Over the past decade, mobile phone capability has improved at an incredible rate. We can do things with those little devices in our hands that twenty, ten or even five years ago we would have thought impossible. Yet there is one area of smartphones that hasn’t improved. In fact, if anything, it seems to have got worse over recent years. The general battery life of a smartphone is as short now as it was when mobile phones came with shoulder straps. So what’s the deal? Why does the battery run out so quickly and can you do anything about it?
Beware of free apps
If you’re downloading free apps, especially games, most of the power they use might not have anything to do with the app itself but rather is being used on third party advertising services. As little as 20% of a free app might be used on the actual game, and over 50% used on location-specific advertising. In short, don’t use free apps that come with lots of adverts. They drain your battery for no good reason.
Turn off apps
Just because you are not using an app it doesn’t mean they are not using power. You physically have to turn the app off in order to stop it draining your juice. You can do this with the task manager. Forget, and you’re wasting valuable battery for no reason.
Signal
How strong is the signal in your area because if it’s low, your phone will be using more battery to keep you in touch. The same is true for network speeds in your area. However, the reverse can also be true and if you have a strong signal, your phone works to its full potential and can drain the battery faster.
Turn off GPS
Sure it’s good to know where you are and that others do too, but any app that uses GPS is draining your power. Go into your settings and turn it off and you can keep going for longer.
Think about what it’s doing
Just consider the phone you have in your hand. If you’ve got a top quality smartphone like a Samsung Galaxy S3 on contract, you’re essentially carrying around a small but powerful computer. That’s incredible to think about. It’s no wonder it uses battery. In fact, it is amazing that batteries last as long as they do. So, how about giving your phone a break and remembering to charge it up every day?
