From The Straits Times    |
thumb2phone

Image: 123rf.com

The struggle is real when we glance at our phones and suddenly realise we have 5 percent battery left and no opportunity to charge it any time soon. It’s a huge inconvenience when your phone dies, and near unacceptable to be uncontactable in the working world! Here are some lifesaving tips for keeping your phone from dying on you.

 

  1. Lower the screen brightness

This is the easiest and most effective way to lessen battery consumption, especially when you absolutely have to use it. Reducing the brightness by half can drastically increase your phone’s battery life, and could mean the difference between a dead phone and having a buffer of at least 20 percent at the end of the day.

 

  1. Turn off location services

Unless you’re playing Pokemon Go all the time (which you shouldn’t be doing at work anyway), turning off location services will ensure that less battery “juice” is being diverted to an extraneous “extracurricular” activity.

 

  1. Turn off Bluetooth

Bluetooth is another function that takes up battery usage even when you aren’t using it! The less you have going on in the background, the better.

 

  1. Preventing overheating

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Singapore is an oven all year round, so if you are out and about, be sure that you keep your phone from burning up in the heat! If your device feels warm in your palms, switch it off for a while. Keeping your phone running when it is overheated drains battery like nothing else. Also, charge your phone sans cover, as that can also lead to overheating.

 

  1. Turn off vibration

I always thought that a loud ringtone would use up more battery than the vibrate mode, until I learned otherwise. Vibration requires a small motor to spin in the phone, which takes more effort and uses up more battery. Ringtones may not be good for some working environments, but its worth a shot when you’re down to your last 10 percent.

 

  1. Keeping screen timeout short and sweet

Every phone should have a “screen timeout” option in the settings; on the iPhone, it is called auto lock. This stipulates the amount of time your screen stays lit when it’s inactive before it shuts off. Reducing this setting to the minimum amount of time can also drastically save your battery life.

 

  1. Charging it the right way

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Many of us let our batteries drain until it is almost dead and then charge it all the way until it hits a full 100 percent. A tip for making the battery last longer throughout the day is to start charging it when it hits 40 percent and stop when it hits 80 percent. Charging your phone overnight is still fine, though!

 

  1. Turn on airplane mode

If you are already on the way home and you want to keep your phone from dying “just in case”, turn on the airplane mode. True, you won’t be able to do much with it, but it will at least last until you get home.

 

If all else fails, just turn on the battery-saving or battery-efficient mode on your phone! It should be under your settings. If after all this your phone is still dying on you faster than you would like it to, it might be time to just invest in a portable charger.

Need more busy woman tips? Read more at http://www.herworldplus.com/lifestyle