How can IT address smartphone battery drain and mobile UX?
Here are smartphone battery tips that admins should keep in mind. Find out all the factors that could affect the battery life and how IT can mitigate smartphone battery drain.
Smartphone battery life is one of the top challenges for smartphone users in the workplace, and mid-shift smartphone battery drain is a common occurrence that leads to lost productivity and user frustration.
One of the most common smartphone battery tips is that the more graphic-intensive the mobile app, the faster the battery drains. The same goes for GPS-based apps, especially if the GPS is continuously running. These issues can be particularly challenging for field workers who rely heavily on apps such as Google Maps, which is both GPS- and graphics-intensive.
Android battery drain
Different versions of mobile OSes can also affect smartphone battery drain. For example, Google Android 9 Pie OS included the Adaptive Battery feature for extending battery life, but many users reported that their batteries drained faster after they updated to Pie, whether or not Adaptive Battery was enabled.
IPhone battery drain
The same has been true with various Apple iOS releases and their effect on smartphone battery health. IT should anticipate that OS updates and upgrades may cause smartphone battery drain to happen faster, especially when installing a newer release on an older phone.
The device model and hardware can also make a difference with smartphone battery life. For example, older smartphones are not only susceptible to battery drain due to new OS releases, but these smartphones also may suffer from the battery hardware degrading over time and shortening the battery life.
Larger phones with larger batteries often have longer battery lives than their smaller counterparts. Some smartphone models such as the Samsung Galaxy Note9 or BlackBerry's Key2 are designed to extend battery life, while other smartphones have less stellar reputations when it comes to the smartphone battery health.
Smartphone battery tips and management considerations for IT
Mobile device administrators can help make the most of the battery power by taking numerous device management steps. For example, IT pros can remove unnecessary apps from the devices and disable location services when they're not needed for work purposes. Administrators should also look for app-specific issues that could affect the battery life. For example, frequent Microsoft Exchange email synchronization can cause rapid smartphone battery drain.
Administrators should also look for app-specific issues that could affect the battery life.
Organizations implementing B2B custom apps should also take battery usage into account. For example, enterprise app developers should minimize the use of wake locks that keep the screen or CPU active beyond the length of time that is absolutely necessary because a quick screen timeout can save significant battery power. Developers should also ensure that the apps do not take up unnecessary resources or support unneeded functionality.
Educate employees on common smartphone battery drain fixes
In addition, organizations should educate their users on smartphone battery tips and steps they can take to minimize smartphone battery drain. These steps include enabling dark mode in the display settings, using low-power mode, turning down the screen brightness, carefully managing charge cycles, turning off unnecessary push notifications or minimizing the use of graphic-intensive apps. Organizations could also invest in external battery chargers for their workers or more outlets for quick-charging phones, depending on how their smartphone users work on a day-to-day basis.
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