How to stop worrying about your smartphone battery and start living

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

An obvious way that for some reason few people use.

The batteries of smartphones, tablets and laptops are a thing shrouded in many myths. What tricks do the owners of devices go to in order to extend the life of the batteries. There are a variety of Android apps designed to kill background processes to save power, and clever charging schemes that drain the battery to a certain percentage before plugging the device back into power.

Comes to the ridiculous. The author of the article personally knew one girl who shoved the battery of her smartphone into the freezer, claiming that this way it prolongs his life.

Please don't do this. Various "battery keepers" and other "life hacks" are absolutely useless. Better to just stop worrying about your battery. Here's how to do it.

The easiest way to fix your battery problem

Justin Pot, author of the popular portal HowToGeek, recommends that you simply plug your devices into the mains whenever possible, without waiting for the batteries to drain. Elementary, huh?

Justin Pot news editor at HowToGeek.com

Charge your phone or laptop whenever possible - you will not harm the device in any way. And you will have a charged battery all day long. Are you in your car with 90% charge? Connect your device to charging. In the office? Connect the charger. Going for a walk? Bring a power bank with you.

Just use your smartphone as usual and charge it whenever you can. This will make life easier for yourself and your device.

Why it works

Discharge cycle is not limited to one mains connection

You will almost certainly say that keeping the battery on charge all day long is a bad idea. All smartphone users have heard something about charge and discharge cycles at least once. Any battery can only withstand a limited number of cycles, gradually wearing out.

It is mistakenly believed that the discharge cycle is limited to one plug-in and one-off. That is, you connect your smartphone to the charger, wait until the mark reaches 100%, disconnect the charger - and here it is, one charge cycle.

This is not true. A complete charging cycle is not limited to one connection and disconnection from the mains. It ends when all the battery power has been used up.

This is what Apple's documentation says about it: “Charge your Apple Li-ion battery whenever you like. There is no need to completely discharge it before recharging. This is because Apple's lithium-ion batteries work in cycles. One cycle ends when you have used up a charge equivalent to 100% of the battery's capacity - and this is not necessarily the amount of energy gained per charge. For example, you can use 75% of the battery capacity during the day and fully recharge it overnight. If the next day you use 25% of its capacity, then 100% will be added to the previous consumption. Thus, one cycle will be completed in two days. The cycle can be completed in more days."

There is no point in waiting for the battery to run out before recharging the device. This applies to all modern gadgets on both iOS and Android.

Modern batteries have no rechargeable memory

Battery memory is an effect in which the capacity of a battery will gradually decrease if it is charged regularly after a partial loss of energy. For example, your device is up to 50% discharged, you recharged it. And if you do the same periodically, over time, your battery can "remember" the 50% mark as the maximum charge level.

But there is one but. NiMH and NiCd batteries with memory effect have not been produced or used for a long time. Modern lithium-ion batteries can be recharged at any time, regardless of their current charge level. If the device detects that the battery is full to capacity, it will simply start working on the mains, and that's it.

It is far more harmful for a lithium-ion battery to discharge it completely. So it's better to plug the device back in again than to leave the battery empty.

Which definitely doesn't work

Among Android (and to a lesser extent iOS) users, applications are very popular that are designed to increase the life of the device on a single charge by disabling unused processes.

Do they make sense? No. These gizmos, like other OS applications, hang in memory, consuming system resources and the battery charge of your device, that is, they create an effect that is exactly the opposite of what is stated. Don't expect a miracle. In the best case scenario, the next "battery keeper" will unload some messenger or social network application from the smartphone's memory. You can do it yourself.

Do you seriously believe that hundreds of Apple and Google developers cannot optimize the power consumption of their operating systems, and an obscure lone developer with his application will quickly fix everything?

The best way to conserve battery power is to ditch any optimizers. Not enough charge left? Turn on airplane mode. And also decide whether you really need clients of all social networks and instant messengers that you use constantly hanging in your memory.

Outcome

For many, charging a smartphone or tablet has become a kind of ritual. The power of portable devices is growing, and the volume of batteries is not keeping up with them. It's sad to see your device's once-potent battery gradually wear out. Especially considering the tendency of some manufacturers to create gadgets with a non-removable battery.

But all such rituals make no sense. Remember, the battery is designed to be used. No need to wait until the charge level reaches a certain percentage or clutter up your smartphone with special applications. Just use your gadgets at your usual pace and make sure they stay charged at all times.