To ensure that they’re completely switched-off, you can manually toggle their accuracy settings or turn off their GPS entirely. To do this:

iPhone

Select Settings > Scroll down > Select an app (Google Maps, for example) > Toggle Location to never or off (Or select Mobile Data > And turn off individual apps

Android

Select Settings > Select Location > Select Google Location Settings > Select Location Reporting > Switch off Location Reporting

Or

Swipe down Settings shortcut > select Location Access > Switch GPS Off

Windows

Scroll down, select Arrow Icon > Select Settings > Select Location > Switch Location Off

Close Down Background Apps

When using an app, exiting doesn’t turn it off. This leads to a whole host of apps running in the background, potentially without you even being aware of it. Certain apps, such as Facebook or Youtube, can be a significant drain on your mobile battery, even when not being used. To clear out your background apps

iPhone

Press in the Home Button twice, this will bring up the apps your mobile is currently running > Swipe up the apps you’re not using (this will close them)

Android

Select the Arrow Icon > Close the apps you aren’t using

Windows

Hold in the Arrow Icon in > Close the apps you aren’t using

Switch Off Vibrate

Believe it or not, your mobile’ s vibrate function uses more power than your ringtone, because attempting to move your entire device via vibrate is quite a task. To save battery, turn off your mobile’s vibrate function, or to save even more battery, tone off your ringtone as well. Recent Android updates mean that you can no longer turn-off vibration for your entire device, you’d have to manually turn off vibrate for each app. However, some handsets should allow you to turn-off vibration entirely, such as Samsung made devices. To do this:

iPhone

Select Settings > Select Sounds > Switch off Vibrate on Ring and Vibrate on Silent (Put mobile on silent, this will turn off vibrate and ringtone)

Android

Open Settings > Select Sounds and Vibration > Select Vibration Intensity > Set Vibration to Zero > To turn off both vibrate and ring-tone > Select Quick Settings > Turn on Do Not Disturb

Windows

Scroll down, select the Arrow Icon > Select Ringtones and Sounds > Turn off Vibrate (if you put your mobile on silent, it shouldn’t ring or vibrate)

Switch on Low Power Mode

Every mobile should have a Power Saving/ Low Power Mode, which may disable any and all your mobile’s most draining features or apps. This may automatically switch on when your device hits a certain battery percentage. Some mobiles even have extreme/ultra power saving mode. To manually turn It on:

iPhone

Select Settings > Select Battery > Switch on Low Power Mode (you can adjust what battery percentage batter saver mode automatically switches on)

Android

Select Settings > Select Battery > Select More > Select Battery-Saver > Switch on (you can adjust what battery percentage batter saver mode automatically switches on)

Windows

Scroll down, select Arrow Icon > Select Battery-Saver > ‘Turn on Batter saver now, until next charge’ (you can adjust what battery percentage batter saver mode automatically switches on)

Identify Power Hungry Apps

It’s possible to see which apps are using up the most power on your mobile, this means that you can identify which apps to close or avoid using if you want to save battery. To do this:

iPhone

Select Settings > Select Battery > This will bring up a breakdown of the apps that have recently, and are currently, using up battery. The app using up the most battery will be at the top.

Android

Select Settings > Select Battery > This will bring up a breakdown of the apps that have recently, and are currently, using up battery. The app using up the most battery will be at the top.

Windows

Scroll down, select the Arrow Icon > Select Battery-Saver > Usage will bring up a breakdown of the apps that have recently, and are currently, using up battery. The app using up the most battery will be at the top.

Turn Off Notifications

Simple notifications, such as email or Facebook alerts, may also be draining your battery life. To stop these apps from sending you notifications, you can adjust or push these notifications. Note, that you won’t receive notifications unless you visit the app itself. To do this:

iPhone

Select Settings > Select Notifications > Select Individual Apps > Adjust Settings (i.e sounds, banner, alerts etc…) or switch off completely

Android

Select Settings > Select Apps > Select Individual Apps > Select Notifications-Off (this may differ depending on the make of the device)

Windows

Scroll down, select the Arrow Icon > Select Settings > Select Notifications and Actions > Select Individual Apps > Adjust Settings (i.e sounds, banner, alerts etc…)