There was only one thing on my mind when it was time for me to get a new phone, buying a smart phone with an Android OS.
Now, why would I want to get an Android phone more than I would want to have an iPhone? Don’t get me wrong, I think the iPhone is nicer and sleeker compared to my current smart phone, especially after seeingspecifications of iPhone 5. But one thing the Android OS has is its ability to sync my data whenever I am online. The ability to synchronize my data is what sold me to the Android-powered smart phone. I don’t have to worry about losing my contacts if I forget or lose my phone. I can just go online and access the data I have. Customization and the free applications are just icing on the cake for me.
There is only one thing I am disappointed about my smart phone. It is an energy hog. I must charge it every night to be able to use it the following day. Upon further research, I found out that all smart phones have these problems. I resolved to find a way around this problem. I can tell you now that I have made some significant improvements on the smart phone’s battery life. I charge it now every two days, instead of every night.
Here are some tips and tricks you can use to lengthen the battery life of your Android-powered smart phone.
Dim the Back-light of your Android Phone.
Go to your phone settings and adjust the back light. You can adjust back light to the lowest possible setting without straining your eye and make sure that your phone ‘time-outs’ as soon as possible. I have set my phone’s ‘time-out’ time to 15 seconds.
Disable all the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth if you are not using them.
These two connectivity applications are power hogs. They drain your battery immediately the moment you turn them on. Now, you don’t need to be online all the time right? You can turn on your Wi-Fi just when you need to use it. The same thing goes in using Bluetooth.
Disable applications that automatically sync your email, Google accounts or Facebook.
You can choose to manually sync your data once you are using your Wi-Fi, when you are at home or when you really need to check your email. If you are not expecting anything important to be sent to you, it would be better not to use them all the time.
Remove applications that you are not using or running.
This makes sense since these applications also drain your battery. If you cannot remove these applications, try ‘Force Closing’ these apps and see to it that you don’t leave them open.
Disable or limit the animations on your smart phone.
These animations use too much power but they don’t serve any purpose. I personally think they are just eye candy. They make your phone nice to look at but don’t contribute anything else. Also try not to use the animated wall paper for the same reason I stated above.
Get an Android Task Killer.
This application can help you ‘kill’ or turn off the application you have forgotten to close. It checks for running applications and then based on the settings you may have, kills all but the essential programs you need. The best of all, you can download this application in Google Play for free!
