Things that are killing your phone battery
Smartphones might as well be called something else now, because they're arguably seldom used as phones at all anymore. Rather, they exist as these powerful, little computers in our pockets. We can text, browse the Internet, stalk our crushes, play games, and even shoot respectable videos on these devices. But in order to perform these wonderful tasks, we need to have enough power. After all, we don't want to run out of juice in the middle of a conference call or while bidding on that sweet Nickelback shot glass on eBay. With that in mind, we've got a handy list of things that are draining your phone of that precious power.
We've all been there: we're stuck in a waiting room at the doctor's, a repair shop, or maybe even the DMV, so we whip out our phones and play Candy Crush or Clash of Clans to pass the time. Matching three pieces of candy and conquering our friends (and gloating afterwards), might be a short-term solution for boredom, but these apps place a heavy load on our batteries with their online connectivity and flashy graphics. If you want to conserve your phone's power, you're going to want to keep the gaming to a minimum.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a lot of people who don't constantly glance at Facebook on their phones throughout the day. Social media is great for keeping in touch, seeing what your friends are doing, and getting annoying game requests from a distant relative. But keeping a vigilant eye over your Facebook app is a surefire way to get you down to 20 percent battery life by around noon.
Nowadays, there are phones with gigantic screens that provide great real estate for watching HD movies or playing console-quality games. Though it's important to see what you're doing, you might not be aware of the fact that keeping your screen's brightness all the way up is killing your battery. Unless you're trying to get a tan from all of that illumination, help conserve power and dimming the screen a bit. And quit using the screen as a flashlight. They have apps for that now.
Bluetooth accessories are nifty gadgets that can help us be more productive during the day and provide a bit of a convenience as well. Whether you're syncing a wireless headset or a portable speaker, hooking up a device via Bluetooth is easy and quick. But if you're not going to be using it, you might as well disable Bluetooth. It might not be the worst when it comes to draining your power, but constantly having it enabled and not using it is just a waste.
Some of us would literally be lost without our GPS or location-based services enabled. After all, it's almost a routine for people to check into places like restaurants, concert venues, and more on social media, and GPS helps us get there. But if you've got it on all of the time, you might not have enough battery power left to help you finish a trip. Thankfully, some map services, like Google Maps, allow you to download maps for offline use, which will help you conserve your data as well.
Life needs a soundtrack and we all turn to services like Pandora, Rhapsody, and more to help color our days with song. Unfortunately, one of the most popular of these services, Spotify, also happens to be one of the biggest battery killers. That 11-hour, post-break up playlist you made full of Dashboard Confessional, The Get Up Kids, and Jimmy Eat World? Yeah, it won't last three hours if you keep it going. Time to break up with your music app, at least for a little while.
We know what you're doing when you hold up your phone and pull a weird face before typing about how much Monday is bringing you down. Chances are that you're on Snapchat and you're trying to build up a great story so that all of your BBFs get jealous of your amazing life. Well, tone down on the geofilters and the rainbow puking, otherwise you're going to find yourself with a dead battery in a hurry. Not only does it take up energy by using the camera, but it's also got location-based services enabled while you're using it.
Facebook Messenger is one of the most popular communication apps around and helps us fulfill our need to send poop emojis and GIFs of Drake doing the "Hotline Bling" dance to each other. Because of this, it's one of the most-used apps, and also one of the biggest battery hogs. Try to fight the impulse to send Business Fish stickers to your buddies and your phone will live to see the end of the day.
Netflix offers HD video quality over WiFi, entire seasons of gripping television shows like House of Cards or Marvel's Jessica Jones. This handy video-streaming service gives us the ability to veg out in front of a screen anywhere we are, helping us forget about the drudgery of life for a bit. What it doesn't do, however, is replenish the power in your battery. In fact, it does the opposite, thanks to that HD playback and data usage bit. Netflix and chill on a TV, not on your phone.
We've all been there: we're stuck in a waiting room at the doctor's, a repair shop, or maybe even the DMV, so we whip out our phones and play Candy Crush or Clash of Clans to pass the time. Matching three pieces of candy and conquering our friends (and gloating afterwards), might be a short-term solution for boredom, but these apps place a heavy load on our batteries with their online connectivity and flashy graphics. If you want to conserve your phone's power, you're going to want to keep the gaming to a minimum.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a lot of people who don't constantly glance at Facebook on their phones throughout the day. Social media is great for keeping in touch, seeing what your friends are doing, and getting annoying game requests from a distant relative. But keeping a vigilant eye over your Facebook app is a surefire way to get you down to 20 percent battery life by around noon.
Nowadays, there are phones with gigantic screens that provide great real estate for watching HD movies or playing console-quality games. Though it's important to see what you're doing, you might not be aware of the fact that keeping your screen's brightness all the way up is killing your battery. Unless you're trying to get a tan from all of that illumination, help conserve power and dimming the screen a bit. And quit using the screen as a flashlight. They have apps for that now.
Bluetooth accessories are nifty gadgets that can help us be more productive during the day and provide a bit of a convenience as well. Whether you're syncing a wireless headset or a portable speaker, hooking up a device via Bluetooth is easy and quick. But if you're not going to be using it, you might as well disable Bluetooth. It might not be the worst when it comes to draining your power, but constantly having it enabled and not using it is just a waste.
Some of us would literally be lost without our GPS or location-based services enabled. After all, it's almost a routine for people to check into places like restaurants, concert venues, and more on social media, and GPS helps us get there. But if you've got it on all of the time, you might not have enough battery power left to help you finish a trip. Thankfully, some map services, like Google Maps, allow you to download maps for offline use, which will help you conserve your data as well.
Life needs a soundtrack and we all turn to services like Pandora, Rhapsody, and more to help color our days with song. Unfortunately, one of the most popular of these services, Spotify, also happens to be one of the biggest battery killers. That 11-hour, post-break up playlist you made full of Dashboard Confessional, The Get Up Kids, and Jimmy Eat World? Yeah, it won't last three hours if you keep it going. Time to break up with your music app, at least for a little while.
We know what you're doing when you hold up your phone and pull a weird face before typing about how much Monday is bringing you down. Chances are that you're on Snapchat and you're trying to build up a great story so that all of your BBFs get jealous of your amazing life. Well, tone down on the geofilters and the rainbow puking, otherwise you're going to find yourself with a dead battery in a hurry. Not only does it take up energy by using the camera, but it's also got location-based services enabled while you're using it.
Facebook Messenger is one of the most popular communication apps around and helps us fulfill our need to send poop emojis and GIFs of Drake doing the "Hotline Bling" dance to each other. Because of this, it's one of the most-used apps, and also one of the biggest battery hogs. Try to fight the impulse to send Business Fish stickers to your buddies and your phone will live to see the end of the day.
Netflix offers HD video quality over WiFi, entire seasons of gripping television shows like House of Cards or Marvel's Jessica Jones. This handy video-streaming service gives us the ability to veg out in front of a screen anywhere we are, helping us forget about the drudgery of life for a bit. What it doesn't do, however, is replenish the power in your battery. In fact, it does the opposite, thanks to that HD playback and data usage bit. Netflix and chill on a TV, not on your phone.
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