Don't let your apps fall behind the times
Keep your apps updated. There's a reason developers constantly update apps, and many of these reasons are memory and battery optimizations. Keeping your apps updated also means you have the best optimizations available. Likewise, delete old apps you no longer use, as these may be running background processes that chew up RAM and battery life.
Use your battery saving mode, now!
If your phone has a battery or power saving mode or other battery management option, make use of it.
Explore the battery saving features on your phone
All ROMs, whether it's stock Android, OEM UI's like TouchWiz or custom ROMs like CyanogenMod, have various settings in the menu to help conserve or optimize battery consumption here and there. Find these various options for your device and ROM and make them work for you!
Choose when you sync your data
Turn off auto-syncing for Google accounts. If you don't need every single Google account updated every fifteen minutes, just go into your Settings and Google account and turn off auto-sync for those apps you don't need constantly updated
Be the master of your app updates
Set apps to update only when you launch them. If you rarely (or very frequently) open an app, it might be better to only have it update when you do so, rather than updating automatically all the time via push notifications or sync intervals. If you only check email once a day, why not let the app update then only, and if you're on a widget or app every couple of hours anyway then why not have it update each time rather than every fifteen minutes when you're not even looking at it.
Be app update savvy in the Google Play Store
Change your Google Play Store settings to manual update your apps. If you have the Play Store set to auto-update, you might have fifteen apps updating when you least expect it, destroying your battery life (and data plan) without you realizing it. If you use even half of these battery saving tips you'll see a marked improvement in your battery life.
Turn off Google hotwords
Stop your phone from always listening. Google's "Ok Google" voice searching is a fantastic and often very functional feature. The problem is that it can play havoc with your battery. Go into "Google settings" from your app drawer and tap the "voice" heading. On the next page, select '"Ok Google' detection". In this menu, the best option for battery life would be to untick all boxed, but if you are a fan of "Ok Google", tick only the "From Google Search app" box to ensure your device is only primed while in the Google app.
Get rid of animations
Disable animations. This process may differ slightly from device to device but the crux of it should remain the same. Go to your settings and to the "about phone" page. Tap on the "build number" around 7 times. You will be notified that you have become an "Android developer" (don't worry, enabling the Android developer options doesn't have any adverse affects, it just adds another option in your settings menu). Go back to your settings and tap on the newly inserted "developer options" menu at the bottom. On the next page, scroll down to where it says "window animation scale," "transition animation scale" and "animator duration scale", and switch all of these off. Your device's interface may no=longer look as pretty, but the battery life will be better.
You can activate the Developer options by tapping on the build number several times. Once it has given you a pop up message that it's activated, you can reduce the animation scales to zero.
Make your location services more battery-friendly too!
Turning off location services isn't just a fantastic way to save on your battery, it saves on your data plan too! Go into your settings and you will find "location" under the "personal" heading - tap on it. At the top of the next page it you will see "mode" in this menu you will be able to set the options for how your smartphone determines your location. Select "battery saving" on the following page.
Keep your apps updated. There's a reason developers constantly update apps, and many of these reasons are memory and battery optimizations. Keeping your apps updated also means you have the best optimizations available. Likewise, delete old apps you no longer use, as these may be running background processes that chew up RAM and battery life.
Use your battery saving mode, now!
If your phone has a battery or power saving mode or other battery management option, make use of it.
Explore the battery saving features on your phone
All ROMs, whether it's stock Android, OEM UI's like TouchWiz or custom ROMs like CyanogenMod, have various settings in the menu to help conserve or optimize battery consumption here and there. Find these various options for your device and ROM and make them work for you!
Choose when you sync your data
Turn off auto-syncing for Google accounts. If you don't need every single Google account updated every fifteen minutes, just go into your Settings and Google account and turn off auto-sync for those apps you don't need constantly updated
Be the master of your app updates
Set apps to update only when you launch them. If you rarely (or very frequently) open an app, it might be better to only have it update when you do so, rather than updating automatically all the time via push notifications or sync intervals. If you only check email once a day, why not let the app update then only, and if you're on a widget or app every couple of hours anyway then why not have it update each time rather than every fifteen minutes when you're not even looking at it.
Be app update savvy in the Google Play Store
Change your Google Play Store settings to manual update your apps. If you have the Play Store set to auto-update, you might have fifteen apps updating when you least expect it, destroying your battery life (and data plan) without you realizing it. If you use even half of these battery saving tips you'll see a marked improvement in your battery life.
Turn off Google hotwords
Stop your phone from always listening. Google's "Ok Google" voice searching is a fantastic and often very functional feature. The problem is that it can play havoc with your battery. Go into "Google settings" from your app drawer and tap the "voice" heading. On the next page, select '"Ok Google' detection". In this menu, the best option for battery life would be to untick all boxed, but if you are a fan of "Ok Google", tick only the "From Google Search app" box to ensure your device is only primed while in the Google app.
Get rid of animations
Disable animations. This process may differ slightly from device to device but the crux of it should remain the same. Go to your settings and to the "about phone" page. Tap on the "build number" around 7 times. You will be notified that you have become an "Android developer" (don't worry, enabling the Android developer options doesn't have any adverse affects, it just adds another option in your settings menu). Go back to your settings and tap on the newly inserted "developer options" menu at the bottom. On the next page, scroll down to where it says "window animation scale," "transition animation scale" and "animator duration scale", and switch all of these off. Your device's interface may no=longer look as pretty, but the battery life will be better.
You can activate the Developer options by tapping on the build number several times. Once it has given you a pop up message that it's activated, you can reduce the animation scales to zero.
Make your location services more battery-friendly too!
Turning off location services isn't just a fantastic way to save on your battery, it saves on your data plan too! Go into your settings and you will find "location" under the "personal" heading - tap on it. At the top of the next page it you will see "mode" in this menu you will be able to set the options for how your smartphone determines your location. Select "battery saving" on the following page.
