5 ways to make your phone battery last longer

In last week’s blog post, I told you about my parenting fail in Muir Woods…

The moment where my son scrambled up onto a fallen redwood, grinning ear to ear, striking a seven-year-old’s version of a triumphant explorer pose.

I reached for my phone to capture it…

And that’s when the battery flatlined.

No photo, no proof, just me standing there like a numpty while my son looked at me with puppy dog eyes asking, “did you get it, Dad?”

If only I’d noticed when I was circling the drain at 10%, I could have eked out just enough battery power to catch that magic moment.

Here’s what I should have done, and what you can do next time your phone flashes the dreaded low-battery warning while you’re out in the world.

Until the day every café, airport, and park bench has a TUF-R® USB or ARC wireless charging unit built in (we’re working on it!), these tricks will help you make your battery L-A-S-T:

L – Low Power Mode on

This one’s the equivalent of shutting a few windows in your house before a storm. Your phone automatically slows down background tasks like fetching emails or refreshing apps so energy isn’t wasted on things you don’t need right this second.

• iPhone: Settings → Battery → toggle Low Power Mode

• Android: Settings → Battery → enable Battery Saver (or pull down from the top and tap the battery icon)
  
  

A – Adjust screen brightness

Your screen is a massive power hog. Drop the brightness down to the lowest you can tolerate, even better if you switch to dark mode.

• iPhone: Swipe down from top-right → adjust brightness slider; Settings → Display & Brightness → toggle Dark Mode

• Android: Swipe down from top → brightness slider; Settings → Display → toggle Dark Theme
  

S – Shut down apps

Despite what some say, apps running in the background can nibble at your power. Social media apps, for instance, are sneakily refreshing like there’s no tomorrow. Close them out and you’ll stop the battery nibbling.

• iPhone: Swipe up from bottom (or double-tap Home button) → swipe away apps

• Android: Tap square/recents button → swipe apps off screen
  
  

T – Turn off location services and Bluetooth

If your GPS is constantly checking whether you’re in London or Los Angeles, it’s sipping away at your battery. Same with Bluetooth, quietly hunting for headphones or speakers. Unless you’re actually using them, flick them off.

• iPhone: Swipe down from top-right → tap Location or Bluetooth icons; or go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services

• Android: Swipe down from top → toggle Location and Bluetooth off

Bonus tip: try airplane mode

If you’re really desperate, this is the ace up your sleeve…

Airplane mode stops your phone from constantly searching for a mobile signal, a task that’s particularly brutal on your battery when reception is weak. It essentially pauses your phone’s “talking” with the outside world: no calls, no texts, no data.

That means you’ll need to flip it back off when you want to reconnect, so it’s not ideal if you’re expecting an important message. But if all you need is to keep the camera alive long enough to snap a shot (say, of a small but mighty redwood climber), this move can buy you precious minutes of life.

• iPhone & Android: Swipe down from top → tap the little airplane icon; or go to Settings → Airplane Mode

Had I done even half of these, I might have managed a picture of Nicky atop that redwood, looking every bit the victorious adventurer. Instead, all I’ve got is the memory… and a little comedian who insists I pack an ANIMATE portable battery before he’ll hike with me again.

(Note to self: pitch “in-tree charging ports” at our next OE products brainstorming session… )

Until then, may your batteries last longer than your adventures.