6 Tips on How to Extend Your Phone Battery Life When Traveling

Decrease your travel stress by learning how to extend your phone battery life.

Nowadays, Smartphones act as an additional limb for many of us. As our go-to means of navigation, communication, and vital information, our phones are naturally important whilst traveling. Keeping your phone on hand as you are on the go helps keep you safe and easily accessing anything you may need as you visit a new place.

From my own travel experience, I have learned just how important it is to keep your phone charged while traveling. I once found myself in New York City in mid-December wandering the streets of Times Square at 10 in the evening, trying to find the right subway station. Navigating New York’s public transportation was slightly challenging for a tourist like myself, and my phone was the only source of direction. Of course, after a long day of snapping photos and looking up various destinations, my phone battery slowly crept below that dreaded 10%. As the frigid temperatures dropped lower, and my fingers grew numb to the point where I wondered if I was even touching my phone screen, the last percent of my phone gave way.

Save yourself from uncomfortable and completely avoidable travel experiences like this by being smart about your phone’s charge. Of course, you might be surprised to learn just how many features on your phone can easily drain its battery capacity. Fortunately, there are some tricks that come in handy as you do this. By employing several key things, you can easily get a handle on preserving your phone battery while on the go.

Use these 6 tips to extend your phone battery life when traveling.

1. Turn on low battery mode.

Of course the most straightforward way to conserve battery life is built right into your phone’s features. The low battery setting helps to turn off those pesky background energy drainers that you don’t even need. These things include turning down the screen brightness and halting different updates and apps from engaging in activity. This mode is applicable to both Apple and Android phones alike. Apple dons the mode under “low power mode” and for Android phones, it is the “battery saver setting.”

2. Turn off location tracking.

This pesky phone trick can really drain your battery without your knowledge. Many apps these days have software that automatically tracks your location, even when you are not using that particular app. Kind of scary, right? This issue is easily remedied by going into the specific settings for each app on your phone and turning off location tracking. Sometimes apps automatically log where you are, so you need to manually check and ensure that this mode is off. Of course when your phone is continually keeping tabs on your location, this drains the battery pretty quickly. This helps save your phone battery life and your peace of mind.

3. Utilize airplane mode.

It’s not just for when you are in the air. Airplane mode is ideal for turning off all sources of battery drainage in your phone. Don’t let notifications and texts slowly drain your phone throughout the day, just turn on airplane mode before you head out. This mode still allows camera and video access, so you can capture the moment without it taking a toll on your battery life. Use airplane mode while you are on the go and keep your battery in the green for as long as possible.

4. Invest in a portable charger.

When you travel, always keep your phone charger handy of course. Sometimes however, you don’t have access to an outlet in a pinch. Portable Smartphone chargers and power packs are truly a lifesaver when you are out and about. These handy contraptions cost less than $50. These also can easily be stored in your purse or inside a small backpack pocket. You can simply plug your phone in and forget about it. Here are reviews of some of our favorite portable phone chargers to choose from for your next trip.

5. Use WiFi whenever you can.

Constantly looking up addresses and messaging people takes a lot out of your phone’s data plan. If you use your phone frequently throughout the day with only data, this also significantly drains your battery. Keep in mind when using your phone that connecting to Wifi helps maintain the longevity of the phone’s charge. While you cannot constantly stay on Wifi for the sake of your phone battery life, this is just a useful tip to keep in mind. Keep your eyes open for those free Wifi signs, and always connect when you are in a coffee shop or restaurant.

6. Delete the Facebook app and other battery-draining apps.

Some apps in particular really drain your phone’s battery. If you do a simple check in your phone’s battery usage log, you can see just which apps tend to take the most out of its energy. Go into the settings on your phone to look at the phone battery life usage specifics under the battery tab. This shows percentages for which apps take up the most battery life. Naturally, the apps you use the most are going to take up the most energy, but other apps simply require a lot of your phone’s energy. Once you know which apps are the energy stealing culprits, you can decide ways to manage this issue.

Facebook, in particular, is a significant battery draining app. Even when you are not using it, the Facebook app can negatively affect your phone battery life. Fortunately, you can still access Facebook from your basic browser app. If you aren’t too attached, delete your Facebook app to free up a significant amount of space on your phone as well as increase the longevity of your phone’s battery life.

Your phone battery life is going to improve significantly with these tips.

Before you head out on the next adventure, apply one or all of these helpful tips to your routine. Keeping your phone battery life good doesn’t have to be a struggle. By giving your phone a good evaluation, you can easily check and see which apps and programs you might be better off without. It is also helpful to double check that extra features like your phone screen brightness are turned down to help phone battery life even more.

These useful phone hacks are sure to keep your phone battery optimal when you find yourself on the go. Avoid any scary situations of not having a means to navigate, or at times, even translate. When you plan ahead and strategize ways to help your phone battery life, it might be surprising just how much of an impact the little things make. Go ahead and start conserving your smartphone’s energy today.

Related Article: Best Portable Phone Charger: A Travel Accessory For Your On The Go Lifestyle