The Scoop on Android Battery Drain And What You Can Do To Fix It

Uninstall Apps That Drain Your Battery

Not all apps are created equal, and some of them run in the background for long periods without your knowledge, causing your Android battery to drain quicker as a result.

You can go to Settings > Device > Battery > Power > Battery Use to see first hand which apps are consuming the most power. If you don’t need them anymore, simply uninstall them to improve your Android battery health.

Mute Unimportant Notifications

Every time your phone receives a notification, your screen lights up draining power. If you have apps that are constantly pushing notifications with irrelevant information, you can mute them. It will help clear your head too. You can do this on most Android devices like so:

Go to Settings > Apps & Notifications > Select the app you want to mute > Notifications > Switch “Show Notifications” to OFF.

Turn Unnecessary Hardware Radios Off

Things like LTE, NFC, GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth can be turned off when not in use to save battery. Think about it, do functions like GPS and Bluetooth really don't need to be active 24 hours a day? Go ahead and treat yourself to a little extra battery life and flick the switch.

Most Android devices should allow you to turn these off using the drop-down menu/notifications bar. Alternatively, they can be accessed through your phone's settings.

Keep Your Brightness Low and Turn Off Automatic Brightness

Your screens brightness is usually a big factor in whether your battery outlives you or not. Screen brightness is directly proportional to power use, so keep it at a level just high enough to comfortably use it. Turning off your automatic brightness setting will help too as this essentially adjusts your screen against your will, according to the light conditions you’re in. It’s not always accurate, so you’re better off taking a few seconds to adjust it manually if needed.

Use A Dark or Black Wallpaper

Did you know dark or black wallpapers can significantly improve your Androids battery life? If you have an LCD screen and you're looking at black on your Android, it is actually black lit up from behind. TThis means LCDs don't really display 'true' black.

An AMOLED display, however, works by illuminating the individual pixels that make up an image. This means a black or dark-colored pixel doesn’t require as juice as white or brightly colored pixels to illuminate. Try it for yourself if you’re rocking an AMOLED screen.

Shorten Your Screen Timeout

Don’t overlook the fact that your screen might be staying awake longer than you are paying attention to it. Reduce your screen timeout in the ‘Settings’ section of your Android device under ‘Display’ and you should notice an improvement.

Watch Out For Wicked Widgets

Widgets are merciless in their pursuit to drain your battery and leave you stranded without any connection to the world. They constantly update in the background as they attempt to keep you up to date with the weather or whatever it may be. You can remove these widgets altogether or change the intervals at which they update. For example, if you only check the weather twice per day, set the weather widget interval to 12 hours.

Don’t Leave Your Phone Charging Overnight

We’re all guilty of it, but charging your phone overnight can cause long-term damage to your Android battery. According to Battery University, leaving your phone plugged in when it's fully charged can have quite a negative impact on your phones battery health. When your Android has reached 100 percent charge, it gets 'trickle charges' to keep it at 100 percent until you unplug it. This supposedly puts your phone into a ‘high-tension’ state, leading to chemical damage in your battery. Although the science behind this principle might not be proven fact, it’s definitely worth unplugging overnight to see if your battery improves.

Put Your Phone In Battery Saving Mode

An obvious solution, but sometimes the best advice is sitting right under your nose. Most Androids come with a battery saving mode pre-installed so take advantage of it whenever you can. This should minimize background processes and will also give you an estimation of how many hours of battery life you have left to play with. Android battery saving mode can be accessed on most recent devices by using the drop down notifications menu.