powerpro – PSafe Blog

Is it a Faulty Battery or Something Else?

PSafe Newsroom — Wed, 31 May 2017 15:00:46 +0000

It’s happened again: you charged your phone and, in only a few hours, its battery life is nearing empty. Certainly, your phone’s short battery life might be because of a bad battery or a battery that’s come to the end of its life. But the big battery suck on your phone might be something else. Know what exactly is draining your battery with PowerPRO.This DFNDR feature lets you see the biggest consumers of your phone’s power. Once you know which apps or programs are taking up your battery, PowerPRO will help you manage your battery and offers solutions to make your battery life last longer. Click here to check why your battery now:

As you run a PowerPRO scan, you might see some surprising reasons your battery is draining so quickly. Here are a few major battery sucks that surprised us.

Your Apps Keep Running in the Background

You might think your apps aren’t running because you aren’t using them, but really, many apps continue to refresh throughout the day. If PowerPRO says that one of your apps is using a lot of battery, you can bet that it’s continuously refreshing. To fix this problem, you can disable background activity on just that app or you can be safe and disable background activity on all your apps.

Your Phone Settings Are Draining Your Battery

Some of the biggest surprising battery-draining culprits are screen brightness and vibrate mode. Conserve battery by turning your screen brightness down — or, if you have a new phone, turning on the setting that lets it change brightness based on its surroundings. Vibrate mode is another problem; instead of putting your phone on vibrate, turn your ringer either off or on.

You’ve Set Your Phone to Automatic Sync

Other apps, especially document creation and photo apps, often back up your documents several times throughout the day. If you find that your battery is draining quickly or that you don’t need to have your files so regularly updated, you can set your phone to only sync manually, when you tell it to sync.

Once you’ve figured out the battery-draining culprits, you’ll be better informed about what apps to remove and what changes to make in order to extend your battery life. If none of these solutions make a difference, though, you likely have a faulty battery on your hands.

Is Using an Old Phone Charger a Good Idea?

PSafe Newsroom — Sun, 28 May 2017 13:00:29 +0000

Consider this scenario: you’ve recently gotten a new phone, but you’ve lost the phone’s charger. Luckily, you have a couple of older chargers from your older phones. First, you should make sure your current phone’s battery is operating efficiently. To do that, run PowerPro. PowerPro identifies apps that are taking up too much of your battery life so you can resolve energy consumption issues and make your battery stay charged longer. Click here to ensure your battery life is as long as it should be:

You might wonder for convenience sake, will it harm my new phone’s battery to charge my device with an older charger? You want to consider several factors when determining if your old charger will effectively charge your new phone.

Factors to Consider When Using Your Old Phone Charger

Your new phone and your old charger are likely different voltages. New phones will likely recognize old chargers at lower voltages than the charger designed to go with the phone. However, the phone will adjust to the old charger’s voltage, meaning that the phone itself and the battery will not be harmed. However, since the phone is recognizing the voltage as low, it will also charge much more slowly than it would with its new charger.

The problem with using an old charger, too, is that you’ll have to test its voltage if you don’t already know it. If you want to test your phone charger’s voltage, you’ll have to set up an experiment with a multimeter — an experiment that is likely more trouble than it’s worth. It is recommended that if you lose your current charger, you replace it with the charger specifically designed for your phone model for faster charging.

So, what are you supposed to do with all those old phone chargers lying around? If you’re a mechanically-minded person, you could wire up the old charger to power a homemade thermostat. Of, if you don’t want to work on a mechanical project, you could always head to Best Buy. Each location has a bin near the door where you can drop off old chargers or batteries, and they will recycle them for you. Before you go, check Best Buy’s website to make sure they’ll take what you’re trying to recycle. Be warned that you can only recycle so many electronic items per day.

Why is My Phone’s Battery Draining This Fast?

PSafe Newsroom — Thu, 11 May 2017 18:00:05 +0000

Limited battery life and a fast-draining battery are a few of the biggest issues with Android smartphones. But even more frustrating is when you don’t know why your battery drains so quickly. To identify the biggest battery sucks running on your phone, activate PSafe’s PowerPRO. PowerPRO lets you know which apps or features on your phone are taking up too much energy. Click on PowerPRO to be proactive about making your battery last longer:

But as you’re running PowerPRO, you might be surprised about some of the biggest energy sucks on your phone — and the reasons your battery life is getting shorter and shorter. Here are a few reasons your battery life is getting more and more limited.

A Limited Signal is Sucking Your Battery

If you’re ever in a place with a limited signal, your phone will continue to search for a signal until it finds one — even if it never does. This drains your battery life significantly, so, if this happens to you, turn your phone to airplane mode. Additionally, if you’re ever without your phone charger, turn your phone to airplane mode overnight to stop connections from draining your battery.

Location Tracking is Draining Your Phone

GPS really drains your battery — notice how Google Maps has ways to keep your phone powered when you’ve used it for a while? To turn off your GPS when not in use, navigate to “Settings” and then “Location Mode.” Select the “Battery saving” box there to turn off your GPS when it’s not being used.

You Aren’t Treating Your Phone Right

Many people always keep their phone 100% charged, but many experts suggest this isn’t the ideal charge for a long battery life. Instead, keep your phone charged from between 40 to 80%, using PowerPRO to limit your battery charge. Additionally, you sometimes want to let your phone’s battery die every three months or so to re-calibrate it. Finally, never let your phone overheat — a hot phone degrades your battery much more quickly.

These are common reasons that your phone’s battery life might be winding down. However, these may not be your phone’s issue. Instead, check PowerPRO to figure out the issues that are specifically affecting your device.

Learn How to Spot a Weak Smartphone Battery

PSafe Newsroom — Sun, 07 May 2017 14:00:47 +0000

There are a few tell-tale signs of a weak smartphone battery. However, you should first check to see whether or not your battery appears weaker than it is simply because all of your apps are draining your battery. Use PowerPro feature to identify tasks that are consuming too much of your phone’s battery, to see if this helps to improve its battery life:

PowerPro will help you to manage your apps and remove any tasks that are draining your phone’s battery. It will also offer you suggestions on how you can make your device’s battery last longer. Still, if better managing your apps doesn’t help to significantly improve your phone’s battery life, then your phone may have a weak battery. The following are some of the biggest signs of a bad battery.

Signs of a Bad Phone Battery

Your phone won’t turn on. If you recently had your phone in your pocket or a bag that got soaked from a rainstorm, or if you dropped your phone in a toilet, then you may have killed your phone’s battery.
Your new phone dies quickly. If you just purchased a new smartphone, your phone’s battery should not be dying quickly (unless you’re using it constantly to watch videos, play games, and et cetera). You should be able to go for some time without charging your device, since the battery is new. If it’s dying after a few hours, then you likely bought a phone with a bad battery.
Your phone’s battery is no longer smooth. If you’re having issues with your phone’s battery, try removing the battery (if removable) to examine the surface. If the surface is not smooth — i.e. if it has a “bulge” — then your battery has gone bad.
Your phone isn’t charging correctly. If your phone is not charging properly, if it loses its charge quickly after charging, or if it only works when connected to a power source, then you have a weak phone battery.
Your phone is hot when it charges. If your phone gets hot when you’re charging it — and it hasn’t yet reached 100% — then your battery is starting to die.

How to Improve Your Phone’s Battery

If your phone has a bad battery, whether from the start or else due to damage, then you’ll need to replace it. No matter what you decide to do, you should make an effort to preserve your new phone battery. Click here to use DFNDr’s Total Charge feature to monitor your phone’s charging process so that you can prevent damage to your battery:

These Are the Top Lightning-Fast Chargers for Android

PSafe Newsroom — Wed, 26 Apr 2017 20:00:21 +0000

There are a lot of great chargers available for smartphones today, and they seem to be getting more incredible by the second. However, a lightning-fast charger can only do so much for your smartphone. While it might charge your phone quickly, it won’t make your phone’s battery last longer. If you’re looking for a way to further improve your device, use DFNDR’s PowerPro feature to extend your phone’s battery life:

PowerPro will identify tasks on your phone that consume too much of your phone’s power, and quickly disable those tasks. This is accomplished through managing your phone’s battery-draining apps. PowerPro will also offer you suggestions on how to make your battery last longer. That way, you won’t have to charge your phone as frequently or wait around for your device to charge.

Nonetheless, when you do need to charge your phone, you’d like that process to be as fast as possible. You also need a charger that’s safe — one that won’t damage your device’s battery, nor start a fire. While this may seem like a simple request, there are a lot of unsafe chargers out there. The following are some of the best Android chargers on the market.

Anker PowerPort +1

This charger works with a variety of Android smartphones and tablets. This works best with Qualcomm’s Quick Charge devices, but it will also charge non-Quick Charge devices. It utilizes fast-charging technology to guarantee that your phone charges as quickly as possible. There are also several safety features to ensure that your smartphone is protected. This charger retails for about $60 but is currently on sale on Amazon for $16.

iClever BoostCube QC3.0

This is one of the most powerful Quick Charge chargers on the market, and a perfect companion to a newer smartphone. This charger claims that it can charge a smartphone (using Qualcomm technology) up to 80% in just 35-40 minutes. The charger has one port, a LED charging indicator, several safety features, and international compatibility. It retails for $40 but you can currently get it from Amazon for $13.

Aukey 2-Port with Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0

If you have a newer, compatible smartphone, this device will charge your phone 75% faster than a typical USB charger. It also has two ports, various safety features to protect your device, and international compatibility, which makes this charger ideal for traveling. The price ranges from $20-$25 on Amazon.

Smartphone Functions That Use A Lot of Battery Power

PSafe Newsroom — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 14:00:22 +0000

Does your phone’s battery life suck? If you’re always struggling with a short battery life, use PSafe’s PowerPro to pinpoint the apps that are draining your phone’s battery. PowerPro gives you suggestions to make your battery last longer, as well as suggestions on how to manage your apps that take up too much power. Click here to improve your phone’s battery life:

Still, there are other ways that you can improve your smartphone’s battery life. There are several functions and tasks on your smartphone that can take up so much of your battery’s limited supply. Sometimes, the biggest battery power stealers aren’t always the most obvious. The following will discuss five of the worst — and most surprising — energy drainers.

Apps

Even if you never use them, apps can be a significant drain on your battery power. So, it makes sense to get rid of the apps that you rarely — or never — use. Use App Manager to quickly uninstall any apps that you no longer want on your device. This will save you from going through all of the apps on your device to locate the ones you no longer want. Click here to quickly remove unwanted apps:

Widgets

Weather, news, and social media widgets on your home screen are there to give you real-time updates. But did you know that these are also battery drainers? This is because they’re often vibrantly-colored and always syncing. If you don’t need a widget, you should press and drag it to the trashcan icon.

Signal Search

If you’re in a low-signal or a no-signal area, your phone doesn’t know what’s going on. If you let your phone function normally there, it will keep looking for a signal over and over again. To prevent your phone from draining its battery, flip it to Airplane Mode instead.

Over- and Under-Charging

Your phone’s battery functions the best if you keep it between 40% and 80% battery. Don’t let the phone’s charge drop below 40% — if you let the battery drop low and then recharge again to full, you’ll shorten the battery’s life overall. Additionally, don’t let your phone keep charging when it’s already full.

Vibrating

Vibrate mode is one of the worst settings for your battery life. Either turn your phone completely to silent or turn on the ringers. To change, head to “Settings” and “Sound,” and then uncheck “Vibrate for Calls.” If you navigate to “Language and keyboard,” you can also uncheck “Vibration feedback,” which is the vibration that happens when you type — another major battery drainer.

Here Are the Top 5 Green Apps for Millennials

PSafe Newsroom — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 19:00:45 +0000

You care about water conservation, recycling, and doing the right thing when it comes to taking care of the environment. But wasting electricity isn’t helping anyone. If you are constantly charging your cell phone battery because you aren’t taking care of your phone, then you need to take advantage of DFNDR’s PowerPro’s battery-saving functions. Click here to extend the life of your Android phone’s battery:

It never hurts to have a little extra help. With PowerPro, you’ll find out which apps are wasting your battery and learn how to prolong your phone battery’s life by better managing your battery-hogging apps. This app will help you take “going green” to a whole new level.

In addition, from recycling, to planning a garden, to learning where your seafood dinner is actually coming from, the following apps will help you do your part for the environment. That way, you can improve your impact on the planet and truly make a difference. The following are some of the top green apps that you should check out now.

iRecycle from Earth911 Developer
This app will share more than 1,500,000 ways to recycle over 350 materials. iRecycle tells you where, when, and how you can recycle a huge variety of materials. Pop in the location and you can find out the name, location, hours of operation, and the contact information for the related recycling organization.

Seafood Watch by Monterey Bay Aquarium
The idea of this app is simple: receive recommendations for seafood and sushi, and find businesses that dish up sustainably caught seafood. What’s more, you can even educate yourself a little on the types of seafood you enjoy eating. It might just make you rethink your tuna fish sandwich. Education and going green are all rolled into one with this app.

My Green Space
If you’ve been thinking of planting a garden but don’t know how to begin, this app is for you. Receive a customized garden plan based on where you live, sunlight exposure, size of space, and the season. View growing info and stay on top of what to do when. There’s even a built-in plant doctor so if something doesn’t look right, you can get to the root of the problem. It’s a comprehensive app for new gardeners.

Light Bulb Finder by Eco Hatchery
Make the switch from the typical light bulb to energy efficient lighting without the hassle. This Android app provides bulb recommendations and lets you know of the environmental impact you are making simply by choosing a different bulb.

Why Your Phone Keeps Dying After Only a Few Hours

PSafe Newsroom — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 15:00:39 +0000

Starting your day off with a 100% charge on your phone is a great feeling. However, three hours into your workday, you receive the “Battery Low: Your phone has 13% battery power remaining. Connect your phone to a charger” message — now you aren’t feeling so ecstatic. Unless you’re constantly on your phone watching videos or reading articles, your battery should last a lot longer than a few hours. Thankfully, there are a few ways that you can alleviate this issue.

Extend Your Battery Life with PowerPRO

With PowerPRO, you will be able to prolong your battery’s life as long as possible, and find out why your battery life is suffering. It is able to identify and remove battery-consuming tasks. PowerPRO is extremely convenient because you prolong the life of your battery with the push of a button. Click here to extend your battery life now:

There are several tasks that PowerPRO performs while you go on about your day. For instance, when you leave the Bluetooth on, this slightly drains your battery. PowerPro has the ability to turn your Bluetooth off when you are not using it.

You can also optimize your phone’s battery life with the push of a button. To optimize your battery, open PowerPRO app, then tap on “quick optimization.” This will execute multiple functions, such as dimming the light on your phone to its optimal level, and performing other tasks. The “super optimization” button also closes background apps to further relieve your battery life issue.

Protect Your Battery with Total Charge

Total Charge is another useful tool to help extend the longevity of your battery. Did you know that you can damage your phone battery if you leave it charging for too long? Yes, “overcharging” is a phenomenon that can severely damage your battery if the overcharging accumulates.

Total Charge is a feature of the DFNDR app. You can use Total Charge to inform you when your phone is charged, so that the battery is not overcharged, and thus, damaged. This will ultimately help to protect your phone’s battery and extend its life. That way, your phone won’t die after a few hours.