Catch 'em all for longer: Quick tips to reduce Pokémon Go battery drain
The surprising popularity of Nintendo's mobile app, Pokémon Go, has taken the world by storm.
The augmented reality game overlays a virtual map across your physical surroundings, and through GPS and movement sensors, allow gamers to hunt their favorite Pokémon, have gym battles, and get some exercise at the same time.
Police have jumped on the bandwagon to catch criminals, dead bodies have been discovered by Pokémon hunters, and rare Pokémon spawns have caused public stampedes across the US.
Nintendo has enjoyed a financial benefit to the game with share prices rocketing, however, the game has proved so popular that users have been losing their minds over server failures, a problem which Nintendo engineers are working hard to improve.
In the meantime, a number of users have realized that playing the game is draining their battery extremely quickly. In testing by sister site CNET, the team found that playing for 30 minutes reduces battery life by an average of 15 percent -- which is rather high in comparison to many other apps, such as Facebook or email services.
Nintendo's app developer Niantic says the company is working on a fix, but until this happens, there are ways you can improve your smartphone's battery life and catch them all for longer.
See also: Pokémon Go: An AR marketing experiment with monster potential
Below are 10 ways to reduce Pokémon Go's battery drain on both Android and iOS mobile devices.
1. Turn on Pokémon Go's power saving option. Found by clicking the settings icon, this feature will turn down the brightness of your device's display and turn it off fully when the smartphone is facing down -- and so if you are walking and waiting to feel a vibration which indicates a Pokémon is near, this feature will keep your device alive a little longer.
2. Both Android and iOS devices have power saving options you can turn on. This will reduce the power needed by non-essential apps, giving Pokémon Go's power-hungry GPS and map use a little more juice.
3. There are Android and iOS apps available which can further improve your battery life. Battery Doctor for iOS and JuiceDefender on Android are sure bets, both of which manage battery-draining components on your device to squeeze more power out of it.
4. Invest in a battery-charging case or keep a power bank with you. These devices can keep you playing for far longer than your smartphone's battery can manage alone, or act as a quick charger if you stop off and take a break. They do not have to be expensive to be effective.
See also: High capacity power banks to keep your devices fully charged | Slender Kuke battery case keeps the iPhone running for days | Mophie Charge Force accessory lineup
5. Kill the volume. This is a simple, quick solution which will reduce the levels of power required to keep your smartphone running while playing.
6. Disable and exit from any background applications you do not need. Unless you have a device manager installed, you may miss just how much juice apps you have running in the background but are not using actually use up.
7. Turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. You only need GPS and data to play, and so turning off any other mobile features will help and preserve power otherwise used by your handset in the continual quest for Bluetooth portals and Wi-Fi hotspots. Alternatively, if you are staying put in one place, connect to one Wi-Fi hotspot and turn off anything else.
8. Toggle off the AR. The augmented reality feature needs to use your camera, which in turn pushes up power levels required. To do so, you only need to try and catch a Pokémon. The AR toggle will appear in the right-hand side of the screen, and then you can switch it off.