Table of Contents
This article will show you how to extend your Phones Battery Life on Android and iPhone. Over the past ten years, phones have changed in many ways. The best smartphones now have cameras that can easily beat classic compacts, games with graphics that wouldn’t look out of place on a PS4, and as much storage as a high-end laptop. But how long do batteries last? Still, that is a problem.
Most phones can only be used well for a day after being charged, and you can’t always count on them if you get up early, work late, and use your phone a lot during the day. Still, there are ways to make things better. A cell phone is only as useful as its battery life. Without a charged battery, it wouldn’t really be a cell phone.But while most of us protect our phones with sturdy cases, we don’t seem to put as much effort into protecting the battery life of our phones.
Today, lithium-ion batteries are used in almost all cell phones, tablets, and laptops. Lithium-ion has a lot of benefits. For example, its higher energy density means smaller batteries, which make phones lighter and slimmer. However, these batteries will still wear out over time. Here are some ways how to extend your Phones Battery Life: Android and iPhone. Some are basics that you may already know, while others are more advanced and may come with trade-offs.
How to extend your Phones Battery Life: Android and iPhone
Check the background activity of your apps
Each app will use a different amount of power, but games often use the most. You can look at your phone’s battery settings to see how much power each app uses. You can get rid of apps that use a lot of battery power that you no longer need. (Warning: you may have to face your Solitaire addiction if you do this!)

Android phone:
- Go to Settings > Network & internet > Data saver and activate Use data saver to restrict background refresh for all apps.
- To customize by app, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Mobile network > App data usage and select whichever app you wish to change the settings for.
iPhone:
- Go to Settings > Battery to check the battery usage of your iPhone apps.
- If you’d like to turn off background app refreshing, go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and select Off.
Turn off push notifications
When you set up your smartphone to send you push notifications—that is, to alert you with a sound or pop-up when there is breaking news, new emails, etc.—your phone has to connect to the internet and check with the company’s servers for updates. Each time, this uses a little bit of battery power. Even if you decide you’d still like to receive certain push notifications, e.g. for your emails, you can still disable them for less important apps. Here’s how to stop receiving push notifications:
- Android phone: Settings > Notifications
- iPhone: Settings > Notifications
Keep your phone’s operating system up to date
Always update the software on your phone. Updates may include new ways to improve power management and battery performance, as well as security fixes and bug fixes. In general, it’s best to have your phone set up to update itself. Here’s where to look for updates that happen on their own:
Android phone:
- Settings > System update > Download and install.
iPhone:
- Settings > General > Software Update > Automatic Updates.
- Make sure that the toggles for Download iOS Updates and Install iOS Updates are on and green.
Use your phone’s power-saving mode
Whether you know you won’t have time to charge your phone all day or you just noticed it’s getting low, turning on your phone’s power-saving mode is an easy way to save battery right away. On an iPhone, this is called Low Power Mode, and on an Android phone, it is called Power Saver Mode or Battery Saver. When you turn it on, it turns off features that use a lot of power, like the “background app refresh” we talked about above.
Don’t worry, important things will still work, like making phone calls and sending or receiving emails and texts. When a phone’s battery power is down to 20%, it will sometimes switch to power-saving mode on its own, or it will ask you to turn it on. You can also turn it on yourself whenever you want. How to find the mode that saves power on your phone:
- Android phone: Settings > Battery & Device Care > Battery > Power mode
- iPhone: Setting > Battery > Low Power Mode. You can also use your Control Center to turn Low Power Mode on and off.
Be selective with location services
GPS, and it can talk to other computers. You might want to turn off location services for some apps completely and set others so that they only track your location when you use them. How to change your settings for location services:
Android phone:
- Settings > Location.
- You can toggle on all location tracking from here or tap App permissions to adjust individual apps.
iPhone:
- Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services.
- You can turn off location services entirely here by toggling off the service or tap on the individual apps listed below to adjust individual permission settings.
Why is battery life important?
- Usage Duration: A longer battery life allows users to use their phones for extended periods without having to constantly recharge. This is especially crucial in situations where access to charging points may be limited, such as during travel or outdoor activities.
- Portability and Convenience: Smartphones are designed to be portable, and a longer battery life ensures that users can carry their phones with them throughout the day without worrying about running out of power.
- Productivity and Communication: Many people rely on their phones for work-related tasks, communication, and accessing important information on the go. A longer battery life ensures that they can stay connected and productive without interruptions.
- Emergency Situations: In emergencies, a fully charged phone can be a lifeline, allowing users to make important calls for help or assistance.
- Multimedia and Entertainment: Smartphones are commonly used for entertainment purposes, such as watching videos, playing games, or listening to music. Longer battery life enables users to enjoy these activities without the need for frequent charging.
Conclusion
You may have heard that you should let your phone die all the way down to 0% before charging it back up to 100%. This is supposed to help your battery “remember” how much it can hold. With nickel-cadmium batteries, cycling memory might have worked, but not with lithium-ion batteries. Some apps say they can help your battery charge faster. Does that claim have any truth to it? The answer is a little hard to explain.
Questions and Answers
Does the battery life of an iPhone last longer than that of an Android phone? Most iPhones have much longer battery lives than most Android phones. Most of the time, they don’t have the longest battery life, but they are above average and among the best.
No matter how you use your device, there are two easy ways to save battery life: turn down the brightness of your screen and use Wi-Fi. To make the battery last longer, dim the screen or turn on Auto-Brightness. To turn the brightness down, open Control Center and move the Brightness slider to the bottom.
Most people should get a new phone every three years, but you might not be one of them. For example, a modern flagship phone is already future-proof enough to last you longer than five years, as long as you don’t care about having the latest software updates and can replace the battery later.
It’s especially important to keep your device away from temperatures above 35° C (95° F), which can damage the battery capacity permanently. In other words, your device won’t work as long on a single charge. When the device is being charged in a hot room, it can be damaged even more.