How to Increase Battery Life on Any Smartphone

85% of Americans rely on smartphones. Despite the promise of the power of a computer in your pocket being a major selling point for smartphones, the many things a smartphone can do drains the battery of the phone and leaves your phone dead at the worst possible times.

If you have been struggling with keeping a charge, keep reading for the best practices on how to increase battery life on any smartphone.

Turn off Background Apps

The main source of a draining battery is applications that run in the background of your phone while you aren’t using them. These can be anything from social media using your location to games sending you notifications.

Be sure to regularly close apps after you finish using them. With an iPhone, you can do this by swiping up from the home button and swiping away any open apps. You should also be sure to regularly delete any apps you don’t use often.

You can also check your settings to see which apps are running in the background. From your settings, you can customize individual app settings to turn off background refresh.

If you are in an area where you are not using your phone and need to save battery, turning on airplane mode will significantly increase your iPhone battery life. Airplane mode does a few things at one time; it turns off your Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and cellular data. This shuts down any background applications that rely on these services. 

Battery Saving Mode

Battery saving or low power mode reduces the power that your smartphone is getting, which allows your iPhone battery to last longer. Like airplane mode, this mode affects background processes on your phone but without turning off complete access to important features on your phone.

Battery saving mode stops or limits automatic downloads, background refreshes, email fetching, and visual effects. Some smartphones have settings that allow you to choose the power mode. This creates a flexible way to have more or less power while still maintaining your battery’s charge.

Dim Your Screen

Many people don’t realize that your screen’s brightness is one of the biggest usages of your battery power. If you are keeping your phone screen on often, your battery is likely to drain much quicker.

Dimming your screen prevents the amount of power that is needed to light your screen. Though it can make your screen hard to see in direct light, it is especially helpful in maintaining battery during the day.

If you aren’t using your phone or are only listening to something in the background, consider turning off or dimming the screen while you listen. This way, you can save power while still listening to your video or song.

Charge Responsibly

While it may seem smart to always keep your phone plugged in and ready, you can actually damage your iPhone battery by overcharging your phone. It is recommended that you charge your phone to 80-90% rather than the full 100%. 

While charging your phone to 100% won’t overload your battery, the energy used in maintaining the 100% charge can generate heat and affect your battery life. 

It also isn’t recommended to let your battery drop to 0% before charging either. Instead, plug your phone in around 25-40%. Creating this balance in your charge will improve battery life over time.

Avoid Outdoor Conditions

Believe it or not, the weather can have an effect on your iPhone’s battery. Extreme heat, extreme cold, and even direct sunlight can cause your battery to drain faster. If you know you will be exposed to these conditions, it is important to know what to do to save your phone battery.

If you are dealing with cold, keep your phone covered and close by using a thick case and putting it in an interior pocket. Keeping your phone off and contained in a warm space is the best way to prevent your phone from bricking. If your phone happens to turn off from the cold, keep it turned off until you are in a warm, safe location.

While the cold drains your battery faster, extreme heat can permanently damage the capacity of your phone’s battery. This means that your phone will be unable to consistently hold the same level of battery that it should or, in worse cases, can completely stop your phone from turning on.

To prevent this, try to prevent using your phone to decrease the heat it is producing. Following our other tips, such as turning down your brightness and closing your background applications, will help with this. If you find your phone overheating, take off the case and wait to charge your phone again until the temperature returns to normal.

Buy a Portable Charger

If all else fails, considering buying a portable charger. While these chargers won’t help your battery life, they can help you hold a charge whenever you need to leave the house and can’t plug your phone in.

There are many different portable chargers that all hold different amounts of charge. Be sure to read the reviews and find out which charger works best for your phone and the amount of charge you need.

If your phone is refusing to charge at all or drains very quickly, you might have a larger issue with your phone’s battery. Be sure to have it checked out by a smartphone repair shop like our own.

Follow Our Steps on How to Increase Battery Life

The steps we laid out should guide you on how to increase battery life to keep your phone battery from dying longer. Overall, it is important to be aware of where your phone’s power is going. Be sure to keep track of how quickly your phone is draining in case you have more serious battery issues that should be addressed by a professional.

If you are still having problems with your iPhone battery and don’t know what to do, check out our smartphone repair! By calling us or stopping by one of our stores, we can do a more thorough inspection of your phone’s battery.