Digital tip – improving battery life

iPhone

Always make sure your device is using the latest version of iOS

Optimise your settings

• Adjust your screen brightness and use wi‑fi.
• Dim the screen or turn on auto-brightness to extend battery life.
  • To dim, open control centre and drag the brightness slider to the bottom.
  • Auto-brightness automatically adjusts your screen to the lighting conditions.
• When you use your device to access data, a wi‑fi connection uses less power than a mobile network – so keep wi‑fi on at all times.
• Turn off Bluetooth when not using it to connect to another device.

Enable low power mode

• Settings > Battery. Low power mode reduces display brightness, optimises device performance and minimises system animations. Apps including Mail will not download content in the background, and features like AirDrop, iCloud sync and continuity will be disabled.
• You can still use key functions such as making and receiving phone calls, email and messages, accessing the internet and more. And when your phone charges up again, Low Power Mode automatically switches off.

View battery usage information.

With iOS, you can easily manage your device’s battery life, because you can see the proportion of your battery used by each app (unless the device is charging). To view your usage, go to Settings > Battery. Messages you may see listed include:

• Background activity. This indicates the battery was used by an app while it was in the background – that is, while you were using another app.
  To improve battery life, you can turn off the feature that allows apps to refresh in the background. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and select ‘WiF’, ’WiFi & Mobile Data’ or ‘Off’ to turn off Background App Refresh entirely
• Location and background location. This indicates an app is using Location Services.
  You can optimise your battery life by turning off Location Services for an app. Turn off in Settings > Privacy > Location Services. In Location Services, you can see each app listed with its permission setting. Apps that recently used Location Services have an indicator next to the on/off switch.
• Home and lock screen. This indicates the home screen or lock screen was displayed on your device. For example, the display was awakened by pressing the home button or by a notification.
  If an app frequently wakes your display with notifications, you can turn off push notifications for the app in Settings > Notifications. Tap the app and set Allow Notifications to Off.
• No Mobile Data Coverage and Low Signal. This indicates either you are in a poor mobile coverage area and your iOS device is searching for a better signal or you’ve used your device in low-signal conditions, which has affected your battery life.
• You can optimise your battery life by turning on aeroplane mode.

Android phones

Choose settings that use less battery

• Let your screen turn off sooner.
• Reduce screen brightness.
• Set the brightness to change automatically.
• Turn off keyboard sounds or vibrations.
• Restrict apps with high battery use.
• Turn on adaptive battery.
• Delete unused accounts.
• Turn on dark theme.
• Access Setting > Battery and see what is using the most power plus options to change power mode (e.g. medium to low).

Take care of your battery

• Use the power adaptor that came with your phone.
• Keep it cool.

Stretch a low battery

• Turn on battery saver or low power mode.
• Avoid actions that keep the screen on.
• Avoid constant internet connection.
• Avoid actions that process too much information.
• Limit connectivity and location.

Consider carrying at least one spare battery pack – perhaps a solar-powered one.