May 30, 2023
How to Extend the Life of Your Smartphone Battery
Smartphones are ingrained into every aspect of our lives. Which means that most of us are on our Android phones or iPhones constantly. Being on our phones all the time leads, of course, to the phone battery draining more quickly than is convenient. There are ways, though, to preserve and extend the life of your phone battery. Below you’ll find several great tips to help you prolong your battery's lifespan.
Get maximum battery life by not plugging your phone in to charge overnight.
You’re probably thinking, “What? Why not?” So, we’ll tell you. It stresses the phone's battery. And when you stress the battery, it begins losing the ability to hold a charge and shortens the battery's lifespan.
When it comes to phone batteries, the best thing to do is to unplug your phone before it gets to 100% because the best charge for a lithium ion battery is about 50%. One myth about lithium ion batteries is that you should occasionally fully discharge and recharge to erase "battery memory." But it's not a good idea to charge today's cell phones this way. Partial charging is fine and better for your battery life.
For the sake of your phone battery, leave your device alone while it’s charging.
Ok, you can scroll Facebook or send text messages while your phone is charging but playing games or watching movies places what’s called a “parasitic load” on your phone battery. Over long period of time this will cause your battery capacity to decline and ultimately destroy the life of your phone battery. It’s also important to note that watching movies or playing games on your phone while it’s charging generates heat and that excess heat will ruin your phone battery life even faster.
Dim your screen and save your phone's battery
If your screen brightness is very high, consider disabling auto brightness. To dim it, under Settings click on “Display & Brightness,” then use the slider to adjust the screen brightness down a notch.
Take control of power-draining apps.
Certain apps, like Uber and Grubhub, track your location. If they’re tracking it all the time, it will drain your battery. On your Android phone, go to Settings, click on “Location” then “Mode,” and on the next screen tap “Battery Saving Option” (or "battery saver") to turn it on. Set this way, your phone will only know its location when it’s connected to a network. On Android, you can also put unused apps to sleep under battery settings.
On your iPhone, open an app like Google Maps or Uber or Grubhub, etc., and make sure that the “Location” setting is switched to “While Using.” Look through your battery settings for other apps and that use a lot of energy and delete or disable them if possible.
Turn Bluetooth off
Using Bluetooth to transmit data requires an enormous amount of battery power. Enable it when necessary and shut it off as soon as you’re done using it. Go to Settings and click on “Bluetooth.” Move the slider to the “off” position. This will help maintain battery performance.
Adjust email retrieval
If you get your email on your phone, it’s important to note that the more frequently your device looks for new data, the more it drains your battery. To adjust the frequency on an Android phone, open the Settings app and click on “Accounts.” On the “Accounts” screen, tap on the three dots icon in the right-hand corner. This will bring up “Auto Sync Data.” Click on “Ok” to disable auto syncing. On an iPhone, open Settings, then click on “Mail” and then “Accounts.” On the “Accounts” screen, click “Fetch New Data” and then select how often your phone should check for email. The longer you go between checks, the better for the life of your phone's battery too.
Turn off notifications.
The more frequently you receive notifications from Facebook, LinkedIn, your favorite chat group, etc. the faster your phone battery drains. That’s because every time your phone goes out to the Internet and discovers a new notification, it may light up your screen, buzz, vibrate, or even play a sound. The whole business of alerting you, which can happen very frequently if you’re unaware of it, drains the battery. Simply go to your phone settings and “Notifica tions”and turn off those push notifications you really don’t need.
Turn off location services.
All smartphones have built-in GPS systems. This is great when you need to get to a particular destination, find a gas station, or determine how far you are from a particular spot. But if you leave these services running all the time, they will absolutely drain your phone batteries. Just go into Notifications and turn them off. This will save battery life like crazy. When you need the notifications just turn them back on.
Turn your phone off completely.
If you’re not going to be using it for a few hours, preserve your battery lifespan by turning the phone completely off.
What to do if your phone has 10% or less lithium ion battery still left in its charge.
Switch it into Airplane saving mode again. Airplane mode is a low power mode will conserve what’s left of your lithium ion battery and, if you need to send a text or call an Uber, you can always switch airplane mode off.
Now that you know how to save your battery lifespan, switch to Life Wireless save your money, too!
To get free wireless service and a free cellphone, read on.
What our customers are saying:
"Life Wireless has been great. I have used it so many times for appointments and finding the proper care providers for my needs as well as for my family's needs. Thank you so much Life Wireless!" Rebecca L., KY
Life Wireless offers government subsidized free cellular service through the Affordable Connectivity Program to qualifying individuals and families. And, if you’re unemployed or participate in a government benefit program such as SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, or WIC, you already qualify for this federally funded free cellular service. It’s not difficult to qualify for free cellular service from Life Wireless, if you meet certain requirements, and it takes just a few minutes to complete the application.
About the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)
As we mentioned above, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a government benefit program operated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that provides discounts on monthly broadband Internet access service. ACP benefits may be obtained from any participating provider of your choice including Life Wireless. Only one member of a household can participate in the program and the service cannot be transferred to another family member or individual.
Because many families struggle to afford cell phones and Internet access, both of which are vital to daily life, the Federal Government offers ACP and another program called Lifeline. Using both doubles your connectivity and enables you as a parent or guardian to stay connected to doctors, employers, family and friends, and your student’s school.
About Lifeline
Lifeline is a federal program created to help qualified households pay for connectivity services such as wireless and internet plans. As with the Affordable Connectivity Program, only one member of a household can participate in the program and the service cannot be transferred to another family member or individual.
Examples of one household:
- A married couple that lives together
- A parent/guardian and child who live together
- An adult who lives with friends or family who financially support him/her
Each of these are one household and must share one benefit.
Examples of more than one household:
- Four roommates who live together but do not share money are four households. They can have one benefit each, for a total of four benefits.
- 30 seniors who live in an assisted-living home are 30 households. They can have one benefit each, for a total of 30 total benefits.
Each state has different eligibility requirements such as receiving government assistance or having a household income that is at or below the federal poverty level for the state in which you reside.
In general though, you are qualified to receive Lifeline if you participate in any of the programs listed here:
- Food Stamps or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- Medicaid (not Medicare)
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Section 8 Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA)
- Veteran's Pension or Survivor's Pension Benefit
Additionally, if you are a resident of a Federally-recognized Tribal land, you may qualify under the following programs:
- Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations
- Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance
- Tribally Administered TANF
- Head Start (if you meet the income-qualifying standards)
Even if you’re paying just $20 a month for cell service, wouldn’t it be great to have that $240 to spend on groceries? If you apply for Lifeline and are approved, you’ll receive:
- FREE Unlimited Talk & Text
- FREE 15GB Data (+ more data for California residents)
- FREE Smartphone (or bring your own)
Pair Lifeline with the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and DOUBLE your connectivity
If you’re approved for Lifeline and you sign up for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), you get two sources of free talk, text, and unlimited data that you can split between two phones. That means free cell service for you and free cell service for someone you love. Like your student. This is a terrific opportunity to provide him or her with talk, text, unlimited data, the ability to stay in touch with you, and access to the biggest library in the world: the internet.
Of course you don’t have to split the service between two phones, you can keep it all on one. But it’s a wonderful option if your spouse, student or relative needs a phone but has been unable to get one due to the expense.
Whichever option you choose – to keep the data on one phone or split it between two – Life Wireless will make sure you receive the free talk, text, and unlimited data to help you stay connected.
Option 1: Combine Your Data
Activate Lifeline and ACP on the same device and receive unlimited talk, text, and data, plus 5GB of mobile hotspot.
Option 2: Split Your Data
Split your data between two phones or supported devices and you’ll have one device with ACP’s free talk, text, and 6GB of data and a second device with Lifeline’s talk, text, and 4.5GB of data (6GB of data in California).
What our customers are saying:
“Without this phone I would be lost. It has helped me stay in contact with my daughter’s specialist. I schedule her appointments and they can call back if there are any complications with her results. Thank you, Life Wireless.” Amanda Z., PA
Additional, important, details
Life Wireless service is a prepaid service offered to those eligible for ACP discount benefits and those eligible for Lifeline benefits. To maintain your service and benefits, you need to:
- activate your service by calling someone,
- initiating data usage (by going on Facebook, for example), or
- by responding to instructions from Life Wireless to activate the service.
To keep your account active, you need to use the service at least once during any 30-day period by:
- calling someone,
- answering a call from someone other than Life Wireless,
- sending a text message,
- using cellular data (again, by going on Facebook or Amazon, for example),
- purchasing additional service from Life Wireless,
- or by responding to a direct contact from Life Wireless confirming that you want to continue receiving service from Life Wireless.
Should your service goes unused for 30 days, you will no longer be eligible for Lifeline benefits and your service may be suspended (allowing only 911 calls and calls to the Life Wireless's customer care center), and subject to a 15-day cure period during which you must use the service (as described above) in order to fully re-activate your service, keep your telephone number and remain enrolled in the ACP.
For questions about Life Wireless, visit our Contact Us page here. To enroll now, use the Life Wireless Online Enrollment form.
Quick facts about Life Wireless:
You can add more minutes and data
You can purchase additional minutes or data one of the following ways:
- Go to www.LifeWireless.com and click "Add Minutes/Data"
- If you have a smart phone, go to your MyLifeWireless app and click "Add Minutes".
- Call Customer Service at 1-888-543-3620, or by dialing 611 on your Life Wireless phone.
- You can also go to any Moneygram location and use Receive Code: 7924
You can track your minutes
Your minutes replenish each month on your anniversary date before end of the day. For example if you signed up and received your minutes on the 12th of the month, your minutes will replenish every month on the 12th of the month.
You can check your account balance the following ways:
- Go to www.LifeWireless.com and click "My Account"
- Go to your MyLifeWireless app on your phone, and click "Check Balance"
- Call Customer Service at 1-888-543-3620, or by dialing 611 on your Life Wireless phone.
You can keep your current phone number!
If your application is approved, you have the option to keep your current phone number.
Once you receive your Life Wireless phone in the mail, call Life Wireless Customer Service at 1-888-543-3620 and a representative will assist you in keeping your current number. Make sure that you don't call from your Lifeline phone and have your account number and password from your previous carrier handy.
What our customers are saying:
"Life Wireless has been great. I have used it so many times for appointments and finding the proper care providers for my needs as well as for my family's needs. Thank you so much Life Wireless!" Rebecca L., KY
“Without this phone I would be lost. It has helped me stay in contact with my daughter’s specialist. I schedule her appointments and they can call back if there are any complications with her results. Thank you, Life Wireless.” Amanda Z., PA
“I've been looking for apartments, doctor’s offices, and school phone numbers, and my data provided has been a tremendous help in gaining access to this information. I'm very grateful for this service.” Maria R. AZ
Apply for free cellular service with Life Wireless now. You’ll be glad you did.
Posted 10 months ago