Why do you still have to search for a charger multiple times a day while Android devices nowadays are more powerful than ever before and typically have larger batteries? It turns out that more power-hungry programs are created to exploit more powerful technology. Although a phone manufactured in 2023 may be more power-efficient than one manufactured in 2013, apps that make use of the newest hardware and software counteract these advantages. In this paradigm, older gadgets suffer much more.
Applications can deplete the battery of your Android phone in two ways: actively and passively. Battery drain that happens while you have the app open and utilizing it—such as when you scroll through Instagram or watch YouTube videos—is referred to as “active use.” When an app uses power while you’re not using it—for example, by syncing data or pinging your position in the background—this is known as passive battery drain. You can find out how much power an app uses both passively and actively on your Android phone by visiting the battery settings page. To view that data, just touch on an app located beneath your battery usage chart.
To help you identify which apps to watch out for, we’ve compiled a list of some of the worst offenders in the Play Store. Some of the most popular apps are also the most power-hungry.
TikTok
After gaming, video streaming uses the most battery life on your phone since it continuously uses Wi-Fi or cellular data to keep the screen bright and active. Additionally, as you scroll, you’re loading movie after video, which puts additional strain on your battery. Additionally, TikTok utilizes much more power because it exhibits behaviors that other video streaming apps do not. For instance, it automatically increases the brightness of your screen.
Additionally, TikTok’s passive background activity will use a startling amount of power. The app may try to get you to open it by sending you a ton of notifications that suggest videos from producers you follow, among other things. This indicates that the data is being retrieved in the background.
Other than manually lowering the screen brightness slider, there isn’t much you can do to make TikTok less power-hungry when using it. However, track down the app in your battery settings and limit its background usage to avoid passive power loss.
YouTube
No matter how well-designed Google’s YouTube app is, watching hours of cosmetics tips or three-hour documentaries on the history of Disneyland—we’re all watching those, right?—will quickly deplete your Android device’s battery. YouTube is the gold standard for video streaming. Similar to TikTok, YouTube uses your cellular data or Wi-Fi connection to load its material, and your screen must be on and continuously refreshed. However, because YouTube videos are typically lengthier than the short-form content available on that rival platform, it does use a little less battery than TikTok.
Furthermore, YouTube consumes battery in the background passively, albeit not as much as TikTok appears to. YouTube is constantly searching for fresh content so it can alert you to new videos that may be of interest to you. Once more, you may fix this by limiting the background usage of the program from the details screen of the app or the battery settings on your Android device.
Netflix
Is it really necessary to mention why Netflix is such a drain on your phone’s battery? Similar to YouTube and TikTok, it is a video streaming service that uses video data from Netflix’s servers to keep your phone’s screen bright, active, and continuously refreshing. Bring a charger if you intend to watch “Stranger Things” during your upcoming travel.
Fortunately, Netflix uses very little battery while you’re not using it, so before you start binge-watching the newest popular shows, make sure your phone is either plugged in or fully charged. Additionally, you may adjust the screen’s brightness to a reasonable level while watching, safeguarding both your battery and your eyes. Additionally, you can save a little more electricity by lowering the resolution to 1080p or less, which will require less data.
Mobile games
Mobile gaming is the only method to drain your Android’s battery faster than streaming videos. There isn’t a single offender here. While less graphically demanding games, like Candy Crush, keep your screen busy and burden your processor, some graphics-heavy games, like Fortnite or Genshin Impact, are more taxing than others.
In order to provide you with the greatest performance possible, many Android devices also automatically push themselves to the maximum when a game is launched. Although it’s not so good for your battery life, it’s wonderful for getting an advantage in a first-person shooter. You can reduce battery consumption in games in a few ways.
First, some games allow you to lower the graphics settings, but doing so will result in lower-quality pictures. Additionally, don’t anticipate recovering a significant amount of battery life. Second, you can recover a little bit of your phone’s battery life by lowering the screen when playing games. Ultimately, though, gaming will always be one of the hardest things you can accomplish on any kind of device.
Social media apps aren’t far behind video streaming apps as the most power-hungry apps on your Android phone. One of the main offenders in that regard is Instagram. These sites frequently incorporate a significant amount of video streaming, and they further deplete your Li-ion supply by utilizing your location services and other sensors.
Instagram has developed over time from a straightforward photo-sharing platform to a full-fledged social media ecosystem that includes chatting, commerce, Stories, and—worst of all for your battery—its rival to TikTok, Reels. Instagram has so much features that it not only uses more battery life but also makes every effort to keep you using it for longer. Your battery % may suffer significantly as a result.
Instagram gathers information and alerts you to new messages, likes, comments, and more even while you’re not using it. You may limit its use from the app details screen or the battery settings on your Android device, just like you can with other background programs that consume a lot of battery life. But be advised, there are two sides to that. Limiting Instagram’s background usage could cause you to miss out on crucial alerts.
Facebook consumes a lot of your data, making it one of the most intrusive and battery-hungry Android apps. It’s no secret that Facebook uses the data it gathers from your devices to enhance its targeting and that it profits from targeted advertising. Unfortunately, Facebook frequently drains a significant portion of battery life in addition to causing privacy issues.
If Facebook is on your phone and you don’t use it, we advise removing it, providing your phone supports it. You should disable the app if that isn’t an option. Those who value battery life should utilize the web browser to visit Facebook, even if they are a heavy user, as the mobile version offers nearly the same features. To reduce the Facebook app’s battery-draining behavior, you can limit its background usage and remove location permissions if you want to retain it on your Android device.
Tinder
Dating requires a lot of energy, both from you and your phone. Dating apps—of which Tinder, Bumble, and Grindr are among the most power-hungry—are infamous for using your location to display the profiles of individuals in your vicinity. Naturally, there is additional energy drain while certain processes are running in the background to look for fresh matches and messages. You can still take a few steps to make your dating apps less taxing on your battery, if not your heart, if a few amperes are the price of love.
Although limiting the background power usage of your dating app may result in missed notifications, it may save battery life if you don’t want to miss out on that special someone. Additionally, you can make the location permissions for the app only work when it is in the foreground. The app will function properly on your end, but others won’t have your most recent location.
Spotify
Spotify is a battery killer on Android, which is bad news for music lovers. As you might expect for an app that will primarily be used with your screen off, the wildly popular music streaming service uses a surprisingly substantial portion of your power. Although streaming music obviously requires a data connection, some customers have complained that Spotify uses a lot of battery power even when they are not using it, sometimes even using it more than video streaming apps like TikTok.
Spotify may be using up the battery life of your Android phone like a child with a Capri Sun for a few reasons. Spotify operates in the background to maintain its live services, but music streaming consumes data. To enable seamless device-to-device playing switching, it maintains your downloaded music synchronized, refreshes your smart playlists, and remains active.
There are a few strategies to control Spotify’s battery drain, though. Your battery will run out when the app refreshes any playlists you have offline. There are fewer syncs when fewer playlists are downloaded. Canvas is another battery-draining feature that, while playing, displays looping movies rather than album art. From the Spotify settings, you may disable it. Finally, you may use the Android battery settings to restrict Spotify’s background usage, but be careful—doing so could cause your music to stop in the middle of a song when you’re using other apps.
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