Is your smartphone battery failing?

February 20, 2024

You know your phone’s battery performance degrades the older it gets. That’s just how lithium-ion batteries work, unfortunately. With each charging cycle, they wear down a bit. Eventually, it becomes too big a problem to ignore and it’s time to replace it.

Apple makes it easy to check

Open Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging.

At the top, you’ll see your battery’s maximum capacity. Don’t panic if it’s below 100%. It’s designed to maintain 80% of its original capacity by 500 charges, so that percentage will tick down over time.

Under Peak Performance Capability, you’ll see whether your battery is operating normally. If it’s seriously degraded, you’ll see a message here.

It’s a little trickier on an Android

Most manufacturers have different steps. Here are a few to try:

Open the Phone app, dial *#*#4636#*#* and look for an option to check your battery health. If you don’t see it, try another option.
On Samsung, open the built-in Samsung Members app. Tap Get Help > Check Android battery health.
Apps like AccuBattery can provide a good estimate if all else fails.

Tags: Apple, battery

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CEO snark

When Jeff Bezos was CEO, customers would email him complaints. He would forward those complaints to department heads with just one character. What was that one character?

The answer: Jeff Bezos would forward customer complaints to the appropriate department head with just one character: A question mark. No note, like, “Hello, I hope you’re well. Would you please look into this situation and let me know what’s going on?” Ever since I learned this, I have done the same thing. Too bad Jeff Bezos retired when he was in his prime. (Ba-dum-tss!)

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The signs you need a new phone, like, now

You know by now your phone’s battery performance degrades the older it gets. That’s just how lithium-ion batteries work, unfortunately. With each charging cycle, they wear down a bit. Eventually, it becomes too big a problem to ignore.

Continue reading →

🚀 Live on “Mars”: NASA’s on the hunt for volunteers for a Mars simulation in Houston, kicking off in spring 2025. You’ll spend a year in a 3D-printed hut, doing space chores and farming, all in the name of science. Requirements: Be a U.S. citizen, age 30 to 55, with a STEM-related master’s degree and relevant experience. It’s a paid gig, but the salary’s a mystery.

14,700 years ago 

When folks living in caves routinely ate each other. Wait, what? Yep, scientists have found lots of evidence of cannibalism in ancient societies — primarily as a way to honor and respect the dead. Yum.

AD⚡️HD highway to distraction: Middle-aged women are now the face of ADHD, thanks to social media and all-too-relatable celeb tales. But some “signs” are totally normal, like procrastinating or being a little messy. If you’re concerned you have ADHD, talk to a doctor you trust and skip the social media influencer diagnosis.

Wood is good: Japanese scientists are sending LignoSat, a wooden satellite, into orbit. Crafted from magnolia and no bigger than a coffee mug, it’s on a mission to minimize the alumina particles produced when metal satellites burn upon re-entry. Cool, huh?

⚠️ Samsung security alert: Your Galaxy might be under attack by a sly malware called Anatsa. It slips in via apps that say they’ll clean up your phone’s clutter and cache. The takeaway? Keep a tight leash on app permissions, and remember — if an app’s free, you’ll pay in other ways.

Can’t spell crypto without “cry”: The Apple App Store’s security just took a hit. Fake app Rabby Wallet & Crypto Solution duped customers into giving up private crypto keys, scamming them out of their money. One user lost $100,000! Always triple-check the app developer when money is involved.

Router rescue: In a hush-hush operation named “Dying Ember,” the DOJ stepped in and wiped malware from over 1,000 Ubiquiti routers. Russian hackers broke in using default passwords, creating a botnet for spearphishing and credential theft. Let this be a wake-up call: Change the default passwords on every device you own.

Hard drives byte: At CES 2024, Phison unveiled a 128TB SSD, pushing us closer to the 1PB dream. Nerd speak warning: With specs like PCIe Gen5x4, TSMC’s 12nm technology and insane read and write speeds, this is the biggest thing in storage since … OK, not quite the cloud. If you want to impress a geek in your life, tell them about this.

CEO snark

The signs you need a new phone, like, now

14,700 years ago&nbsp;

14,700 years ago