Boost your smartphone’s battery with this handy guide

It’s no question that after a certain amount of time, your phone’s battery will begin to deplete. Just a few months ago it might have lasted an entire day or longer. But now? You look at your phone after just a few hours to find it’s in the dreaded red zone.

It’s no conspiracy either – Apple recently admitted it slows down the battery life of its older iPhone models. Why, you ask? To increase the sales of new models, obviously.

Don’t get your wallets out just yet – there are ways you can take back the battery life your phone deserves without having to buy a completely new model. Here are some of the foolproof methods to regaining longer battery life on your smartphone.

 

πŸ’ Spring cleaning your apps

An easy way to free up storage and put less pressure on your smartphone is to go through the apps you don’t use anymore and simply delete them. The bandwidth on your phone will thank you in the long run as your battery starts thriving again. You can check which apps are using the most battery in Settings Battery Battery Usage on both iPhone and Android.

As well as this, it’s especially important to update the apps you choose to keep on your phone. Some phones automatically update apps, which is great because these updates, especially ones that include ‘bug fixes’, usually optimise memory and battery usage while using said apps (or even while off the app if it stays running in the background).

There’s also a more shocking way you might be wasting battery on your phone. Drum-roll please πŸ₯πŸ₯πŸ₯ — Closing apps instead of keeping them running in the background.

We all know that person (or we might even be that person) who keeps every app they’ve ever opened up on their phone in the background. It’s certainly chaotic, but the strange part is they’re the ones winning here, as closing background apps does not save phone battery. As it turns out, keeping apps open in the background uses less resources than completely quitting them. Who would’ve thought?

 

🌘 Phone brightness

While having a blaring bright screen might be the norm for some phone users, keeping your phone’s brightness on the higher end of the spectrum might be doing more harm than good. In this case, it’s draining your phone’s battery quicker than your children rushing out of school on a Friday afternoon. Everyone knows an easy way to lengthen your phone’s battery life is to dim your phone screen, preferably lower than half-way.

To achieve this on iPhone, go to Settings > Display & Brightness and adjust the brightness to the lowest setting you’re comfortable with. On Android devices, head to Settings > Display > Brightness to make your adjustments.

Having a bright phone screen not only drains your phone battery, but it can also affect your eyesight and body clock in cases of excessive screen time use. We’ve discussed how your screen’s brightness can effect your eyes and brain here if you’re interested in the side effects of screen time.

 

πŸ”Œ Battery-saving modes

Both iPhone and Android devices have services you can activate that can help save battery. On iPhone this is called Low Power Mode and on Android it’s called Battery Saver. These modes are designed to numb a few of the phone’s features to keep battery life running longer.

On iPhone, go to Settings > Battery to turn it on, and on Android simply swipe down from the top of the device’s screen and then tap the Battery Saver icon πŸ”‹.

These modes usually restrict certain features. On iPhone this affects iCloud photos, Siri, automatic downloads and auto-lock. On Android the affected features include location services, background running of apps and updating content on certain apps. While these features might be inconvenient to lose, it’s probably more inconvenient to have to charge your phone every few hours.

Phones have a limited number of charging cycles – making its battery run shorter over time.

πŸ“ Turn off Location Services and Bluetooth

We love using Location Services for many reasons – finding the coolest nearby cafes, using geo-filters on Instagram, and even just for using Google Maps as a make-do GPS. However, constantly using Location Services can take a hefty toll on your device’s battery life.

To prevent this, it’s best to disable location services when you don’t need it. You can achieve this on both iPhone and Android by heading into Settings Privacy > Location Services. Here you can completely disable with the tap of a button. You can choose which apps you’d like to use location services on and how much, too. We recommend choosing While Using for individual apps you tend to use these services on, and selecting Never for all other apps.

Bluetooth also uses a lot of power since it’s always searching for a connection, even when you don’t require one. What can we do about that? Turn it off, of course! Head to Settings Bluetooth on your Android or iPhone to disable the feature when it isn’t needed.

 

πŸ“Ά Switch from Data to WiFi

It’s important to see if your phone is using 3G or 4G (or even 5G!) and check whether you’re able to switch from the data services to WiFi. Mobile data uses much more energy and battery power than WiFi – in fact, WiFi uses 40% less power than data does.

Obviously you won’t always be able to use WiFi – but when at home or work, you know which connection is best.

 

✈️ If all else fails, turn on Airplane Mode

We’ve talked about how turning off Data, WiFi, Location Services and background apps can preserve battery life. Looking for an easier way to disable all these features? Easy: Airplane Mode.

It sounds like an exaggeration, but Airplane Mode uses much less battery due to the suspension of all these features. When a smartphone is locked and Airplane Mode is switched on, it only uses 5% as much energy as a phone normally would while locked. This is especially useful for if you’re at work or preoccupied and don’t want any distractions.

Despite these attributes, it’s also a last resort. Airplane Mode means you can’t call or text anyone or even use the internet, so it should only be used in instances where you can freely sacrifice these features or don’t need your phone.


Here you have it – with these tips and tricks by your side, you’re now fully equipped to get out there without fears of your phone running out of battery.

While you’re here, feel free to take a look at our Mobile Plans and Mobile Broadband plans – with no lock-in contracts and extra value when you bundle your services, what’s not to love?