They consume each and every moment of our digital lives and they’re also consuming just the same amount of battery on our smartphones if not more. It’s no secret anymore how some of the most popular Android apps are also some of the more popular Android battery killers. Specifically social networking and news apps that constantly work in the background to deliver push notifications. When I say social networking, the first name that pops into anyone’s head is Facebook. But it is not just Facebook anymore. Nor is it only social networking and news apps. Almost all apps drain the battery, but some are worst than the other. If you want a better battery life, you should probably stop using these apps listed below or find a better alternative.
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1. Snapchat
Sure Facebook seems to be popular for draining battery and dragging down performance but Snapchat, if you use it, is the biggest battery drainer on Android. You can find proof for this in every major survey out there. If you don’t trust them, try uninstalling Snapchat for a week and you should notice a significant improvement in your device’s battery life. Furthermore, these days every social networking app owned by Facebook has Snapchat features baked into them so maybe it is time you ditched Snapchat for good.
If not, you can try enabling Travel mode in Snapchat settings. This stops the app from pre-loading images and videos in your feed when you’re not using the app.
2. Facebook and Messenger
Everybody knew this was coming at some point so let’s get it over with already. If you weren’t already aware how Facebook and Messenger affect your device’s performance and battery life, you must be living under a rock. According to some estimates, uninstalling Facebook and Messenger boosts the performance of a device by as much as 15% and battery life by almost 20%. But unlike some other social networking platforms, Facebook is probably not something you’d give up using.
Luckily, the social networking giant is aware of the notorious nature of its apps and has hence released Lite versions for both Facebook and Messenger. The Lite versions for both the apps are not only battery friendly but also data friendly. They lack some minor features that shouldn’t bother you but provide huge gains in terms of battery life and performance.
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3. News apps
Getting your daily news delivered right to your smartphone as it happens must feel really great. But at what cost? News apps like BBC, CNN, NYTimes, Aaj Tak, Times of India, or apps for just about any other news organization constantly sync in the background looking for new stories. That is an essential part of delivering the news as it happens. That’s all they really do. If you wish to read a full article on any of these apps, they essentially load up the mobile websites anyhow. You’re not actually gaining any functionality for your battery life other than notifications.
Notifications, are not something you should keep an entire app for. So go ahead and uninstall any news apps that you have because you have a better option. Simply head over to the website for your favorite news source, say, Times of India, using Google Chrome. You’ll automatically be asked to allow notifications from the website. Just allow it and the next time there is a news story from TOI, you’ll receive a notification about it. So you’re still getting your news delivered to you, without battery drain. You can also tap the menu button in Chrome and select Add to home screen to place a shortcut on your home screen.
4. Tinder
Seeing Tinder here on this list of apps you shouldn’t use shouldn’t surprise anyone. It might probably be having a positive effect on your dating life, but it is definitely having a bad influence on your phone’s battery life. That’s not because it isn’t optimized for Android like Snapchat but it is so by design. The app is all about finding people nearby. So it constantly refreshes in the background, tracking your location to show potential dates nearby. This obviously kills the battery.
Must read: 5 Best Battery Saver Apps to Make Your Android’s Battery Last Longer
You can either stop using Tinder altogether or move from being an active user to a passive one. Stop it from running in the background and block all notifications. So it is only running and finding people when you actually want. In the near future, you should also be able to use Tinder on your desktop using your browser by heading to gotinder.com.
5. Amazon Shopping
https://youtu.be/gn0v5HQNEhc
You might be surprised to see a shopping app here but if you’ve used the Amazon app on Android, you probably have wondered why it is so bad. Compare it to other apps such as Flipkart or Snapdeal, the Amazon app works like an app from underpaid developers. Also, it is not properly optimized for Android. Furthermore, it constantly pings its servers in the background to bring you notifications for the latest deals.
The Amazon app is basically like an HTML-based mobile app and is not very different from its mobile website. You can uninstall the app and use the website.
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