You may’ve noticed that sometimes your Android smartphone can’t take you through day. There’s a ton of high-end electronics built inside modern mobile devices which combined can drain the phone’s battery pretty quickly. Don’t worry, there are ways to go around this with a little effort on your side. You may need to install few apps and tap few additional buttons, but that’s like nothing compared to the benefits you’ll get. Let’s roll:
1. Install “Power Control” app
This little app, which must be installed in the phone’s memory (rather than a memory card), works like a home screen widget, allowing you to quickly enable and disable Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, syncing and adjust brightness. With a single tap, you’ll be able to manage which of the radios are used and whether you really need your screen shining at its fullest at all times.
Let’s face it, most of us don’t need Wi-Fi connectivity while driving or GPS when in the office. Simply think about which features you need and when, and act accordingly by disabling and enabling the ones you (don’t) use at that moment. As a result, you may see a significant increase in your battery life.
Aside from the free Power Control widget that comes preloaded with many Android devices, there are also paid options like Power Control Plus.
2. Modify your Mail app settings
I’m not talking about GMail but the Mail app, which may fetch your email all day long. I know many of you love push email, but you really don’t need to know what happened at every second. What’s more, by setting the update frequency to let’s say 1 hour instead of every few minutes, you’ll be able to concentrate on the task at hand.
3. Fine-tune screen brightness
If the two methods above don’t work for you, try fine-tuning the screen brightness. Hit “Settings,” then “Display” and “Brightness” and make your screen less bright, though readable enough. The screen is one energy hungry part of the phone/tablet, so you better think twice whether you really need it shining at all times.
4. Try smart power settings apps
Aside from the apps that allow you to manually select which radios and features you need at the moment, there are also ones that can do this “work” for you, enabling and disabling Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS based on your location and time of day. Power Manager is one such app, and you can also try Airplane Autoswitch and Screebl. The best solution is probably the Locale app, which functionality can be additionally expanded with plug-ins.
5. Download and update apps while charging
It’s a common sense to make all your downloads while your phone is charging. This way using Wi-Fi, which is known as one of the biggest battery drainer, won’t affect you at all. So try scheduling any phone and/or app updates as well as other big downloads when you’re phone is charging and is at the same time connected to a fast Wi-Fi hotspot.
And that’s it. The methods mentioned above work perfectly for me. If you, however, still need more juice, you should considering grabbing an external battery and/or car charger to use your commuting time productively. Good luck. 😉