Maximise your Android’s battery life

SMARTPHONES ARE INCREDIBLY HANDY LITTLE DEVICES, BUT FOR MANY USERS, IT CAN BE A STRUGGLE TO LAST EVEN A DAY WITHOUT NEEDING TO CHARGE.

TO HELP OUT on this front, we’ve put together a guide to maximising your Android device’s battery life, as well as some misconceptions to avoid. Our instructions are based on a Nexus 6P and Android Nougat, so it may vary slightly depending on your phone and OS version. If you don’t have one already, invest in a quality power bank to extend your time away from the wall charger. It is also worth keeping apps up to date, as newer versions can include power savings and bug fixes. A hot phone (and therefore, a hot battery) actually has a lower effective capacity, so keep it cool. For further help, check out the Google support pages on battery optimisation tips at

BATTERY MISCONCEPTIONS

These days, most people know that phone batteries don’t suffer any ‘memory’ effects, so charge it whenever you can, not just when almost dead. Likewise, leaving your phone plugged in when fully charged does not damage the battery at all, as it automatically manages the charge rate. Using a different brand charger to your phone is perfectly fine, too — though avoid any cheap, dodgy non-compliant USB chargers. While turning off vibration alerts and haptic feedback does save a tiny bit of power, it’s an almost insignificant amount. While no longer popular, it’s worth noting — don’t use app killers. Having full RAM on an Android phone is good, as it means less power is consumed each time the app is reopened.

THE DISPLAY

The backlight (or panel itself for AMOLED) is the main user of power on a smartphone screen. The easiest way to save power is to turn down the brightness, and minimise how much you use it. Adaptive brightness is better than an always very bright screen, but still uses more power than having it manually set to a low level. Head to ‘Settings > Display’, for more options. Most screens will be set to auto turn off after 30 seconds, but dropping this to 15 seconds decreases power use. On the same note, turn off ‘Lift to check phone’, which wakes the screen briefly when the phone is moved. Ambient display auto-wakes the screen when you receive a notification, so turn it off as well. Active wallpapers also use more power. On AMOLED-screened phones, having a black wallpaper and dark theme actually saves power, as the pixels only use electricity when lighting up, though this does not apply to LCD-based screens. For those who use Developer Mode (check our guide from last issue, page 100), turning off or reducing the animation scale, and reducing background processes can save some power.

CONTROLLING COMMUNICATIONS

Even when not in use, GPS, Wi-Fi, Cellular Connections, Bluetooth and NFC can all use small amount of power. These services can be toggled on and off manually, and Wi-Fi notifications can be disabled or set to turn off when the phone sleeps (under ‘Settings > Wi-Fi’). For those willing to spend some time setting it up, apps such as

Tasker ( www.tasker.dinglisch.net) and the IFTTT.com service can be used to automate the process. For example, you could set the app to turn off Wi-Fi when you leave you house, but turn it back on at work. Under ‘Settings > Location’, dropping back from High accuracy can help save power, as GPS won’t be used for location finding.

BACKGROUND SYNCING

A big potential battery drain is apps automatically syncing data in the background all day long. It’s not a lot per app, or each sync, but over time, it quickly adds up. The process will vary per app, but for example, with Gmail, head to settings, then select an account, and turn off Sync Gmail. For those using the Google Now launcher, jump into its ‘Settings > Voice > Ok Google Detection’ and turn ‘Always on’ to ‘off’, or even turn off voice completely. Those widgets on your home screen look pretty, but chew up extra system resources, using more power. Try restricting how often they update, or remove them entirely, to save power. While it can vary greatly, apps with built-in ads are syncing and loading extra data in the background, using more power. For apps used a lot, check if there is a paid, ad-free version.

EMERGENCY POWER SAVING

Android has an emergency Battery Saver mode, which reduces performance, turns off vibrations, location services and most background data. Messaging apps and email won’t automatically sync, and will instead only do so when opened. The option can be manually toggled under ‘Settings > Battery > Battery Saver’, and will turn itself off when the device is charging. For automatic battery intervention, Battery Saver mode can also be set to trigger when the battery gets low enough. Under the Battery Saver menu, this option can be turned off, or set to turn on at either 5% or 15% remaining battery capacity. It varies depending on manufacturer, but most customised versions of Android also include some similar battery saver mode.

USING A DIFFERENT BRAND CHARGER TO YOUR PHONE IS PERFECTLY FINE, TOO — THOUGH AVOID ANY CHEAP, DODGY, NON-COMPLIANT USB CHARGERS.

Android Marshmallow and later has a Battery Optimisation mode that can help eke a bit more runtime from your phone.

Android’s built-in battery monitor is a great way to see exactly what is using the most power day to day.

When almost out of juice, Android’s Power Saver mode can take drastic power saving action to help stave off a totally dead phone.

Delving into developer mode gives further battery-saving options, such as turning down the animation scale.

Apps such as Tasker can be used to automatically turn services such as Wi-Fi on or off based on location, to help save power.

A smartphone’s display is one of the biggest users of power, so delve into the settings to optimise it.