DIGITAL LIFE

Here are 5 tips to ensure greater autonomy and, most importantly, a longer battery life for your smartphone

With temperatures rising and the summer season just around the corner, trips to the beach and country walks are starting to become part of our routines. This means more photos of little feet in the sand, children's first baths and "food selfies" captured on seaside terraces.

Using your smartphone on very hot days is dangerous for the battery's performance, as it can overheat and be damaged, degrading and losing battery life. It's an old piece of advice, but it's worth remembering: never leave your smartphone in the sun on a table on a terrace.

Avoid using it for too long when the temperature is high. You might say that you're "just" browsing the internet, but in order to do that, the modem heats up the device, not to mention the 5G processing of the latest models. The high brightness of the screen to compensate for direct sunlight to see the content and the artificial intelligence NPUs help to eat up the battery, especially when used in hot weather.

In this sense, learn 5 essential tips to keep your battery healthy and use it for longer. Whether you're at the beach, in the countryside or at home.

1 – Do you really need to use fast charging?...Fast charging is here to stay and is excellent for when we forget to check the battery and have to leave in a hurry. A few minutes of charging and you can get hours of use. However, this turbo mode overheats the battery and keeps it under strain while charging. Therefore, if it is not necessary, use a USB charger on your computer, for example. It takes longer, but it charges effortlessly.

2 – Neither 8 nor 80: don't charge to the maximum and don't drain the battery...Smartphone manufacturers such as Apple and technology companies in general have warned users to never let their devices charge to 100%. And they even offer software options that “freeze” the charge at 80 or 90%. You may not have that much battery for the whole day, but this represents greater long-term health.

You should also avoid letting your smartphone drop below 20%. When it reaches this level, the iPhone asks if you want to turn on Low Power Mode, this is to prevent the rest of the battery from disappearing before you have time to charge it. So, the ideal is to charge between 20 and 80% to keep the battery healthy.

3 – Do not use your smartphone for too long in environments with extreme temperatures...As mentioned in the introduction, using your smartphone in places with direct and hot sunlight, such as the beach and countryside, causes the equipment to overheat and thus the battery “evaporates” quickly. But it’s not just the heat, the cold also has a negative effect on the battery.

Apple recommends using the iPhone between temperatures of 16º and 22º Celsius. Temperatures above 35°C can put your device at risk and even cause permanent damage to its battery life. Charging your smartphone in this hot environment can also be fatal. Just as you shouldn't use or charge your smartphone at temperatures below minus 20°C, you should pay attention when you're on a snowy vacation.

4 – Avoid keeping the protective case on while charging...Protective cases are excellent for protecting smartphones from falls, but they can block the cooling points. Apple itself warns about this detail, warning that certain cases can generate excess heat when charging, generating an increase in heat that can affect the battery's capacity. If you notice that your smartphone is getting hot while charging, remove the case immediately.

5 – Keep your smartphone updated and check which apps are using the most battery...In addition to fixing bugs and vulnerabilities, updates can also focus on software optimizations to improve its performance and thus increase battery life. That's why you should always keep your device updated with the latest versions.

On the other hand, you should always check which apps are using the most energy. Both iOS and Android smartphones now offer the ability to list apps by energy consumption. This way, you can quickly check which apps are draining your battery. To see this on iOS, go to Settings and choose Battery. You'll find that there are apps that continue to consume energy when they're not in active use. You should therefore turn off those that you don't need and that consume more energy in the background.

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