ZALTSMAN: 7 simple ways to extend your smartphone’s battery life

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According to Statistics Canada, more than eight in 10 Canadian adults (84%) now own a smartphone, and among people aged 18 to 29, that number rises to a whopping 98%.

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These handheld devices have become digital Swiss Army knives of sorts, used for communications, navigation, entertainment, productivity, photography, videography, commerce, fitness and health.

Heck, your phone is also your flashlight.

The problem is that as these phones become more capable, battery performance degrades even though iPhones and Android devices last longer today than they did just a few years ago.

However, you can also do your part to extend battery life beyond carrying a portable battery (power bank).

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Consider the following simple tips that also work for tablets and laptops.

1. DIMMING THE SCREEN

Reduce the brightness of any screen you’re working on by at least half to extend battery life.

On an iPhone, swipe down from the top-right corner of the display to access Control Center, which has a thick brightness bar indicated by a quarter-size sun icon. To decrease the brightness, drag the slider down with your finger and you will see the screen dim in real time.

On an Android device, such as a Samsung Galaxy, swipe down from the top of the screen twice to quickly access popular settings options. At the bottom you will see a quarter angle sun icon. Manually reduce the brightness of your phone or tablet by dragging your finger along this line.

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Keep in mind that Android settings vary between devices, so the steps you see here and elsewhere in this article may vary slightly on your phone.

2. REDUCE THE TIME BEFORE SLEEPING

Phones are designed to turn off the screen when inactivity is detected. This way, they don’t use energy to light their display when you’re not looking at it.

But you can reduce this “idle” time so that the screen goes to sleep faster, which will help extend battery life.

On iPhone, select your favorite time in Settings | Display and brightness | Auto-lock.

By default it may be set to five minutes, but you can reduce it to, for example, one minute or 30 seconds. Choose what suits you best as you will have to wake your device every time to use it by entering a PIN or using a face scan or fingerprint to unlock it.

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On an Android phone, find the options in Settings | Display | Screen timeout.

3. USE POWER SAVING MODE.

While you might not want to turn on Low Power Mode all the time, many new computers, smartphones, and tablets offer it in some form, enabled in Settings, which often turns the screen to black and white, dims the display, and disables non-essential wireless features. . Use this as a last resort.

Devices that are running low on battery will sometimes automatically switch to power saving mode with about 10% charge remaining. You can do this manually on your phone.

On iPhone, find the toggle switch in Settings | Battery | Low power mode. If you press the green switch, your phone will immediately go into low power mode.

On your Android phone, go to Settings | Battery | Power mode (or power saving mode).

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4. BEWARE OF ECONOMY APPS

Regardless of the device type, its battery will drain faster if you use it for tasks that require more system resources, such as watching videos or playing multiplayer games.

Less time-consuming tasks include writing notes or browsing the web.

Multitasking, such as listening to music and playing a puzzle at the same time, can also drain your battery faster.

5. UPDATE YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM

Remember to download and install all operating system updates on all your devices when they are available. Manufacturers are constantly trying new ways to improve power management and fix software bugs that can also affect battery performance.

It’s ideal if your smartphone does this automatically when you’re connected to Wi-Fi, and it usually does this at night when you’re less likely to be using your device.

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On iPhone, go to Settings | General | Software Update | Automatic updates to make sure the “Download iOS updates” and “Install iOS updates” switches are turned on and green. You can also turn on the switch to automatically install security responses and system files.

On an Android phone (remember, steps vary by model), go to Settings | About the phone (or System update) | Software update. You may also see a “Test Installation” button.

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6. REDUCE PUSH NOTIFICATIONS

If you can, turn off push services or reduce the frequency with which your smartphone notifies you about new information, such as incoming email, game updates, live sports scores, or stock quotes. This can affect your battery because updates require your phone to regularly check the company’s servers over the Internet (cellular or Wi-Fi).

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Instead, choose to delete messages only when you need to. If you still need push mail, at least turn off push notifications individually for little-used apps in the Settings section of your smartphone.

On iPhone: Settings | Notifications.

On Android phones: Settings | Notifications.

7. HOW YOU PAY IS IMPORTANT

These above-mentioned tips can help extend the battery life of your smartphone on a daily basis, as well as extend the overall battery life of your iPhone or Android.

Also, how you charge your device matters.

Avoid completely discharging or overcharging the battery. Don’t let your phone’s battery charge drop below 20% and don’t charge it to 100%. Although you may be tempted to do this, 80% is plenty.

This is because a full charge from zero to 100% places unnecessary stress on your phone’s lithium-ion battery electrodes, which can shorten the battery’s life.

– Mark Saltzman, host of the Tech It Out podcast and author of Apple Vision Pro for Dummies (Wiley)

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