On holiday, a smartphone often runs out of power much faster than on ordinary days: weak mobile signal, intensive navigation, constant photo and video shooting and a bright screen backlight quickly “eat up” the charge. However, a few simple settings will help you get through the whole day without a power bank.
First of all, you should keep power saving mode on all the time. It limits background processes, reduces display brightness and postpones automatic downloads. On iPhone this mode is enabled via “Settings” → “Battery” → “Low Power Mode” or via Control Centre. On Android a similar feature is called “Power saving” or “Battery saver” and is located in the “Settings” → “Battery” menu.
Another important step is to manually reduce screen brightness and shorten the time before it switches off automatically. You can do this via Control Centre on iPhone or Quick Settings on Android. It is recommended to set screen lock to around 30 seconds so the display is not lit up for no reason.
When the signal is weak or you do not need a network connection at all, it makes sense to switch on Flight Mode. In this case the phone stops constantly searching for a signal and running the transmitter at maximum power, which significantly saves battery. At the same time, the camera, music and pre-downloaded maps remain available.
To reduce the load during navigation, it is worth downloading offline maps in advance. In Google Maps this is done via the “Offline maps” section, where you can select the desired region. In Apple Maps, starting from iOS 17, it is also possible to download maps for use without the internet. This not only saves battery, but also helps avoid unnecessary roaming charges.
You should also separately check app access to your location. Many apps — from weather to social networks — request your location in the background, which further drains the battery. On iPhone the settings are located in “Settings” → “Privacy & Security” → “Location Services”, where for most apps you can choose “While Using” or “Never”. On Android a similar list can be found in “Settings” → “Location” → “App permissions”.
It is also important to protect your smartphone from overheating. Lithium-ion batteries work best at moderate temperatures, and in the sun a phone can heat up to very high levels, which speeds up discharge and over time damages the battery. You should not leave the device in direct sunlight or in a closed car; on the beach it is better to keep it in the shade, for example in a bag. If the phone has become very hot, you should let it cool down before charging.
When the charge is critically low, you can use one more trick — switch the screen to black-and-white (greyscale) mode. On iPhone this option is in “Settings” → “Accessibility” → “Display & Text Size” → “Colour Filters” → “Greyscale”. On Android it can usually be found in “Settings” → “Accessibility” → “Colour correction” → “Greyscale”. This mode makes viewing bright content less appealing, so users usually spend less time in battery-hungry apps.