In this day and age where technology rules and cell phones are extensions of our physical selves, it’s vital to keep our phone batteries from dying. There are numerous ways to increase your phone’s battery life, both long-term and short-term.
Long-Term, External Factors
Most people are unaware that the long-term life of your battery is affected by several external factors, like leaving the case on while charging or exposing your phone to harsh temperatures.
Cell phones contain lithium-ion batteries that are sensitive to extreme temperatures, thus it’s important to keep it from getting too hot or cold. According to Apple experts, the temperature range that won’t negatively affect your battery are 32°F-95°F. While the loss of battery power in cold temperatures is temporary, the damage heat causes your battery is irreparable. Ways to keep your phone from overheating are by not leaving it in direct sunlight, leaving it indoors when going outside for a while, and carrying it in a cool, dry place when walking in the heat.
According to BatteryPlex, a battery expert (click here), other external factors that affect your battery’s lifespan transpire while charging. These include leaving your case on during charging, leaving your phone connected to the charger after the battery reaches 100%, and using your phone during charging. When your phone is charging, it’s using electricity to create a positive charge, which generates heat. If your case doesn’t have ventilation, the heat gets trapped, causing the temperature of the battery to rise. Once your phone battery reaches 100%, it continues pulling in electricity. Since that electricity can no longer produce a positive charge, the energy converts into heat, which, like the trapped heat from the case, raises the temperature of the battery, causing long-term damage. Using the phone while charging does the same.
Short-Term, Internal Factors
Adjustable internal factors that increase the short-term life of your battery include using “continuously running” features like Wi-Fi, GPS, live wallpaper, using full brightness, and leaving apps running after use.
Using Wi-Fi drains your battery quickly because it scans in intervals, checking the connection and assessing whether or not it needs to reconnect. To save your battery life, disable Wi-Fi when not in use. GPS and live wallpapers run constantly. It’s best for your battery if you only run GPS when you need to, and a live wallpaper should be avoided.
The brightness settings affect the battery life too. A study done by Lifehacker.com produced results showing that batteries “last about 6.5 hours of continuous use on the lowest brightness setting and about 3.5 hours on the highest brightness setting.” Utilizing high brightness settings isn’t ideal when trying to extend your battery life.
When you leave an app, it doesn’t actually close; it just runs in the background. On average, people use around 10-20 apps a day. All day those apps are running, using your battery power. Use your task manager to close apps when you’re done to make your battery life last longer.
There are many ways to add life to your phone, both short-term and long-term. Remember to close apps, use the lowest brightness setting, disable “continuously running” features when not in use, leave your phone alone during charging, unplug it once charged, remove your case during charging, and keep your phone out of extreme temperatures. This will keep the battery life optimized for short-term and long-term usage.