musicMagpie Blog

We've all been there: stood in the middle of nowhere, far from home, with 5% battery left on our phone. Just thinking about the things you might miss on Facebook between now and the next time you can get to your phone charger causes you to break out into a cold sweat.

Well, unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do about that. But, with a bit of forward planning, you can conserve your battery and make those terrifying low battery moments a thing of the past. Here's how:

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Adjust your screen brightness

A nice, bright screen makes everything on your phone look 100 times better. It also gobbles up your battery quicker than the Cookie Monster powering through a packet of Maryland.

If you're lucky enough to have an iPhone, set your phone to auto brightness; the device's ambient light sensor will adjust the screen's brightness according to your surroundings.

For any other devices, adjust your brightness according to your location and situation. With most new smartphones, you can happily sit at half brightness all day and save yourself loads of battery!

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Turn Bluetooth off

Unless you've got one of those fancy wireless headsets, or a pair of fancy speakers, you really don't need Bluetooth. Turn it off and enjoy some extra phone juice.

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Lose the Wi-Fi

Free wi-fi has become as vital as water or air for most people. However, leaving your wi-fi on when you don't have an active connection is a bit like walking around with your mouth open and hoping that someone will pour water into it; it's pointless, and it'll use up a lot of energy. Only put your wi-fi on when you need it.

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Turn off App Auto-Updates (Especially When You're Out and About)

Auto-updates are incredibly useful, but they're a massive drain on your battery. Whenever you're out and about, make sure you've got them turned off (lest you walk into a pub, get some free wi-fi and end up killing your phone by accident).

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Turn off email auto-sync (and any useless notifications)

OMG, what will you do without emails and notifications setting your phone off every 5 minutes?! Erm…probably exactly the same as you do now, except with more battery on your phone. Turning auto-sync off will not only reduce the amount of juice your phone burns through, but it'll improve your focus because your phone won't be going off as regularly.

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Identify the battery-guzzling apps

Some apps guzzle battery life like a thirsty man who's just stumbled upon a bucket full of a water. If you're using iOS, go to General > Usage > Battery Usage to see an overview of which apps are using the most power. While you'll need to keep certain apps running, limit your use of anything non-essential (games are particularly bad for draining battery). You can do more or less the same thing on Android by going to Settings > Battery (although this may differ from device to device depending on the version of Android you're running).

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Use power-saving mode (even if your battery is full!)

Alright, so this is limited to Android devices (and not all of them, unfortunately) but it's a great feature to take advantage of if you're going to be out for a while without access to a charger. Power-saving mode essentially limits the functions of your phone to conserve battery life for as long as possible; it usually kicks in at around 15%, but you can enable it sooner than that. When you're not using your phone, set it to power saving mode.

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Tidy up your apps

How many apps do you have on your phone? And how many do you actually use?

Like real life clutter, app clutter can make life more difficult: that app you don't use anymore could be draining your battery with all kinds of background activity. Uninstall any apps you don't use and only keep the essentials.

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Upgrade to a new phone

If you've got an older phone, the chances are you're fighting an uphill battle to keep your phone alive for a few hours, let alone a day. This is because phone batteries degrade over time, limiting the amount of charge they can hold. Sell your phone and treat yourself to a new one.

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Got any battery-saving tips to share with us? Leave a comment!