How to Stop Apps from Draining Battery on Android: 3-Step Process

Android phones have come a long way in terms of battery technology, with most flagship devices now easily lasting through a full day of use. However, you may still find that your Android phone’s battery life is not as good as you would like.

Certain apps can be real battery hogs, using up precious juice in the background when you’re not actively using them. In this blog post, we’ll explain why some apps drain more battery than others, how to identify the culprits, and provide tips to stop apps from draining your Android battery.

How to Stop Apps from Draining Battery on Android

Why Apps Drain Battery?

There are a few key reasons why certain Android apps are more battery-hungry:

  1. Location Services – Any app that actively tracks your location or uses GPS will consume more battery. Social media apps, maps/navigation apps, and weather apps tend to use location services.
  2. Syncing Data – Apps that sync data in the background, like email, messaging, and social media apps, will drain battery as they continually connect to the internet to send and receive updates.
  3. Display Usage – The more an app uses the screen through video, graphics and animations, the more battery it will consume. Video streaming apps, games, and video calling apps tend to be display-intensive.
  4. Background Processes – Even when you’re not actively using them, apps can still be running processes in the background which drain system resources and battery. Badly designed apps are often the culprit.

Step 1: Identify Battery Draining Apps

The first step is to figure out which apps are using the most battery.

  1. Go to Settings and then Battery to view battery usage over the last 24 hours.
  2. The apps are listed from highest to lowest battery usage percentage. Pay attention to any apps using an unusually high amount of battery in the background.
  3. Tap on the app to view detailed usage stats. Check how much time the app has been active in the foreground vs background.
  4. Take note of the biggest battery draining offenders (mainly that have high background usage). You’ll optimize these apps first in the next steps.

Check how much time the app has been active in the foreground vs background.

Step 2: Restrict Background Battery Usage

Apps that refresh content, sync data, or send notifications in the background can significantly drain the battery. You can restrict background usage for these apps:

  1. Go back to the Battery screen and tap the menu icon (3 vertical dots).
  2. Tap “Battery optimization” or “Background restriction” depending on your Android version.
  3. Tap the app you want to adjust and select “Restrict”, “Optimized”, or “Unrestricted” based on your preference. (Some phones have only two options).
    • Restrict prevents nearly all background activity.
    • Optimized allows some background activity based on your usage of the app. This is the best option for most apps.
    • Unrestricted permits complete background activity but will drain more battery.

Repeat for other apps that show high background usage in your battery stats. Restricting background activity can greatly improve battery life.

Tap the app you want to adjust and select "Restrict", "Optimized", or "Unrestricted" based on your preference.

Step 3: Adjust Location Settings

Location services like GPS are another major source of battery drain on Android.

  1. Go to Settings and then Location.
  2. Toggle location services OFF completely, or review the list of apps under “App permission” and toggle location access off per app.
  3. Consider toggling Wi-Fi/Bluetooth scanning OFF as well since these features use location in the background.

Review the list of apps under "App permission" and toggle location access off per app.

Also Read: How To Fix Optimized Battery Charging Not Working

Be vigilant in monitoring your battery usage and restricting battery-hungry apps. With a few adjustments, you can significantly extend your Android phone’s battery life per charge. If you have any queries or suggestions, do let us know in the comments section below.

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