battery life
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Samsung may be throttling apps to save battery life on Galaxy phones
Samsung is looking into reports that it has been limiting the performance of a large number of apps on its Galaxy devices.
AirBolt promises one-year battery life on its $80 GPS tracker
AirBolt GPS is an $80 GPS tracker with a one-year battery life.
Garmin updates some of its most popular watches with solar charging
The addition of solar panels squeezes an extra few days of life out of the sun.
Qualcomm’s latest Bluetooth chips could bring ANC to lower-cost earbuds
Today, Qualcomm unveiled its next-generation of ultra-low-power Bluetooth Systems on a Chip (SoCs). The SoCs are designed for true wireless earbuds and hearables, and they could make top-end features, like active noise cancellation (ANC) and voice assistant support, more universal.
The latest Timex smartwatch has 25-day battery life
The newest Timex Ironman smartwatch, the R300 GPS, bundles the workout essentials -- on-wrist heart rate monitoring, guided coaching, a range of performance metrics and water resistance up to 30 meters -- and avoids adding unnecessary extras that sometimes drive smartwatch prices up. The result is that the R300 GPS costs just $120, and the company claims the battery will last up to 25 days, as long as you only use 20 hours of GPS.
OnePlus phones will optimize charging based on your sleep habits
OnePlus is working on a new OxygenOS feature called Optimized Charging that will attempt to extend the life of your phone's battery by taking your sleep schedule into account. When you put your OnePlus phone to charge before going to bed, it will refill its power cell to 80 percent of its maximum capacity and then temporarily stop. A hundred minutes before you usually wake up, your first alarm or event of the day, the phone will then charge to full. The idea here is that by preventing the battery from staying at full capacity for too long, OnePlus can slow how quickly it degrades over time.
Sennheiser’s $200 gaming headset promises 100 hours of battery life
Today, Sennheiser released its latest wireless gaming headset, the GSP 370. The headset's boldest claim is that it offers 100 hours of battery life, thanks to low power consumption and a long-lasting battery. For gamers who play six hours per week, Sennheiser says the GSP 370 can last four months on a single charge, and it can be used while recharging, so there's no need to interrupt gameplay.
Apple’s new iPhones can better manage your battery as it ages
In 2017, iPhone users discovered a software-based power throttling feature that was meant to prevent random shutdowns as the phone's battery aged. Apple's lack of clarity around the program turned what was meant to be a helpful failsafe into a debacle. As 9to5Mac has discovered, the company is now putting details about their new, always-on power optimization system for the iPhone 11 series out in the open.
Misfit's Vapor X smartwatch boasts longer battery life and Spotify
The latest smartwatch from Misfit is hoping to overcome the pain of limited wearable battery life. Enter the Vapor X, which offers a more power efficient processor and a battery saving mode to keep it going for longer.
Apple might force Facebook to change how its apps handle voice calls
A change coming in iOS 13 could force Facebook to change Messenger and WhatsApp. As The Information reports, Apple will no longer allow these apps to run Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) in the background when it's not in use. At the moment, apps like Messenger and WhatsApp run VOIP continuously in order to connect calls faster, but doing so could also allow them to do other things, like collect user data. According to The Information, Facebook may have to redesign its messaging apps in order to comply.
Rivian will repurpose used EV batteries for solar power in Puerto Rico
Rivian is known for pushing the boundaries of battery tech. Not only is the startup working on the first all-electric pickup for the US market, it's also planning "Rivian-to-Rivian" charging, which will allow its vehicles to charge each other, and it designed a camp stove add-on that takes advantage of the EV's battery pack. Now, the company wants to turn its used batteries into an energy storage system for a solar power microgrid in Puerto Rico.
Dyson's new battery tech promises longer-lasting electronics
Battery research that tantalizes and then goes bust has soured our dreams of longer-lasting smartphones and EVs. But do you know who hasn't given up hope? Sir James freaking Dyson, that's who. His company just invested $15 million in Sakti3, one of the most promising battery technology companies out there. The startup has created a cell with no dangerous, flammable liquid electrolytes, using the same thin-film tech used to make LCD displays and solar cells. Better still, it claims the batteries have achieved an energy density of 1,143 watt-hours per liter, easily doubling the best lithium-ion batteries on the market.
Daily Roundup: Robot love, the state of VR and more!
What's it like to fall in love with a robot? We share our impressions after spending some time with Nao, a cute toddler-sized robot. Meanwhile, Sony brought an updated version of Project Morpheus to GDC and some of tech's biggest companies joined up to argue in favor of marriage equality. Get all the details on today's top stories in the Daily Roundup.
Jony Ive isn't too concerned about your iPhone battery life issues
Tired of recharging your iPhone several times a day? That's just because the iPhone's thin and light design is encouraging you to use it more, according to Apple's design guru Jony Ive. In an interview with the Financial Times today, Ive dove deep into the design process of the Apple Watch, but when asked about the need to recharge iPhones often he didn't see much of an issue. Instead, he noted that stuffing in a bigger battery would make it heavier and less "compelling." Never mind that battery life remains the single biggest concern for most smartphone users, according to a survey by Cat. If this interview had occurred a year ago, Ive would seem even less sympathetic. Now, at least, Apple has the iPhone 6 Plus available, which offers a significantly bigger battery thanks to its larger 5.5-inch frame.
Would you prefer a thinner phone or better battery life?
Despite a number of exciting (and novel) announcements related to battery technology, the sad fact is that our smartphones still need to be frequently charged. One thing that hasn't helped in prolonging the lives of our devices is a trend toward ever thinner phones. In some cases, it seems like things are getting too thin. What if we could get some extra battery life in exchange for a few extra millimeters of padding? Would you do it? Head over to the Engadget forums and let us know what you think! [Image credit: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
iPhone 6, 6 Plus feature greatly increased battery life
Don't like the battery life on your iPhone 5 or 5s? Apple's new, larger iPhones -- the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus -- both feature increased battery life figures, and the 6 Plus battery stats are particularly impressive. Where the iPhone 5s battery featured 10 hours of 3G talk, 10 hours of Wi-Fi web browsing, and 40 hours of audio playback, the iPhone 6 boasts 14, 11, and 50 hours respectively. The iPhone 6 Plus, on the other hand, blows both of those numbers away with 24 hours of talk, 12 hours of Wi-Fi browsing, and a whopping 80 hours of audio playback. Standby time on the iPhone 6 is the same 10 days as on the 5s, while the iPhone 6 Plus increases that figure to 16 days. That's over two weeks of standby time without a plug-in.
Apple will replace your defective iPhone 5 battery
Is your iPhone 5 battery life bad? No, I don't mean "Oh jeez I have to charge it every night!" bad, I mean "Wait, it was at 100% when I unplugged it five minutes ago, and it's already down 15%" bad. If so, your phone might fall within a certain serial number range that qualifies for Apple's new battery replacement program. To find out if you're eligible, head to your Settings menu, tap General and then About. Here you'll find your phone's serial number, so copy it down and enter it on Apple's eligibility search tool. If you're one of the "very small percentage" that Apple claims has a defective battery, you can get it replaced at an official Apple Store, or an authorized third party repair center for no charge. Hooray!
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for April 25, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Apple's iOS 7.1 update a mixed bag for users: Solutions to the most common problems
Apple's recent iOS 7.1 update resolved a number of issues for many users of the company's smartphone and tablet products. However, results of a survey conducted by TUAW show that over a quarter of a sampling of Apple customers who have installed the update feel that their devices are now in "worse" or "much worse" shape than they were prior to the update. Our survey asked readers to respond to the question "Have things gotten better or worse for you since iOS 7.1 was installed?" with one of five answers ranging from "Much Better" to "Much Worse". Almost a third of the 556 respondents were very happy with iOS 7.1, stating that the update had fixed a variety of issues with iOS 7 ranging from random reboots to slow response time on older iPhones. Altogether, over half of respondents said that life in the iOS 7.1 lane was better. For the unhappy users, the major issues appear to be deteriorating battery life and connectivity problems with cellular data carriers. One reader noted that "Since installing 7.1, the AT&T data connection has completely disappeared on both my phones. AT&T says there is nothing wrong, but every time I try to make a data connection I get an error message saying 'You are not subscribed to a data service.' Even a hard reset and the complete reinstallation of the operating system didn't help." Another wrote that "Cellular connectivity seems to have been decreased: the other day I had 2 "dots" of LTE and 4G service (ATT) and could not establish a viable data connection (iPhone 5). Same for my iPad with T-mobile (one dot)." Here are some helpful solutions for dealing with the most common problems that have arisen following the update. Problem: You can't connect to your cellular data carrier This problem has been occurring to various degrees for many users. The first thing you should try is to turn on your phone's airplane mode for ten seconds (reveal the Control Center with an upward swipe from the bottom of any screen, and then tap on the airplane icon), and then turn it off by tapping the airplane icon again. If this doesn't work, restart your phone by holding down the power button and home button simultaneously until the Apple logo appears. For some users this will fix the problem. However, if you still find yourself unable to connect to your provider after a reset, the best thing you can do is go to a retail location for your carrier. They have access to professional diagnostic tools and should be able to reconnect your phone to their data network. It's a pain, but still better than having to get a new phone. Problem: My battery life seems shorter under 7.1 The folks over at Ars Technica ran a series of tests on iOS devices comparing battery life between iOS 7.0.6 and iOS 7.1. Unfortunately, while they found a slight decrease in general battery life, it wasn't anything major. You can view the results of their study here. There are a number of minor issues that may be causing your battery life to be draining faster. Apps in iOS 7 or 7.1 may consume more battery power than before, in part thanks to iOS 7's new Background Refresh feature. In iOS 7, apps in the background can now request the ability to update their content (like a newspaper), trigger location-based alerts (like Foursquare or Yelp tipping you to a new coffee bar nearby) or just keep chugging along even if you switch the foreground app (like Google Maps giving you voice navigation directions even though you've moved on to something else). This also includes some Apple-provided apps like Podcasts and Weather. While iOS is supposed to be smart about managing this background access for convenient and power-saving times, it doesn't always quite work out that way. Want to see what kind of impact the background refresh is having on your battery life? Easy enough; just turn it off, in Settings > General > Background App Refresh. Either use the master switch to disable all apps at a stroke, or toggle individual apps that seem particularly profligate with your power. You may discover several that have no earthly reason to be updating in the background. (Coca-Cola Freestyle, this side-eye is for you.) Apple also suggests the option of a "force quit" for battery-hungry apps, making sure they can't update again in the background until you relaunch them manually. This is done by double-tapping the Home button to bring up a scrollable list of your currently active apps. Just swipe up with your finger on any app you would like to close. Using either of these approaches to keep apps from chewing up battery when you're not using them will extend the battery life on your iOS device. This is especially important to know if you're new to iOS. For other handy ways to improve the battery life on your iPad or iPhone, check out our previous tutorial on the subject. Problem: Apps are crashing Check to see if there are recent updates available for your app by launching the App Store app and tapping on Updates. Many programs have received patches already that fix crashing issues, and it may be that your device hasn't installed the update automatically. If there isn't a patch available, try uninstalling and reinstalling the app. Problem: This is the first time you've updated your phone in a while With the recent news regarding iOS security updates, it makes sense that some people are upgrading their phones for the first time in a while. We've actually spoken with some users who have never updated their phone beyond the version of iOS it shipped with. For these users the shift to iOS 7.1 is going to be a bit of a jump. A lot has changed since your previous version of iOS, so it's going to take some time to get used to. A good recommendation in this case is to visit Apple's excellent support website at http://apple.com/support/. The site provides a number of topics on how to make the most of the features of your iOS device as well as troubleshooting tips. If you're new to iOS 7, be sure to check out Apple's tips on "iPhone and iOS 7". And whatever you do, please back up your phone first. Conclusion: We're still looking through all of the data that our survey respondents submitted to see if there are other solutions available for the most common problems. In the meantime, give our handy tips a try and see if they help your most pressing iOS 7.1 issues. TUAW editors Steve Sande and Mike Rose also contributed to this report. Updated 3/19/14: Background app refresh information added.
New Skype for Android promises not to drain your battery
If you're anything like us, then you know how valuable it is to have great battery life on mobile devices. Which is why a number of apps, like Skype, need to be monitored a little closer than others -- in particular, ones that are constantly running in the background. Knowing this, Skype's releasing a fresh version, 4.7, of its Android application that changes the way it handles your smartphone's or tablet's battery. "We are introducing aggressive battery life savings that will allow most of our users to leave Skype running without noticeably affecting battery life," said Skype in a blog post. In order to make this happen, message notifications in group chats had to be turned off by default, though there is an option to flip the switch for folks who would like to continue using them. According to Skype, we've only seen the beginning, as it expects to further improve battery usage in future versions of its mobile app. We'll have to see it to believe it, but hopefully it turns out to be true -- because mo' juice, mo' Flappy Bird.
