Find out What's Draining the Most Battery in Android

When you're looking to reduce how much you drain your Android's battery, it's useful to look at which functions on your Android drain the most. You can find this information in the Battery menu in your Android's Settings app. You can save quite a bit of battery by making a few changes to your system settings and the apps that you use.

Steps

Checking Battery Usage

  1. Open the Settings app. You can find this on one of your home screens, or in your App Drawer, which you can open by tapping the grid button at the bottom of your home screen.
    • You may also be able to open the Notification panel at the top of the screen and tap the gear button to open the Settings app.
  2. Select "Battery." If you don't see this option, scroll to the bottom and tap "About phone," then tap "Battery use."[1]
  3. Select "Battery usage" if you don't see a list of apps. Depending on your version of Android, you may see a list of apps and services in the Battery menu, or your may need to open the "Battery usage" menu inside it.
  4. Find the apps and services that are using the most battery. The list of apps and services in the Battery or Battery usage list will be sorted by the amount of your battery they have used. This number is reset when your phone is recharged.
  5. Tap an item to see more details. The details that are displayed vary depending on your version of Android.
    • Most commonly, you'll see the amount of time that the app or service has been active. You may also see the amount of data used, and the processing load.

Lowering App Battery Usage

  1. Find the apps in your usage list that use the most battery. Use the list of your highest battery users to see which apps you need to cut back on.
    • There are also several system settings you can change to help improve your battery life. See the next section for details.
  2. Uninstall apps from your battery usage list. If there are apps on the list that are using up a lot of battery, consider uninstalling them if you can live without them. Facebook[2] and Snapchat[3] are two of the worst offenders.
    • Tap an app in the list to open the details.
    • Tap the "App info" button to open the app's page in the application manager.
    • Tap "Uninstall" to remove it. If you don't see an Uninstall button, tap "Uninstall Updates" and then "Disable" to turn it off.
  3. Remove your widgets. Widgets are frames on your Home screens that display information from apps. Because widgets stay constantly updated, they can take a lot more battery than just checking the app on occasion. Remove any widgets you don't need to reduce your battery usage:
    • Find the widget on your Home screen that you want to remove.
    • Press and hold the widget until you can start dragging it.
    • Drag and release it on the trashcan icon or the "Remove" or "Delete" option. This will vary depending on your device.
  4. Avoid battery optimizer apps. There are lots of apps available that claim to optimize your battery life and memory. These can actually do more harm than good, as Android is designed to maximize battery life by automatically suspending apps you don't use.[4]

Limiting System Battery Usage

  1. Turn your screen brightness down. One of the most common battery drains on Android devices is the screen brightness. Running at 100% all the time makes the screen easy to see, but kills the battery. Lowering the screen brightness and ensuring that the screen turns off quickly will help save you a lot of battery:[5]
    • Open the Settings app and select "Display."
    • Tap "Brightness" and drag the slider to adjust the brightness. You may also be able to access this slider from your Notification panel depending on your Android model.
    • Toggle automatic brightness on to enable your phone to lower the brightness automatically when the light is low. This will help keep your screen brightness down and your battery level up.
  2. Switch to battery saving mode for location. When your phone checks to find its current location for various apps and services, it'll use up some battery. The high-accuracy mode can be good for when you need turn-by-turn directions, but switching to battery saving mode can help keep your phone on longer:
    • Open the Settings app and select "Location."
    • Tap the "Mode" button.
    • Select "Battery saving" or "Device sensors only" to lower Location's battery usage. Battery saving mode will just estimate location based on Wi-Fi and mobile networks. Device sensors only will only use your device's GPS radio.
  3. Disable Google Now to prevent the phone from always listening. When Google Now is enabled, your Android device is always listening for "OK, Google." This can cause a constant drain on your battery.
    • Open the Google app on your device.
    • Tap the ☰ button in the upper-left corner.
    • Tap "Settings" and then "Voice."
    • Tap "Ok Google detection" and then toggle "Always on" off. This will allow you to still use Google Now if you open the Google app first.
  4. Enable power saver mode. If you have Android 5.0+, you can enable this feature which will limit phone services when your battery gets low. This can help make the most out of the last of your battery.
    • Open the Battery menu in the Settings app.
    • Toggle "Battery saver" on.
    • Tap the "..." next to the toggle to set what percentage the mode will turn on at. For example, you can have battery saver turn on at 15%, 5%, or keep it on at all times.
  5. Turn off vibration. Powering the vibration motor takes a lot of battery, so if you use a ringtone and don't need the vibration, consider disabling it:
    • Open the Settings app and select "Sound & notification."
    • Toggle "Sound with vibration" off.


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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.androidcentral.com/android-101-how-check-what-has-been-using-your-battery
  2. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/facebook-iphone-battery-life_us_56b8b6c5e4b08069c7a7fc54
  3. ↑ https://www.androidpit.com/battery-draining-apps
  4. ↑ http://www.techlicious.com/tip/whats-draining-your-android-battery/
  5. ↑ https://www.cnet.com/how-to/five-settings-that-increase-battery-life-on-android-4-4-kitkat/
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