Android smartphones are considered more power hungry than iOS devices or Windows phones. The main reason for that is Google's operating system allowing developers and apps a lot of freedom in accessing hardware and the internet connection. In response, a German magazine, c't (edition 2/2016), has come up with some useful tips to make Android devices batteries last longer.
The less often an Android smartphone must connect to the internet to synchronise data, the longer its battery will hold up. The magazine recommends deleting all unused apps from the telephone or instructing them to only synchronize when they are actually used.
Another tip to save power is to deactivate the automatic downloading of updates from the Google Play Store. Users of Android 4 and later can also deactivate the background updating of apps - albeit only in general and not individually.
This can be done on Android 4 under Data Usage - Restrict background data. Go to Settings for Android 5 and later. There is a way to control this under Accounts in the menu Update apps automatically.
Some apps sap a lot of power even if they are not being used. Users can find the major energy thieves in Settings under Battery. That shows how much power apps are using and users can see a detailed overview of how long they've been in the background and whether or not they use GPS.
To save power, users can shut down these apps, deactivate them or uninstall them.
If users don't need an internet connection when out and about, they also can shut it off completely to save power. WiFi mode can also be deactivated when on the go. And even the GPS is only seldom needed.
It's often worthwhile to check out the Settings menu. There are a number of ways to save power if users look under Location.
Comments
Comments are closed.