We’ve discussed how to speed up and refresh your Android phone before, but at the end of the day there’s only so much you can do at one time to give your device a boost. Cosmos, a new app from the team at Support.com, aims to change that. Cosmos rolls privacy protection, battery management and junk file removal all into one easy-to-use tool that promises to keep your phone safe, snappy and responsive.
BitDefender released its Power Tune-Up battery management app for Android a few weeks ago, and I was keen to see how it compared to the ones I’ve tried in the past. It turns out that BitDefender’s solution is more of a problem, which was disappointing but not entirely surprising. After many years of trying all sorts of so-called “power management” apps on a variety of Android handsets, I’m starting to wonder if I’m doing something wrong.
Although Apple’s laptops offer pretty decent battery life, it’s not always enough. Getting the most out of your battery often means making a number of sacrifices like turning off Wi-Fi and lowering your display’s brightness. While you can’t get something for nothing, BatterySqueezer can extract a little more battery life by automatically throttling applications in the background so they don’t cause excess drain while not in use.
Android: Android’s default battery icon is pretty small and doesn’t give you a good idea of how much battery you have left. ChargeBar puts a thin line at the top of your menu bar, giving you a much more accurate representation of your battery’s charge.
Dear Lifehacker, What is the deal with lithium-ion batteries (the kind found in smartphones and laptops)? I’ve heard lots of different things about how to take care of them, like that they need to be kept charged between 40 per cent and 80 percent, or that they should be drained completely and charged to 100 per cent. What is the ideal configuration to maintain a good battery life to battery health ratio?
Carriers and manufacturers still often recommend the use of task killer apps on Android to speed up your phone and save battery life, but they can actually do more harm than good. PC World does a few real-world tests to show that they are, in fact, useless when it comes to saving battery.
