To know a tablet is to love it - except when the low battery notification comes on! With their large, bright screens, fast processing power; brilliant graphics, multiple connectivity options and apps galore, a tablet's battery is under constant assault. If you're usually near a power source - then no problem. But if you frequently take your tablet out and about, please consider these five tips to ensure that you and your tablet are still working well at day's end.
Think Right not Bright
A tablet's screen consumes enormous energy. The bigger and brighter the screen, the more energy it has to use to power all of the pixels. Turn off auto brightness and manually lower the screen's brightness to the lowest level that's comfortable for use in the situation you're in. This will considerably increase the device's battery life. Also adjust your tablet's settings so that the screen turns off more efficiently. Under settings, reduce the amount of time that passes without use before the display turns off and the tablet locks. Adjust the amount of time to be as short as realistically possible for the greatest battery life boost.
Control Connectivity
Many tablets offer multiple connectivity options - Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth are common combinations. Even when the connectivity option isn't being used the tablet will keep scanning regularly for a connection, to be ready for your command. That uses energy uselessly and if there isn't a connection of a certain type available, the device just tries harder to find one. Turn off the connectivity options that you use only rarely and if you aren't in need of a connection at all, activate Airplane mode. Even when a specific connectivity option is disabled, some tablets will continue to search for a connection. If yours does this, you'll have to look under “settings” and disable “scanning” for that connectivity option.
Notify Me Not
To get the most from your battery life, you'll need to tell apps to disable push notifications. While push notifications can provide convenient updates from various apps, these updates are automatically pulled anytime the device is connected to the Internet and that can have a clear impact on battery life. On most tablets, you have to turn off notifications for each individual app.
Where are you?
GPS uses a significant amount of power to find your location. GPS technology also goes beyond Google Maps or other map applications; it also can be used to give specific apps access to your location. Make sure to disable location reporting and location history as well as any other location services in order to limit energy consumption. Depending on your personal perspective and requirements, this can also enhance your personal security as those apps won't be able to track you.
Apps Gobble Energy
Some apps are real turkeys when it comes to energy consumption. Many tablets have a power consumption option under “settings, battery usage,” showing which apps are high energy consumers. Don't let such apps run in the background. Close them or even uninstall them if they aren't useful. It will give your battery a boost.
