Smartphone batteries suck. There actually is no other way to put it.

Thanks to the increase in technological advancements like larger screen size, more powerful 3D graphics adapters for mobile gaming, more powerful processors, the average battery life has decreased. Let’s not even touch on the topic of 4G and how horribly it drains your battery.

The more you use your phone, and the more you do on your phone, the less time you have before it needs to be plugged into a charger. With certain phone models, it can even seem as if you are being punished for using your device. Use it for an hour or two and the battery slowly widdles down to nothing.

Many people have no clue that there are ways to increase your battery life, without actually buying a new phone or an additional battery. The tips we are about to share won’t tack on hours of continuous battery life, but they will give you that extra time you need to make it to a battery charger.

How to Improve Battery Life

Turn off 4G

The best way to increase battery life is to disconnect your 4G data connection. Most 4G phones allow you to choose between different cellular connections, by turning off 4G and using lucid ol’ 3G.

Not every phone brand has the ability to turn 4G connectivity off, so some of you may be stuck with it draining your battery. Though, there is not much you can do about it if that is the case.

A lot of times, 4G can seriously deplete the battery because there are less 4G towers, which means the phone is constantly working harder to get a signal. Especially in service areas where 4G is not available, turning 4G connectivity off can significantly enhance battery life.

You should also turn off your Wi-Fi radio in areas where you are not using wireless connectivity. It will improve battery life as well, because then the phone is not constantly searching for a Wi-Fi network.

Turn Down Your Screen Brightness

Believe it or not, the brighter your screen is, the more battery juice it uses, especially if you’re constantly using your phone. Don’t allow the phone to adjust brightness levels automatically, turn off that setting if you have it. Change the phone’s display to the lowest brightness level possible and this will increase your battery life significantly. In some cases, changing your brightness level will make it more difficult to see the screen, but if you’re looking to increase battery life remember this: beggars can’t be choosers.

Android: Don’t Use Task-Killer Apps

Task-killer apps actually do nothing for your performance. Sure, it might make your OCD tendencies stop flaring so badly, but closing an app down without letting the system do it can be a lousy idea. Android is designed to close apps natively, in order to free up system resources, so even if you don’t have a task killer – the apps will be terminated by the OS.

It is possible that a task killer can affect device performance negatively. It goes without saying, that having such an app constantly running also drains your battery.

Turn Off Haptic Feedback

You know how your phone simulates button presses by vibrating when you touch the screen? That feature is called haptic feedback, and it most certainly drains the battery. Turn it off.

Download & Install Carat

Carat is a relatively new app that analyzes your phone, and the software you have installed, in order to create a realistic performance profile. Basically, it scans for apps that drain battery life and cause issues with performance on your mobile device. Carat can even search for resource hogs and will allow you to stop them directly within the app.

Carat was actually developed by a team of M.S. and Ph.D scientists from UC Berkeley’s Algorithms, Machines, and People Laboratory (AMP Lab) with the sole purpose of improving battery life of smartphones. Needless to say, it can be quite the pivotal tool for improving the overall battery life of a mobile device.

Carat is available for iPhone and Android.

Other Ways to Improve Battery Life

Of course, there are plenty of other ways to increase battery life that don’t have anything to do with phone software or mobile apps.

You can buy a portable battery charger which inherently holds a charge and allows you to juice up your device on the go. We have actually covered some fantastic portable battery chargers in the past, so make sure you check it out when you have the opportunity.

You can also purchase an extended battery for your phone, which usually holds nearly double or triple the amount of juice that a standard battery does. Most of the time though, an extended battery has to be compatible with the model of your phone and will come bundled with a new rear phone compartment because extended batteries are larger and tend to stick out further.