Over the past years, Android smartphones have gotten a lot bigger, more powerful, and more capable. Such advanced features obviously require more battery. As a result, many of us are still carrying chargers like emotional support accessories. For the longest time, I blamed my aging hardware and power-hungry apps for unnecessary battery drain. Later on, I realized that Android itself is one of the biggest culprits. These are some hidden Android settings that quietly sip your battery all day long, even when you aren’t actively using them.
After digging through the settings app and tweaking different options, I’m convinced that some Android settings do more harm than good for an average user. I’ve changed 6 hidden settings that were quietly destroying my Android battery life.
Unrestricted background activity
This one is sneaky
By default, your Android phone allows many of your downloaded apps to keep running in the background. This allows them to sync data with their servers so they can fetch updated content for you. While it’s a convenient feature, it also consumes unnecessary battery on your phone. Also, we have many apps on our phones, including social media, news, games, and more. Individually, they might not drain a lot of battery, but collectively, they make a huge impact.
Most of the apps on your phone do not need unrestricted background activity access. Of course, messaging and cloud storage services make sense, but every food delivery or gaming app doesn’t really need to run 24/7.
Therefore, it’s a good idea to keep a check and disable background activity for unnecessary apps. You can do this by going to Settings -> Battery -> Restricted. I disabled this feature for several apps on my phone, and it stopped losing unnecessary battery while doing nothing. This is one of the best ways to fix battery drain on Android.
Always on display and the highest refresh rate
Cool features that come at a cost
Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOfCredit: Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
Unarguably, an always-on display looks cool, and high refresh rates feel buttery smooth. But, they also come at a cost. An Always-on display technically means part of your screen is never truly off. Now, pair that with a 120Hz or 144Hz refresh rate running full-time. This means you’re sacrificing battery life for smoothness that you actually don’t need all the time. Of course, these features are great, but not all the time. I think that Android’s obsession with stunning displays and a premium feel sometimes ignores real-life battery trade-offs.
I’ve limited always-on display usage and switched to a lower refresh rate on my Android phones. Now, I get to enjoy extra screen-on time without compromising the overall functionality of my phones. Also, I’ve never been obsessed with Always-on displays. Yes, the lower refresh rate might feel limiting at times, especially when you’re playing games or binge scrolling TikTok or Reels. That said, I can always switch to a higher refresh rate when I feel like it.
Constant Location Tracking
Silent battery killers
Location services are one of the most power-hungry features on any smartphone. Many apps ask you for location access even if they don’t genuinely need it. Yes, location services are important for navigation apps, but do you use them all the time? Also, many apps constantly request location access for personalization, fetching nearby content, and other vague analytics reasons.
When you allow an app to use your precise location, that too, “All the time,” uses GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other sensors to keep track of you all the time. Therefore, it’s crucial to keep a check on which apps can access your location. Generally, you can allow precise location for navigation and ride-hailing apps, while keeping it off social media, gaming, and other applications.
Tap to wake (and similar gesture features)
Sounds harmless, right?
Tap to wake, tap to check your phone, double-tap to turn on the screen. These features sound innocent and harmless, right? But that’s not the case. When you enable these gestures on your Android phone, the sensors are always working behind the scenes. They are always listening for input, always waiting for a tap. This means the display digitizers and motion sensors aren’t at rest, and this consumes battery.
While a few taps don’t drain a lot of battery, the impact becomes quite noticeable on older devices or when your phone wakes up accidentally. This is pretty common when you keep your phone in your pockets. If you also feel that your Android phone doesn’t last as long, you can keep these features off. It makes more sense to press a button rather than lose unnecessary battery all the time.
Continuous Bluetooth and Nearby Device Scanning
The battery drain you don’t see
If you turn off Bluetooth, it doesn’t fully stop your Android phone from using it. In the background, your phone can still continue to scan for nearby devices as long as you’ve allowed an app to do so. Yes, this feature offers several benefits, such as nearby sharing and fast pairing, but the battery has to pay the price. When an app continuously scans for Bluetooth devices, it activates Bluetooth and other networking components, preventing your phone from entering a true deep sleep state.
If you wish to save battery, you must turn on Bluetooth and access nearby devices only for important apps on your smartphone. This will reduce background activity, cutting down on those random battery dips during the day.
Background Process Limits
Take back control
This is one of the most misunderstood Android settings. There’s a Background Process Limits feature in Android Developer Options that gives you control over how many apps can run in the background. This helps you save RAM, boost performance, and save battery life. Of course, aggressively limiting processes can affect notifications and app functions, but leaving everything unrestricted is not ideal either.
You can avoid extreme limits and focus on manually managing the apps with high background usage. For instance, you can select your preferred number (like at most four processes) of apps or choose “Standard Limit” for normal use.
Related
9 Tips to Make Your Android Battery Last Longer While Traveling
It doesn’t always have to be a battle.
Android’s biggest battery problem is some settings
So you see, Android battery drain isn’t always about heavy usage or aging batteries. Sometimes, it’s about hidden defaults that prioritize smarter features over efficiency. You’ll see a huge difference in battery life when you tell Android “No,” when required. I’m not saying you have to disable everything. You don’t even have to do that. Just be a little thoughtful and pay attention to what needs to run at all the time, and what doesn’t.
Once I did it, I saw a dramatic improvement in my phone’s battery life. And that matters to me more than any flashy Android settings.
