Android is the most versatile platform in the mobile world. Android phones and tablets come in the widest variety of shapes, sizes and prices from a multitude of brands and manufacturers. They're built for customers who like several options to choose from.
Whether you’re unwrapping your very first Android or upgrading to the newest model, chances are, you want to get the most out of your new smartphone. But all of those options in your settings menu are enough to make your head spin. That’s why we've rounded up five of the easiest ways to personalize your phone, and save your battery.
1. Simple changes to save battery
Lower the brightness of your screen: You will help extend the life of your battery by cutting back on the brightness of your phone. You should think about dropping the brightness setting by at least 50 percent. Most people adjust to the dimmer lighting rather quickly. Before long you will not notice the difference.To adjust the brightness go to Settings >> Display >> Wallpaper. Drag the slider around to the level you desire.
Another option is to use the "Auto Brightness" feature so that the brightness of your screen adjusts automatically to surrounding conditions. This way, you won't have to constantly adjust your screen's brightness as you move between indoor and outdoor settings, or day and night.
Select a black wallpaper: Android phones that have an AMOLED screen can save even more battery power by changing the display to a black wallpaper. Most Samsung phones have this type of screen. AMOLED screens are meant to improve color range over LCD screens, but that also tends to require more power. Switching to a black background will reduce the amount of color your screen needs to display, and will extend the life of your battery.
Phone models with AMOLED screens typically include: Nokia N85, C6-01, N8 and N9; Samsung Galaxy S, S4 Mini, Note, Note II, Nexus; Motorola Droid RAZR, and others. To see if your Android device has an AMOLED screen, pull up the product specifications provided by the manufacturer.
Updating to a new wallpaper is easy. Just tap and hold any unoccupied area of the home screen. Tap Wallpapers from the menu, then select the wallpaper you want to implement. If black is not available in the menu you can get the pure black wallpaper from the Android Central site. You should use the black wallpaper for both the lock and home screens.
Shorten the screen timeout: If you're constantly checking your phone throughout the day, adjusting the screen timeout is an easy way to save battery power. Even just changing it from 30 seconds to 15 seconds will significantly reduce the amount of time your screen is displayed when you're not using it. To change this setting, tap Settings >> Display >> Screen Timeout.
2. Assign priorities to your messages
Unless it's powered off, your phone is still active even when you're sleeping. This is why you constantly find notifications and messages right when you wake up. But did you know there's a way to tell your phone what's worth an interruption?We're talking about the "Do not disturb" feature. Just like those little signs you can hang on the door handle whenever you stay at a hotel, this feature will keep others from bothering you.
It's perfect for anyone who receives a lot of phone calls and messages which interrupt family time, or even sleep patterns.
You'll find the Do Not Disturb feature in the Settings menu under Sound >> Notification.
If the thought of being disconnected for a while makes you a bit nervous, don't worry. You can assign priorities to certain alerts so you won't miss that game-changing email, or important phone call. Here are the different settings you can choose from:
- Priority only: This setting allows interruptions from an approved list of apps and contacts.
- Total silence: Use this setting carefully. It blocks everything, including alarms.
- Alarms only: This setting blocks everything except alarms.
3. Save your data plan
There's a major side effect to Google Chrome's convenient tabbed browsing on your Android device. Every time that you leave a tab open, Chrome preloads information from that tab.Chrome's tab preloading can burn through your data plan pretty quickly. Preloading is enabled by default, but disabling it on 3G or 4G Internet is pretty easy.
Open the Chrome app and in the upper right corner find the icon with the three vertical dots. Tap it and then under Advanced select "Privacy." Scroll down to find "Prefetch page resources" and set it to "Only on Wi-Fi" or "Never."
