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Tech tip: How to get more life out of your phone battery when it’s about to die
Our phones control just about everything we do. We use them to communicate with our friends, pay our bills and track appointments, among numerous other things. This is convenient as long as your battery stays charged.
Many things can suck the battery life out of your phone, like certain apps. Tap or click here to find out which apps drain your phone’s battery and storage the most.
If you are constantly chasing your battery life and want to save it for emergencies, there are some things you can do. Here’s how to get more life out of your phone battery when it’s about to die.
The first step is Low Power mode
Both Apple and Android have a handy feature designed to keep you from running out of juice, and it’s relatively easy to turn on.
Low Power Mode is designed to evaluate what apps you are using and what features your phone is using that are draining a high amount of battery and temporarily disable them until you’ve charged your battery.
You can turn it on manually for both Apple and Android, and it will automatically turn off when your phone has been properly charged:
Enabling Low Power mode on iPhone
- Open Settings
- Select Battery
- Slide the toggle next to Low Power Mode to the right to enable it
Here’s how Apple describes Low Power Mode’s function: “Low Power Mode temporarily reduces background activity like downloads and mail fetch until you can fully charge your iPhone.”
In iOS 9 and above, you’ll receive notifications when your battery level hits 20% and 10% and gives you the option to enable Low Power Mode with a single tap.
Enabling Power-saving mode on Android
Android devices have a similar feature to Apple’s “Low Power mode.” It’s called “Power-saving mode.” Here’s how to enable it for Samsung Galaxy devices.
Note: There are many different Android manufacturers out there. We’ll share instructions for Samsung Galaxy devices in this tip, but your model’s steps could be different. Check your phone’s manual to verify the steps. Don’t have your manual? No worries. Tap or click here for thousands of free online user manuals.
- Open Settings
- Select Battery and device care
- Select Power-saving mode
- Slide the toggle next to “Power-saving mode” to the right to enable it.
“Power-saving mode” is available on Android 5.0 OS and above.
Other ways to extend battery life
Every app and function on your phone, whether iOS or Android, drains it of precious battery life. While Low Power Mode will save the most battery power, it disables some functions that you may want to use, like email updates.
If you still want to save battery power but don’t want to jump straight to Low Power Mode, you can play with the following features to conserve battery life:
Lower the brightness
The brighter the screen, the more battery you will drain on your phone. You can dim the screen on Android and iOS to give your phone just a bit more juice.
For iPhone
To lower the brightness on your iPhone, Open Settings and select Display & Brightness. Slide the toggle under Brightness to the left to lower it. If you want to make it brighter, slide the toggle to the right.
For Android
Open Settings and select Display. Slide the toggle to the left to lower brightness or to the right to raise it.
Curb notifications
It’s nice to know everything about anything happening, but if your lock screen is full of notifications, it could kill your battery life. Turn off notifications for unnecessary apps to give yourself more time.
For iPhone
- Open Settings
- Choose Notifications
- Tap Show Previews
- Choose an option: Always, When Unlocked, or Never
Selecting Never will stop notifications and save some battery life.
For Android
- Open Settings
- Choose Apps & notifications
- Select Notifications
- Under Notifications on lock screen, select Don’t show notifications
Turn off nonessential features
Have you ever flown on a plane and were pleasantly surprised when you landed and still have full battery power? That’s because your phone was in airplane mode, or we hope it was!
Every extra feature you use, like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, drains your battery. Turn them off if you aren’t using them. This could save precious battery power when you need it most.
Keep your phone from overheating
If you live in an area that gets a lot of sun, you may be surprised to find out that too much sunlight can kill your battery. Driving or outdoors will save you a headache if you keep your phone out of the sun and in your pocket.
When all else fails…
Sometimes your battery will die despite your best efforts because, let’s face it, life happens. That’s why keeping a backup battery around is always a great option.
Powerbanks can be charged at home just like your phone and stored easily in your pocket or purse for emergencies.
We recommend Anker’s slim portable charger that can fit easily in anyone’s pocket and is priced affordably.
If you don’t have enough space for Anker’s charger and are looking for something genuinely portable, T-Core offers a conveniently sized charger compatible with most devices, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
Tags: Airplane mode, Android, Apple, Apple iPhone, apps, batteries, battery, brightness, charger, devices, low power mode, notifications, portable charger, power saving mode, smartphones, Wi-Fi
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