Hello this is an image of a snow tipped mountain scene, with blue cloudy skies above, and in the foreground is a lake with tall conifers growing around the edge. Right at the front of the image a hand holding a mobile phone poised to take a photo of the wonderful scene in front of it - however the battery on the phone appears to have run out (indicated by a red exclamation mark and a black and white screen), so unfortunately the person holding the phone will not be able to take a photo. Across the top of the image on a red banner are the words ‘Keep your battery healthy’ and in the bottom right hand corner is the Simpatico Logo.

Holiday Power

Now that holiday season is in full swing, mobile phone battery life is really important.  You might think going on holiday is a chance to escape from the attachment you have to your mobile phone, however, there are plenty of things that a mobile phone is really useful for whilst on holiday, such as taking holiday snaps, maps for navigation, google translate, and obviously as a communication device, plus it probably has all your booking details stored.  So you really need it to last the distance whilst you’re away from home, and potentially away from a plug socket for extended periods of time. 

If you think your battery is not performing as well as it should be – it could be draining too quickly, or dropping a significant percentage even when it’s on standby, don’t panic.  Often it can be an easy fix by doing a few simple things on your device to perk it back up again.

Switch off your Phone

Sometimes it can be as simple as turning your phone off then back on again, this can clear background processes and give your battery a fresh start.

Remove Widgets

If you have widgets (the bigger tiles with more information) on your lock screen and home screen it means that the apps they are connected to are constantly running in the background, fetching data to keep the widgets up to date.  So removing the widgets (even if they are handy) will help to improve battery life.

Background App Refresh

Background App Refresh allows the apps on your phone to automatically search for new content even if they’re not directly running on the screen, and this can be a drain on the battery.  Handily, the iPhone has a feature where you can individually turn off Background App Refresh for each app.  

To find it go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh – this will bring up a list of your apps, and then simply toggle the slider to on or off.  Any apps which you have turned Background App Refresh off, will only go online for new information when you open the app.  Be careful about doing this for any apps you rely on for up to date content.

Something else useful here is a field at the top of Background App Refresh page which can be changed to alter how the function works globally – you can choose from Off, Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi & Mobile Data – the latter will consume mobile data if you’re away from Wi-Fi, so it’s something to be mindful of if you are on a limited data contract, and perhaps switch it to Wi-Fi only, so that apps only background refresh when you are connected to Wi-Fi.

Delete Unused Apps

Apps in general take up battery power, so even if you don’t use them, they may be using a portion of your battery, so have a look through and get rid of any that you don’t use.  This will also free up storage space.

Dim the Screen

If your screen is set to its brightest setting, it’s going to use battery power.  To change this on iPhone go to Settings > Display & Brightness, then simply drag the slider across to dim the screen.  You can also activate dark mode from this screen too.

To automatically set your phone to adjust brightness itself, on iPhone go to Settings > Display & Text Size, then scroll down to the bottom to find Auto-Brightness – switch this on and the screen brightness will automatically adjust for current light conditions using the built-in ambient light sensor

Update to the Latest Software

This is a no brainer in general really, mobile devices generally function better when the latest software update is installed.  However, you may be wondering what this will do to improve the battery life; well, software updates may include optimizations and power saving features to extend the life of the battery.

Consider a Power Bank

If you have completed all of the above steps and your battery is still draining too quickly, consider purchasing a portable power bank.  These are handy devices which you charge up at home and they can be used to power electronic devices on the go, it’s a straightforward way of ensuring you are not left with a dead mobile phone battery whilst out and about.  They are usually about the size of a modern mobile phone, so don’t take up much room in your pocket or bag.  Some phones can also charge from each other either wirelessly or with the appropriate cable.  It may be worth checking with your travelling companions before you go.  It could be absolutely worth it if it allowed you to access your boarding pass!