Keeping Your Charge On vacation

Summer Tip # 5

One of the things you have to be very careful of when you use your iPad is the battery. Unlike mobile phones and laptops that have detachable power units that can be replaced quite easily, the battery of your tablet is built in. This means that when something happens to it, the technicians at Apple have to open it up and then replace the battery. Your device’s insides get exposed and may get further damage because it’s been opened.

Even if your battery giving out is inevitable, you can delay it from happening. Here are some tricks for you to save your battery juice and prolong its life:

1.Download a battery management app

Apps like Battery Doctor monitor your charging process and give you tips on how to charge your battery in the best way. These apps should be run when you’re charging your battery so it can protect your iPad from wrong charging habits. Some really great apps let you see how long your battery lasts with services like 3G, Wifi, reading, music and video running. You don’t have to get a paid app since the free ones usually do the trick. Just get one and make sure to follow its instructions.

2.Take your iPad out of the case when you’re charging

Since you’re charging the iPad heats up, and this heat can slowly damage the components inside the device over time. If you leave it in the case, more heat builds up. Taking it out of the case while you’re charging lessens the heat and can help the components inside last longer. If you don’t have a case for your device, make sure you set it down on a cool, flat surface when you charge and you don’t leave it on the bed where cloth can trap the heat in it anyway.

3.Close resource-heavy apps when you aren’t using them

Essentially, saving energy means closing the apps that you don’t use. Allowing notifications also means that some apps are always on standby mode and receive data regularly. Determine which apps are essential and should always be on, such as VoIP phone services with RingCentral and your email client with Google or Yahoo. But for apps that aren’t needed all the time such as games and writing or reading apps, make sure you close them. Double-press the Home button and a bar appears at the bottom where all the running apps are displayed. Press and hold then close the app icon by tapping on the red badge. Do this regularly so only the essential apps are open. Disable notifications through the Settings app as well.

4.Manage your brightness and volume

One of the battery-draining practices is full brightness all the time on your device. If your iPad has Retina Display, you usually don’t need the full setting since the screen is so sharp, especially if you use a clear screen protector. You can make your device last longer if you put the setting to the medium range.