There’s something very satisfying about a fully charged phone. As you unplug your smartphone and spot the 100% battery icon, the possibilities feel infinite. Unfortunately, reality comes crashing in a few hours later when your battery life is plunging into the 20% red zone—usually when you need your phone the most. The panic sets in as you start searching for an outlet for your charger or bring out the battery pack.
Why (oh why!) does this happen? We did a little bit of digging to find out. Here are five reasons why your battery power is draining so quickly—and how you can extend the life of a single charge.
Check Those Apps
A lot of popular apps are a huge drain on your battery, particularly those that feature a lot of graphics or video. If you’re not going to be near an outlet to charge your phone, it’s best to avoid playing Fortnight or Candy Crush. As tempting as a quick game session might be, save the battery-draining games and apps for when you get home.
To Close or Not to Close?
There seems to be two schools of thought: do you close an app or just minimize them to save your battery? Double-clicking on an app and fully closing it is what many of us are told to do, since having them running in the background is a drain on the battery. On the other hand, it takes more power to re-open your app each time. With apps you use frequently, we suggest minimizing them until you shut your phone down for the night—for the apps you only use once in a while, shut them down fully after each use.
Turn Down the Brightness
One of the biggest drains on your battery is that megawatt screen of yours. As handy as it is to read emails or texts on a brighter screen, once your smartphone battery gets low, try turning the brightness way, way down to conserve power. Most phones also have an auto-brightness feature that adapts the phone’s lighting to your environment. You will need to manually turn this on in your settings to engage the feature.
Fetch, Don’t Push
It’s tempting to set your smartphone to fetch your email every 5 minutes, but each time it’s searching for new mail, it’s also draining power. Try turning off the ‘fetch’ feature and check your email manually every now and then. Also, try turning off ‘push notifications’ for apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter—especially if you receive a lot of notifications. Those constant banners popping up on your screen? They are slowly killing your battery.
Be Travel Smart
When travelling, put your device on Airplane mode and disable your Location Services to avoid losing battery while in transit. Both of these steps will save your phone’s battery life! Using Wi-Fi might save you money on your data plan, but when your phone is constantly seeking out Wi-Fi it uses power. Turn off the Wi-Fi feature when out and about, until you know you are at a spot where you can connect again.
Accessorize
If you live life on the go and can’t always be near an outlet, there are accessories to juice up your phone’s battery when you need it most. Try a phone case with a built in battery, so you don’t even need to think about charging your iPhone. A great option is the Logiix Piston Power Go Battery Case for iPhone. Another popular option is to keep a portable charger handy—there are many affordable options in a range of styles and sizes.
For a complete list of phone accessories, visit the London Drugs website or come in to one of our locations and talk to our mobile phone experts for the best advice on keeping you connected on the go.
