1418. How do I save battery power on my phone?

I try not to be that guy that stands around all day looking at his phone every 10 seconds, but sometimes it happens, and my phone runs out of juice by 2PM. What can I do to preserve battery power when I know I’m going to be out and about all day?

One option, of course, is to travel with an external battery, either as a separate device or as a battery case for your phone—that’s a topic for a different tip, however. The first step to increasing battery power shouldn’t be throwing money at it, but instead, trying to find ways to optimize the battery you’ve got.

Basically, preserving battery power boils down to turning off everything you can—the screen, and each individual radio in your device consume battery power. Reducing the screen brightness can help a great deal, as will turning off WiFi and/or Bluetooth when you’re not using them. Location Services (in other words, using the GPS) can consume a lot of battery power, as well, so turn off these services for any application that doesn’t absolutely require them.

Another thing to consider is your use of applications that receive data while in the background. This feature is new for iOS 7 (assuming you’re an Apple user), but it allows applications like your calendar to wake up and retrieve data even when you’re not using your phone. You can control this feature on an app-by-app basis, so take the time to configure the settings for each app if you want to maximize your battery life.

In addition, your phone constantly attempts to connect to the cellular network. If you’re in a rural area with low coverage, yet have your phone set to use LTE or even 4G, it’s possible that it will expend a lot of energy attempting to connect to the selected high-speed network. If you know you won’t be in a covered area all day, turn off the high-speed setting for your phone’s cellular radio. This can also save you a lot of battery life.

You can find many articles about preserving your device’s battery life online, but we found simple, helpful articles for both iOS and Android users. You might start by trying the things described in these articles. For iOS users, try this link: http://www.wikihow.com/Save-Battery-Power-on-an-iPhone. For Android users, try this link: http://www.wikihow.com/Save-Battery-Power-on-an-Android.