Sunday, January 31, 2016

Apple’s latest earnings have good news for Google

Apple_Store_Carrousel_du_Louvre,_18_March_2011

Depending on where one looks, Apple either had the best quarter ever at the end of last year, or else has finally started to come down from its high horse of smartphone sales. While the company did manage to make more money than ever before – $18 billion dollars in profit is no small sum – when details emerged about iPhone sales in an earnings call with CEO Tim Cook earlier this week, the big take away was that – save for China – iOS phone sales declined in every market. In contrast – save for China – Android sales have surged.

Indeed reports have been coming down the line for some time now that iPad sales have begun to slow over the past years, and many felt Apple charged too prominent a premium for its iPad Pro, released last fall, which has a comparable cost to an standard MacBook or higher end mobile PC. The fact that the product's stylus, the Apple Pencil, was not included with the purchase only further intensified this situation for some, as did the high price for the Pencil.

Despite the high profits however, there is seemingly a big blend of trouble brewing at Cupertino when it comes to money to be made going forward. This piece will consider the details surrounding Apple's current situation, explain why Google's strategy is proving to be more successful, and evaluate how the marketplace metrics might look come this time next year.

apple-store-line

People line up for iPhones, but will this trend continue for the foreseeable future?

Kaesler Media / Shutterstock.com

The spin is in

It should surprise no one that, despite data suggesting otherwise, Apple was more than willing to spin the situation the company is in. Mr. Tim Cook presented the case as follows: Hordes of Android users are switching over to iPhones, and that the company – when considering the total number of iPhone users prior to the release of the 6 and 6 Plus – has a major majority of potential customers who have not yet even upgraded to an iPhone 6/6 Plus or iPhone 6S/6S Plus. Specifically:

"We were blown away by the level of Android switchers that we had last quarter. It was the highest ever by far. And so we see that as a huge opportunity…The number of people who had an iPhone prior to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus announcements — and so this was in September of 2014 that have not yet upgraded to a 6, 6 Plus or 6s or 6s Plus is now 60%. So, another way to think about that is 40% have, 60% have not."

The problem is that, despite the spirited talk, data provided by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech indicates something far different is going on as far as Apple's smartphone sales are concerned: Google's undisputed dominance. In fact, the chief of research at Kantar, Carolina Milanesi, had the following to say:

Apple loyalty in the U.S. is at its highest since 2012, reinforcing the fact that customer retention is not an issue. However, customer acquisition from Android has gone from 13% in 4Q14 to 11% in 4Q15, and the contribution that first-time smartphone buyers make to Apple overall sales numbers went from 20% to 11% over that same period.

Thus despite Tim Cook boasting about impressive side shifting from Android to iOS, the numbers are actually declining. The following data from Kantar illustrates the point quite clearly:

kantar-december-2015-2

Curious how, save for China, all countries listed above saw iOS sales decrease. This goes a long way to illustrate the belief that Apple's golden days of smartphone sales may be at an end. As Business Insider pointed out in a recent piece, there is additional evidence to support this claim via Raymond James research:

screen shot 2016-01-27 at 10.43.58

The above graph shows that Android has gradually reached new heights over the past few years, whereas Apple on the other hand, has never managed to regain the peak it once did in the Fall of 2013 when the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C released.

There will inevitably be a number of Android users who make the switch to Apple's ecosystem. Some of them, like Joshua Vergara, will switch back to Android, but most probably won't. Does it make sense? Sure. Consider that before 2014, Apple didn't have a larger screen iPhone, and thus there are untold numbers of customers who basically "caved" and went to Google's mobile OS simply out of a desire to use a larger product.

For those who switched and were unhappy with Android, or else still found iOS to be more to their liking, it would have made perfect sense to revert back to Apple's camp when the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus released. But then again, those who were on contracts may have just waited until the 6S and 6S Plus landed. Anyone who gave in at the launch of the iPhone 5S in 2013 would have thus reached the end of their contract when Q4 2015 dawned.

Even so, data from Raymond James suggests that even if Android users are "jumping ship" there isn't enough to make a difference as the current trend shows increasing loyalty for Google's OS while Apple paradoxically is experiencing a downshift:

screen shot 2016-01-27 at 10.44.09

It could very well be that, perhaps surprisingly, now that Apple's big screen smartphone debut is behind it, customers are finally starting to get fed up with the limitations of the hardware and software. This could be the lack of widgets, the closed ecosystem, the high prices, the lack of "normal" NFC, the design or any number of other possibilities. In a sense, now that customers with "size envy" have gotten what they wanted, they suddenly find themselves realizing they are tired of the iPhone altogether.

The size factor itself

Another factor that may be contributing to the "end" of Apple's smartphone sales stronghold is the size factor itself. In any given place, look around and chances are there will be someone – perhaps many people – who are still using an iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, or iPhone 5C. Chances are also high that, if asked, these users will indicate they have not chosen to upgrade because (1) their current phone still works, (2) their contract isn't up, or (3) they don't want a large screen iPhone, be if the 6 or the 6 Plus.

samsung galaxy s6 vs apple iphone 6 aa (5 of 29)

In an almost ironic twist of fate, by "going big" Apple has turned its back on countless iOS fans who once loved the company because it still made small smartphones. This mentality is largely behind the rumors that continue to surface about Apple launching a new 4-inch smartphone, now referred to as the iPhone 5SE. The idea is that the device will be essentially an iPhone 5S but with more modern internals.

While this could definitely go a long way to help Apple's sales, the chances are less likely given that such a product will inevitably be sold at a lower price point than the 6S and 6S Plus. Meanwhile, there are countless Android products in any number of given sizes and form factors that accommodate the needs of those who feel "displaced" by Cupertino.

A victim of its own success

The final consideration of Apple's iPhone sales may also ultimately stem from the fact that the iPhone Plus may have been "all that and a cup of coffee" and as such there was less of a burning desire to update last year. This goes even further when one considers the idea that 3D Touch is arguably nothing more than a desperate marketing gimmick. To put it one way, for all but the most adamant of supporters, Apple may have already "peaked" in terms of its mainstream users mindset; once people have their basic needs met, there is far less utility value in seeking to satisfy minor quibbles.

On the other hand, when looking at Android, manufactures like Samsung have – almost ironically so – made a case for upgrading simply from the use of metal and glass. The Galaxy S6 was the first Samsung phone of its kind, and that had people talking about it endlessly. To this day customers still debate the decision to remove microSD and a user-replaceable battery. How fitting then, that the Galaxy S7, which will launch in under a month, is rumored to include microSD support and possibly be waterproof to boot. Samsung has created its own way to keep consumers coming back on a bi-annual cycle.

apple 3d touch

Likewise, even Google is getting in on the game. Last year saw the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P. This pair of products met two different types of consumer's needs, as well as added major functionality in terms of the Nexus Imprint fingerprint sensor, granular permissions along with a number of other OS tweaks. This year has only just begun and already rumors are surfacing about the potential for HTC to make new Nexus devices.

The Android anomaly

Based on the data contained in this piece, it would indeed seem logical to say that Android OEMs are raking in the cash. Yet this is exactly what is not happening. Samsung, for example, had an unfavorable Q4 2015, as did LG. Unsurprisingly, poor smartphone sales factored into both equations. Even Xiaomi, which has been seen as an unstoppable juggernaut in China, failed to meet the lofty sales expectations it set for itself. So the question is, if Android is doing better than ever before, where is the money going?

Unfortunately with so many products and OEMS – The Wall Street Journal claimed there were over 1000 last year – it is difficult for any one to make an unprecedented , obscene profit compared with the situation just a few years ago. The average price is going down, the average specs are going up, and much like it was argued earlier, just like with Apple, many existing users may be satisfied with what they have now.

Midrange smartphones 2015-7

The real "money" may yet to be made though, as Apple has finally, essentially, admitted that pricing considerations are now being taken into account with respect to customer spending. In addressing the issue of Cupertinio's anticipated 11% decline in revenue for Q1 2016, the company's CFO, Luca Maestri, said:

"Inevitably over time, higher prices affect demand and so we're capturing that in our guidance. So, I would say these are the major reasons and the drivers for the guidance on revenue."

Tim Cook expanded on this sentiment, explaining that:

"I think you can tell from the numbers that Luca is talking about just on the currency side and that's before thinking through the effect that price increases can sometimes have on the business over a period of time, it's clear that the economic piece is large."

Because Apple's customers may have finally found satisfaction with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, because Android products are getting cheaper yet Apple products are either remaining the same or in many markets getting more expensive due to local pricing issues and exchange rates, it finally seems as if Apple's golden days have peaked. If the company refuses to lower its obscenely high profit margins – the likes of which allow it to have 95% of the industry's profits – it's possible users will simply switch to Android when the time comes to upgrade.

The switch

Just looking at how mid-range devices have become mini powerhouses in their own regards last year, it would follow that they will only get more and more powerful. If the average consumer is faced with the prospect of getting another $700 iPhone, or getting a $200 Android device that has similar if not better – specs come next year, why would they stick with the iPhone?

The Apple brand? Sure. But if the company's star is starting to fall, that brand may not hold nearly as much value come 2017. The ecosystem? Possibly, but many users don't buy apps and thus can get the same free ones with Android. The design? Maybe, but then again products like the Galaxy A7 and countless offerings from Chinese OEMs all use premium parts yet cost less than an iPhone.

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Wrap Up

Suffice to say, Apple is facing some very tough competition as 2016 gets started. The company is looking at a double-digit decrease in revenue predicted for Q1 2016. It admits that over 60% of its customer base has not updated to a new iPhone since the iPhone 5S/5C era. It admits that price is now factoring into customer's buying considerations. It is facing diminished product loyalty and sales growth. All this while Android has seen an almost universal increase in sales growth and an increase in loyalty.

This almost certainly means that Apple with either aggressively try to compete with its rivals, or else continue to do its own thing and watch as its market share and brand value erodes once again while its chief competitor reaps the benefits. At the same time, rumors of the company developing a self-driving car and now even a VR headset seemingly make greater sense as the company tries to literally create – or perhaps just innovate – the next big profit center for its emerging empire.

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Interestingly enough however, various companies have already jumped onto VR, everyone from Sony to HTC to Facebook to Samsung to even Google. And likewise self-driving cars are already well into planning stages by some companies. It is quite feasible that, unlike the iPhone and iPad where Apple "gave" the world the "new" product formats, its future business models will be based on the "me too" approach taken by the Apple Watch – which released months after Android Wear was introduced and especially after the original Galaxy Gear hit, and even the iPhone 6 Plus.

Of course, to Apple's credit, with some of these products – namely the wearable segment and large screen tablet – much of the industry's actions seem like trying to preempt Apple itself. The question will then become who can make the product(s) that sell the best. While several years ago it would arguably be Apple hands down, with new product genres it's anyone's guess given that Cupertino's smartphones may have finally reached the pinnacle of their (sales) performance power. 2016 will be interesting, indeed.



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It’s official: Galaxy S7 is launching on February 21

galaxy s7 unpacked 2016

Folks, it's set in stone: the Galaxy S7 is launching on Sunday, February 21, 2016.

Samsung sent out invites to members of the press for its February 21 Unpacked 2016 event and there's no doubt that we will get to see the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. The event will start at 7PM Barcelona time, on the same day LG plans to take the veils off its G5, ahead of MWC 2016. Two top Android flagships in one day, and Android Authority will be there to cover them both in detail.

Full details on the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge specs, features and release – rumor roundup

While the invite itself is rather cryptic, Samsung put out a short teaser clip featuring its Gear VR headset. It's possible that virtual reality will be incorporated somehow in the launch or that Samsung is preparing an announcement on this front.

No teasers yet about the Galaxy S7, but thanks to the rumor mill, we have a good idea of what to expect. Full details are available in our rumor roundup linked above, but at least in terms of design you should expect something very similar to the Galaxy S6, with an all-black version to spice it up.

As for the actual Galaxy S7 release date, March 11 is when the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge will be available in stores in the US and Europe, and presumably more markets from around the world. That's according to reports by @evleaks and assuming that everything goes to plan.

There were rumors that Samsung would release the Galaxy S7 early –  indeed, last year the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge hit the stores almost a month later than the rumored March 11 release of the S7.

There's been some confusion regarding a third version, Galaxy S7 Plus, possibly launching at MWC, but our current understanding is that only the 5.1-inch Galaxy S7 and 5.5-inch Galaxy S7 Edge are coming on February 21.

MWC is cementing its status as the most important mobile event in the world, with four major devices set to debut in Barcelona. Besides the Galaxy S7 and LG G5, Huawei is rumored to introduce the P9, while Xiaomi's Hugo Barra will be on stage on February 24 to show the world the brand new Mi 5.

Three weeks left to Galaxy S7 launch date! Who's excited?



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India's mobile phone production hits the 100 million mark in 2015

Mobile phone production in India has crossed the 100 million mark in 2015, with major companies like Samsung boosting their local manufacturing efforts. All Samsung devices sold in the country are assembled locally, and the government's "Make in India" initiative is making it easier for international vendors to set up shop in India.

From Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad:

Today, I am happy to announce that in December, Rs 1.14 lakh crore investment has come in electronic manufacturing in India. We have attracted around 15 new mobile plants. Earlier in 2014, 68 million (mobile phones) were being manufactured and now 100 million are being manufactured.

All the major companies in the world namely Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Nidec, Samsung, Bosch, Jabil, Flextronics, Continental are in India besides all the top Indian companies who are already here.

Government has made sincere efforts to boost mobile phone production in the country. The new investment has created 30,000 new jobs in the country and state governments have shown keen interest in attracting these investments

The hardware components for the mobiles being assembled are still sourced from outside the country, but bringing the final assembly and packaging processes to India allows vendors to get their wares into consumers' hands faster. Establishing assembly lines is also the first step in getting the hardware manufacturing ecosystem off the ground, which will eventually lead to setting up factories that can produce hardware locally.

Over 100 million Indians made their way to the internet for the first time over the course of the last year, with the total number of internet-connected users now at 400 million. That figure is set to reach the 500 million mark shortly, which means there's a lot of room for growth for brands — both international and local.

Source: Times of India












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The Moto X Force launches in India on Feb. 1 — here's the livestream!

The Moto X Force — think of it as the international version of the Droid Turbo 2 we know here in the states — launches in India on Feb. 1. While it'll be the small hours in North America, we've still got you covered for this one, both with the above livestream, as well as with our Indian contingent on the ground.

Stay tuned Monday for more!












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Samsung Announces Unpacked Event On February 21st To Unveil The Galaxy S7

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Samsung has had its own dedicated Unpacked events in recent years to talk about its new flagship phones, but this year it's doing the deed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Unpacked and the probable Galaxy S7 announcement is now official for Sunday, February 21st at 6PM local time (CET). That works out to noon on the east coast in the US.

Samsung's teaser video doesn't tease very much. There's a floating cube, someone using a Gear VR, and a hashtag.

Read More

Samsung Announces Unpacked Event On February 21st To Unveil The Galaxy S7 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.





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How to extend your Android’s battery life

ZTE Blade S6 Plus aa battery

Sure, we call our Android devices "phones," but the modern smartphone is so wildly different from that curly-corded contraption mounted to your grandmother's kitchen wall that we'd probably be more accurate calling them Personal Computers if the name wasn't already taken. All the processing power and computing ability that our handsets deliver us are increasingly impressive, but these come at a cost. We're starting to expect more and more out of our devices every year, but developments in battery longevity haven't kept pace with other technological advances. Maybe that's why one of the most common questions we see is, "How can I extend my Android's battery life?"

I'll give you the tl;dr right off the bat: if you really want to stretch your battery life, the approach that makes the most impact is to lower your screen's brightness and kill anything you aren't actively using. Basic resource management goes a long way, and since your display is almost certainly the biggest battery hog no matter what device you're using, cutting its effect on your battery will improve battery life across the board.

ZTE Blade S6 Plus aa batterySee also: Google is pursuing the development of next-gen battery technology15

That said, there are still tons of tweaks and fixes you can use to really wring the most out of your battery. We'll be going into detail for each of these, and we'll be moving at a pace that even tech-unsavvy newcomers to the Android operating system can follow. So if you find yourself nodding and saying to yourself, "Yeah, yeah, I already know this stuff," then feel free to skip on ahead. If you're a serious, long-time user, you probably won't find much here you don't already know, but a refresher never hurts!

So without further ado, here is absolutely everything you need to know about getting the most out of your battery life, from routine maintenance to rooting and underclocking.

Turn off things you aren't really using

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When you leave your home, do you leave all the lights on, crank the heater to the max, and leave the TV blaring? Of course not! Electricity costs money, and basic economics means that most people have the common sense to turn off household appliances and lights when they aren't in use.

The same principle applies to your phone, but instead of paying for your irresponsibility with an energy bill at the end of the month, you're paying with a dead battery by 5pm. Let's take a look at some of the lights you may have been leaving on.

Connectivity features

These guys are big culprits. If you want to conserve power, then you should always turn off your Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Location (GPS) when you aren't actively using them. If you're want to be really aggressive with control over your battery, you might even want to experiment with disabling your mobile network connection when you know you won't be using it as well.

Many users leave these features running all day without really thinking about it. Turning on Airplane Mode will knock out all of them in one fell swoop. Airplane Mode isn't just for when you're airborne, however. If you're in an area where cell service is patchy, your phone can expend a lot of battery power trying to get the best connection it can. Turning on Airplane Mode or turning off your mobile data in favor of an available Wi-Fi network can make all the difference in the world. If you have the choice between using Wi-Fi or cell signal, always choose Wi-Fi, all other things equal. Wi-Fi drains far less battery than cellular service.

Shut down vibration

Vibration is wonderful if you're in a situation in which you wouldn't normally be able to hear your cell phone, such as being on the road. For many people, the subtlety of vibrating notifications is indispensable in their workplace (if you're a lawyer, you can't exactly have Crazy Frog going off every time you get a text message down at the firm).

>However, smartphone vibrations aren't conjured from magical resonating crystals. To produce the effect, your device has to spin up a small vibration motor every time, which can be really draining on your battery. This goes for haptic feedback as well, that light buzzing your phone may produce when you tap keys on your on-screen keyboard. If you really want to maximize battery life, you should minimize your phone's jiggliness.

Kill apps when you leave them?

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For a long time, app-killing apps were all the rage. Frustrated with laggy user experience, Android users of the days of yore began using all kinds of task managers to eliminate the apps they thought were hogging resources.

The problem is, these task killers became unnecessary even before they really got popular. Android has gotten really good at managing its own memory, and most of the apps that you murder this way will just spring right back to life. If anything, app killers suck battery rather than conserve it.

But there's a new feature that's been available since Android 4.0: the Recent Apps menu. Although this feature's primary intent is to make swapping between apps faster, it is also possible to "swipe away" apps. Some myths have cropped up that it's good practice to pull up the Recent Apps menu and swipe away any apps you aren't using, effectively killing them.

Android Settings Battery killer appSee also: Android customization – improve battery life, identify battery killer apps13

This just isn't true. For one, swiping away recent apps does not kill them. It is a good way to get an app to stop misbehaving (for example, if a Facebook photo gets stuck uploading, then swiping away the app will tell Facebook to cancel this action), but the apps you see on this list are not actively running in the background. The Recent Apps menu is nothing like the Task Manager on your PC, it's just a visual catalogue to help you navigate your apps easier.

In the modern age of Android's maturity, there's no reason that killing apps should be a part of your everyday use of the device. Sometimes it's possible for apps to go rogue and start hogging resources, but those are the kind of devils you want to put down for good. If part of your regular use of your phone involves app killing, you're probably depleting battery life rather than saving it.

Automate it!

If the process of managing your connectivity services day in and day out makes you groan, then start working smart instead of hard. It's a smartphone, after all.

We'll tackle these in order of increasing difficulty and involvement. First in the school of automation, we have…

IFTTT

IFTTT is a beautiful service that's great for non-programmers and first-time automators. Hell, it's powerful enough that even more hardcore users might prefer its elegance to rolling up their sleeves for more nuanced work.

The goal of IFTTT is to put the internet to work for you. The letters stand for "If This, Then That." Once you subscribe to their service on the website and download the Android app "IF," you can get your phone to do a variety of things without your active intervention.

For instance, you might activate your phone's "Location" channel. This will let IFTTT respond to your smartphone's location. Then you might tell IFTTT, "Okay, if I leave home, turn my Wi-Fi off." And then, likewise, "If I arrive home, turn my Wi-Fi on."

With a little creativity and forethought, you can quickly turn your phone into a fully automated, power-managing machine. IFTTT has a few pre-crafted recipes that you can try out to kind of get the feel for how it works. Once you play around with it for a little bit, you'll start to find all sorts of things to automate, even beyond the scope of your smartphone's battery life.

Get it now from Google Play

Tasker

For the more technically inclined, Tasker is an app that gives its users total control over their device. The level of precision and customization that this service brings to the table is frankly unparalleled, but it can be a little daunting to new users. Experience in at least rudimentary programming or logic may be preferable, but tutorials are available to bring just about anybody up to speed.

Tasker lets you create a variety of different contexts that change the way your device functions. For instance, you might configure your phone to stay on vibrate while you're at the office, but turn vibration off and activate Wi-Fi when you get home. The possibilities are endless, and if your phone is rooted, then you have even more options at your fingertips.

Get it now from Google Play

Greenify

Now, I mentioned that we would be walking through these in increasing levels of difficulty. However, the beauty of Greenify is that it's not actually difficult to operate at all. The app lets you "hibernate" pesky resource-hogging background apps, which effectively force-stops them.

Unfortunately, to really make the best use of Greenify's automated hibernation capabilities, you have to have root access to your device. If the idea of rooting your device is daunting to you, or if you don't even know what I'm talking about right now, then it's probably a good idea to stick with IFTTT or Tasker. If you've already rooted your device, then I'm certain I don't have to walk you through how to use Greenify. Grab it in the Google Play Store and give it a spin.

Get it now from Google Play

Use the internet intelligently

Google lus Chrome Custom Tabs teaser

Mobile traffic makes up an incredible amount of internet use worldwide, and even though this amount is expected to continue to rise, most people are still accessing the internet very inefficiently. As I mentioned briefly above, you should always choose Wi-Fi over cellular service. This will be easier on your data plan, sure, but even if you're on one of those grandfathered, unlimited data plans, you'll find that cell service hogs way more battery than Wi-Fi does.

However, just because your Wi-Fi receptor uses less battery than cellular service, it's still a good idea to disable your Wi-Fi when you aren't using it. Your phone is constantly searching for open connections while Wi-Fi is active, and that fruitless search can wreak havoc on your battery life.

Cut back on notifications

Nexus 6P Marshmallow Silent Mode notifications vibrate

You don't have to let your apps sync all of their data automatically. Choosing to do this manually, or to limit autosync to the apps that really need it, can seriously reduce power use.

Abandon auto synchronization

Auto Synchronization uses background processes that can eat into both your mobile data use and battery life. To turn it off, go to Settings > Accounts. Tap the three vertical dots in the upper right corner and uncheck "Auto-sync data." You can also manually adjust which apps sync and how frequently.

Use ad-free apps

Not only are ads annoying, but ferrying that vibrant, eye-catching content to your device takes energy. Using apps that don't use ads, or purchasing premium versions of apps that eschew ads, can drastically change how badly your battery takes a beating. If you use an app frequently, and it's sucking up your phone's life juice every day, consider upgrading or finding an ad-free alternative.

Adjust your display

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Here we come to it. The MacDaddy of all battery sappage. Your display.

Head over to Settings > Battery. You should see a list of services that use your battery in order from the most battery hungry to the least. Which one is at the top there? Odds are extremely good that you're looking at "Screen" by a large margin. Let's see if we can't make that display a little less demanding.

Dim your brightness

Well, that's kind of a no-brainer, isn't it? Full brightness might be necessary to see those texts under the full light of day, but why are you still running that setup after sunset? Tone it back a bit and use adaptive brightness or auto brightness depending on which version of Android you are running.

Decrease Animation Scale and Background Process

Time to get into some behind-the-scenes work here. To make these changes, we'll need to access the Developer Options menu in your settings. However, unless you've unlocked Developer Options before, you're not going to find them anywhere.

To unlock these options, go to Settings > About. Now tap on the Build number repeatedly until you get a notification saying that you have been promoted to Developer status. Congratulations!

Head back out to Settings, and you'll see a new item just above About: "Developer Options." Tap this item and scroll down quite a ways. Be careful with the things you change here, as you could significantly change the way your device functions. Stop when you Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator duration scale.  Each of these is likely currently set to Animation scale x1. Setting each of these to "Animation off" will not only slightly increase your battery life, but it may increase your phone's performance as well.

On this same menus, you can scroll further down to find Background Process Limit. By default, this is "Standard limit," but adjusting it to 3 or 4 processes can slightly increase your battery life and may improve performance as well.

Reduce auto-lock time

Again, since your screen is the biggest enemy to your battery, keeping it off as much as possible is crux. Go to Settings > Display and change your "Sleep" length to be as short as is feasible. 15 seconds is a good amount.

Optimize wallpapers and themes

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How your phone looks isn't just aesthetic. It can also affect how long your device can stay alive on a single charge.

Ditch live wallpapers

Yeah, that massive spiral galaxy slowly swirling in glowing tranquility looks great on display units, but in everyday life, these gorgeous backgrounds take processing power to animate. Ditch the koi pond and stick with something more power-friendly.

Embrace the darkness (maybe)

And what is a power-friendly wallpaper? That actually depends on what kind of display you have!

There are essentially two kinds of displays currently on the smartphone market. AMOLED and LED. AMOLED works by lighting up individual pixels to create images. LED works by having a backlight that is overlaid by a screen that shutters and displays the backlight to create pixels which compose images.

This leads us to a counter-intuitive conclusion. If you have an AMOLED display, using a black wallpaper is the most power-efficient because the display doesn't have to activate those pixels. They just get to rest. However, if you have an LED display, the most power-efficient option is a white wallpaper because the screen doesn't have to work to create the pixels. Strange but true.

samsung galaxy note 5 vs lg g4 quick look aa (3 of 10)See also: How black wallpaper can save your Android battery39

It should be noted, however, that the benefit of having a white background on an LED display is not as significant as the benefit of having a black background on an AMOLED display. If you're not sure which you have, it won't hurt much to err on the side of black.

Limit location services and background data

You could also squeeze a little bit more juice by turning off Location Services (usually found in Settings > Location Services). You might want to prevent apps from using your location info. You will also most likely want to disable the "Location and Google Search" option (or "Wi-Fi and Mobile Network Location" option on some phones) to prevent your device from using Wi-Fi and/or mobile networks for triangulating your precise location and sending the data to Google servers. The process, needless to say, requires power.

Keep an eye on apps that use data in the background. Some apps, such as the Play Store and Gmail apps, continuously collect and send data in the background. You can restrict such background usage of data — per app — and your battery will be the happier for it.

But, you can also perform a blanket restriction in Settings > Data Usage; tap the Menu button tick the "Restrict Background Data" option to enable it. You can also enable per-app restriction by opening each app's info page.

(Note: The "Restrict Background Data" option may not be available in certain phone models. Also, Google itself considers per-app background data restriction as a "drastic measure that may also affect the app's performance or cause it to malfunction," so you might want to use this option with caution.)

Murder apps that betray you

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Some apps are resource-intensive — either by nature (as in the case of games) or by developer incompetence or negligence (as in the case of poorly written apps).

You need to be vigilant about how your various apps consume battery power. A quick trip to Settings > Battery (or, on some devices, Settings > Power > Battery Use) will usually reveal which app or service is sucking most of the juice.

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Identify apps that constantly drain CPU and battery life. Poorly coded apps that connect to the Internet even when they're not supposed to should be uninstalled, as should apps that needlessly use up a huge amount of CPU resources. Replace these apps with better developed ones rather than endure running on less and less battery each day because of treacherous apps.

Use Battery saver

Here's a pretty straightforward one. Go to Settings > Battery and then tap the three-dot menu in the top right of the screen. Choose "Battery Saver" (hint: it's the only option available in this menu).

Battery saver reduces your device's performance and automatically limits vibration, location services, and background data. You can activate it from here, or you can set it to kick on automatically at 5 or 15 percent battery.

Root

Rooting is an advanced process that varies significantly from device to device. However, there's no question that a number of battery saving techniques are available to root users that simply aren't accessible to non-rooters.

Nexus 7 battery on Amplify GreenifySee also: Improve battery life with Xposed, Amplify and Greenify – Android customization21

De-bloat

Rooting itself won't lengthen your battery life. Rooting merely opens the gates to your device's restricted partitions and directories. With such restriction gone, you can remove useless apps (e.g., bloatware from carriers or OEMs), especially those that run as background services, wasting away precious battery power.

Underclock

With root access on your device, you can also install apps that can improve your system's performance. A CPU controller app, for instance. Apps like these essentially allow you to tweak the CPU settings on your device. You can set the CPU frequency to stay at the lowest (and, as a result, use up the least power but sacrifice device performance) or to stretch the CPU to its maximum limits (resulting in better and faster performance, but at the price of heat, quick battery drain, and potential system instability).

Custom kernels and ROMs

And, since in all likelihood your phone has also acquired an unlocked bootloader and custom recovery in the process of rooting it, then you'll also be able to enjoy the blessings — the power-saving blessings, in this case — of many custom kernels and custom ROMs. Look around Android Authority for guides on how to flash custom kernels or custom ROMs to your particular device.

Get a better battery

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This is almost laughable (but not quite) in this day and age. Modular batteries used to be the norm for Android devices, but now they're the smartphone equivalent of the Black Rhino or the Hawksbill Turtle. If you've managed to get your hands on one of these endangered species, then you may have the option to upgrade your battery to a higher capacity model.

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Conclusion

Maximizing your battery life is a simple matter of minimizing your power usage. As you can see, your Android smartphone has a lot of components that touch on power use. Optimizing these can range from simply changing the way that you use your device on a daily basis to fully automating connectivity toggles.

However, at its core, battery conservation is very simple. I'll reiterate my initial summary: dim your screen and turn off services you aren't using. These two alone can go a long way toward making sure you aren't that guy at the end of the day saying, "I can't. My phone's almost dead."

Alternatively, you could also buy a power bank.

What are your favorite battery saving techniques? Did we catch all of them here? Let us know in the comments below!

Next: How to use Tasker



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