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Have you noticed your smartphone battery is draining faster than it used to? Check these settings and see if one of these could be the culprit.
1. A bright screen
A brighter screen consumes more battery. Adjusting the brightness can help stretch your battery life a bit more, which can be crucial when you find yourself without a charger and your phone’s battery is on its last legs.
2. Apps using location services
Certain apps, like Facebook, on your phone can use (with your permission) your cell data, WiFi, or GPS to find your approximate location. If you have location services enabled on several apps, this could be the culprit when your battery dies in the afternoon.
Look in your phone’s settings to see which apps use location services, and disable them when your battery is running low.
3. Bluetooth
While Bluetooth is necessary for using some accessories, like a hands-free headset for the car, be sure to turn this feature off when you don’t need it. Bluetooth will continue to search for a connection when turned on, sapping the battery quickly.
4. WiFi when you can’t connect to WiFi
This one’s a bit tricky: WiFi can be both a battery saver and drainer. Using WiFi when you can connect to WiFi – for example, when you’re at home or work – won’t deplete your battery as fast.
Similarly to using Bluetooth, however, having WiFi on when your phone can’t connect to a network will use battery life searching for available networks.
5. Low signal strength
When you’re in an area with spotty cell service, you might notice your battery tends to die faster. That’s because your phone is wasting battery life searching for a cell signal. Turning your phone off or on airplane mode in places where there’s barely any service will conserve the battery.
6. Games, Internet, and FaceTime
Unfortunately, the fun things your smartphone offers are also battery-unfriendly. Playing Candy Crush, surfing the Internet, and FaceTimeing with the grandkids exhausts your battery rapidly.
We’re not suggesting you delete your favorite games, but try to play them and catch up with the grandkids while connected to a power source.
7. Power-saving features disabled
Power-saving features or battery optimization settings on your device are designed to conserve battery life, so disabling them will expedite battery drain. Make sure to have them enabled at all times.
