A Guide to Making Your Android’s Battery Last a Little Longer

A common complaint among Android users is short battery life. As we all now, Google’s platform has numerous benefits, but state-of-the-art features and constantly being connected seem to come with one drawback: comparatively large battery consumption.

I don’t suggest that you should stop taking advantage of the things that make Android great, such as streaming music players that allow you to walk around with millions of songs in your pocket, location-aware apps, background updates or all the wireless options. Still, if you’re frustrated by how often you need to connect your charger, it’s good to know what types of apps and activities that eat the most battery, so you can make an active decision whether or not it’s worth the extra juice.

Use the GPS Wisely

The GPS uses the battery like there’s no tomorrow. Location-aware software is one of Android’s many fortes, but they can be real battery drainers. The Power control widget is useful for switching the GPS on and off, and you should keep an eye on your notification bar: an icon will appear whenever the GPS is activated.

Turn off Bluetooth When You’re Not Using It

Perhaps an obvious tip, but it’s best to disable Bluetooth whenever you’re not actually using it. The quickest way to switch Bluetooth off and on is via a widget on your homescreen.

Disable Wireless Network Positioning

When your device learns your location via wireless network triangulation, it requires less battery than if it had used the GPS. But using both methods simultaneously will of course use the most power. The GPS can handle location tasks by itself, albeit a bit slower. Also, wireless network positioning is used to gather anonymous Google location data in the background, which will drain the battery further. You can turn it off from Settings > Location > Use wireless networks.

Switch off Wi-Fi, or Keep it Always On

If you’re close to a reliable WLAN during the better part of the day, having Wi-Fi always turned on may be favorable from a battery point of view, since the Wi-Fi radio uses less battery than the 3G radio. And when Wi-Fi is on, 3G is off. You can confirm Wi-Fi always stays on by going to Settings > Wireless networks > Wi-Fi Settings. Press the Menu button, tap on Advanced, Wi-Fi sleep policy and select the Never option.

On the other hand, if you’re not close to a strong Wi-Fi signal for extended periods of time, disable Wi-Fi from a homescreen widget or from Settings > Wireless networks > Wi-Fi.

Disable Always-On Mobile Data

The Always-On Mobile Data option is on by default, and can be disabled from Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile networks > Enable always-on mobile data. It allows your phone to be connected non-stop, but does it need to be? I have disabled the setting, and I still get push Gmail and even Google Talk seems to perform as usual, as well as the few apps I have that use automatic updates. However, if you have a lot of apps that regularly connect to the Internet, disabling this option may actually be a bad idea, since turning the data connection on and off will require more energy than simply having it on all the time.

Kill 3G if Your Phone Often Struggles to Find It

When your Android attempts to decide which signal to lock on to, it strains your battery. If your phone often switches between GSM and 3G in your area, it can be preferable to simply disable 3G altogether, and hence abolishing the need for your phone to try and find a suitable network. Go to Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile networks > Network mode > GSM only.

Use a Quick Screen Timeout

After a certain time of inactivity, your screen is automatically turned off, and that’s the Screen Timeout. To use such a low value as 15 seconds can be annoying, but one minute is on the other hand likely too long. I use 30 seconds. You can alter this option from Settings > Screen & display > Screen timeout.

Turn Down the Screen Brightness

Android’s Automatic brightness (Settings > Screen & display > Brightness) setting is recommended. If your phone doesn’t have this option, set a reasonable value at roughly 30 % and see if that suits you.

Live Wallpapers Will Use More Power than a Static Background

Oh yes, live wallpapers can be awesome. But they will obviously use precious battery juice, albeit evidently not as much as one could think, talking the eye-candy into consideration and what they can do.

Have an AMOLED Display? A Dark Wallpaper Will Spare the Battery

When having dark backgrounds, phones with AMOLED display will use less power, because each pixel on OLED screens is photoemissive and will actually generate its own light. Since there’s no need for a backlight, the pixel can essentially turn off its light source and go total black. As a result, you can save a teeny-weeny bit of energy by having a dark or black background on AMOLED screens.

Use Widgets Wisely

A few days ago, we mentioned 10 cool homescreen widgets, and it’s great that Android supports them. Most widgets will only have a negligible effect on your battery life, but those that automatically pull info from the interwebs can be power hogs.

Use Reasonable Intervals for Automatic Updates

I personally don’t need to have automatic updates on my phone, except for emails that I want to be notified of the moment they arrive. I prefer launching the apps at my convenience and see what’s new. Most applications that connect to the Internet have an option to update upon launch, and that’s all I need. By lowering the update intervals, or by even turning them off completely, you can definitely make your battery last longer. I recommend that you reduce them to your own minimum values.

If you have an Android phone with HTC Sense, you can make sure the HTC Mail Client, the HTC Weather App, Facebook, Flickr, Stocks and Twitter update themselves as often as you want them to. This is mainly done from Settings > Accounts & sync. It’s also a good idea to look over third-party apps that grab data from the Internet, particularly the official Facebook app and the various Twitter apps, since they usually have background updates on by default.

Streaming Apps Will Use a Lot of Battery

In a recent Droid vs Droid special, Andrew did a rundown of music streaming apps, and I certainly don’t think you should avoid this type of application on your phone. But bear in mind that software that stream audio and similar apps will use plenty of power.

Learn What’s Been Drinking the Juice

Unless you have the doubtful pleasure of still running Cupcake, you can check out a built-in Android feature that tells you precisely how much your apps use the battery. You can then start using battery drainers less often, or simply uninstall them. Go to Settings > About phone > Battery > Battery useand press the items in the list for further info. You can also use JuicePlotter to analyze usage patterns.

I have gotten good results by making the tweaks and changes above, and I hope you will too. Do you know of any more tricks that can make our dear Android stay on his feet a bit longer before it needs to be charged? In case you don’t want to keep all this in mind, an app such as JuiceDefender is a good option.

Tags: 2012 FREE LEATEST BROWSING → TIPS

A Guide to Making Your Android’s Battery Last a Little Longer

By Ehijoshua (Jboss) → Tuesday, 19 August 2014

How to easily root an Android device

Free Windows utility Kingo Android Root makes it a snap to take total control of just about any Android smartphone. Here's how to use it.

Rooting is the Android equivalent of jailbreaking, a means of unlocking the operating system so you can install unapproved (by Google) apps, update the OS, replace the firmware, overclock (or underclock) the processor, customize just about anything, and so on.

Of course, for the average user, rooting sounds like -- and can be -- a scary process. After all, "rooting" around in your smartphone's core software might seem like a recipe for disaster. One wrong move and you could end up with bricked handset.

Thankfully, there's a new Windows utility that makes rooting a one-click affair: Kingo Android Root. It's free, and based on my initial tests with a Virgin Mobile Supreme, it works like a charm. (Be sure tocheck the compatibility list before you proceed, keeping in mind that although the Supreme wasn't on it, the utility had no problem with it.) Here's how to get started.

Step one: Download and install Kingo Android Root.

Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

Step two: Enable USB debugging mode on your phone. If it's running Android 4.0 or 4.1, tap Settings, Developer Options, then tick the box for "USB debugging." (You may need to switch "Developer options" to On before you can do so.) On Android 4.2, tap Settings, About Phone, Developer Options, and then tick USB debugging." Then tap OK to approve the setting change.

On Android 4.3 and later (and some versions of 4.2), tap Settings, About Phone, then scroll down to Build Number. Tap it seven times, at which point you should see the message, "You are now a developer!"

Step three: Run Android Root on your PC, then connect your phone via its USB sync cable. After a moment, the former should show a connection to the latter.

Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

Step four: Click Root, then sit back and wait while the utility does its thing. The aforementioned Supreme took all of about two minutes, including the automated reboot at the end.

And that's all there is to it. If you decide you want to reverse the process, just run Android Root again, connect your phone, then click Remove Root.

With that done, now you can take advantage of options like USB On-the-Go to make your unexpandable phone expandable. Hit the comments to share your favorite tricks for a rooted Android phone.

Tags: 2012 FREE LEATEST BROWSING → ANDROID TUTORIAL → TIPS

How to easily root an Android device

By Ehijoshua (Jboss) →

How to Download Paid Android Apps for Free

One of the many things better in Android than iOS is that lot many more applications are available for free. However, there are still a lot of applications that are paid. For example, maybe you want to beautify your screen with a new launcher like Launcher Pro Ex but it is a paid app and how to go about it?

Well there are a fair few ways, one is by downloading Applanet and then getting cracked apps for free but having used this myself, I personally did not like this as most of the applications were corrupted and downloads failing was the story of just about every application. It was annoying and time wasting.

One way I found out was a file sharing system. Go to site www.4shared.com. It is a file sharing site and in the search bar type in the application name followed by the extension.apk. For example if you want to download the ADW Launcher Ex full version, just go to the above mentioned site and type ADW Launcher.apk and hit search. Many versions would be displayed, so make sure you download the version that is closest to the latest one in the market. After you have downloaded the file to your desktop, simply transfer it to your Android phone, remember the location where you have sent it on your phone.

Now using a file explorer like Astro, go to that location on your phone and simply click on it and install the app. You are ready to go!

So, there is this easy way to get paid apps for free, but we at Blogtechnika always advice you to pay for the apps than these shortcuts. Also we will be not responsible if your device will face any problem after using the downloaded apps.

Enjoy!

Tags: 2012 FREE LEATEST BROWSING → TIPS

How to Download Paid Android Apps for Free

By Ehijoshua (Jboss) → Monday, 28 July 2014

How to Find and Install Free Android Apps

The Android Market is an online marketplace dedicated to providing free and paid applications for Google’s Android operating system. The market comes pre-installed on all Android-based devices and is also highly integrated with third-party websites and online stores via QR codes and other similar technology. This article will teach you how to find and install free Android apps on your device.

Method 1 of 2: On your Android Device

1. 
   1
   Click on the “Play Store” app from your phone’s home screen. This app has many of options for downloading free apps
   
2. 
   2
   Click the "Apps” category in Google play.
3. 
   3
   Scroll through the various free headings listed at the top of the applications window. For example, “Top Free”, will show the most popular free apps of the day. The "New Free" category will display a list of free apps which have been newly released.
4. 
   4
   Click on “Editor's Choice” for more apps that are free. Click on the “free” button to go to the installation screen.
5. 
   5
   Click the button marked "Accept" to install the free app.

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1. 1
   Connect to the Android Market via an Internet browser.
2. 
   2
   Click the “Top Charts” tab.
3. 
   3
   Scroll down to "Top Free in Android Apps" and click on "See More" on the right hand side.
4. 
   4
   Browse through the selection of free android apps.
5. 
   5
   Click the icon of the app you want to download.
6. 
   6
   See a detailed description, price, and screenshots of the app.
7. 
   7
   Click the “Developer” name underneath the app title. This will redirect you to the other apps that this developer has created.
8. 
   8
   Scroll down and look for "Additional Information" and look for "Contact Developer". Click on "Visit Developer's Website". This will redirect you to the developer's website and you can find the app there as well.
9. 
   9
   Locate the app on the website and click “Install” or “Download”. It may be necessary to find the app by searching the site if you aren’t automatically directed to adownload page.
10. 
    10
    Alternatively, you can simply search for the name of the app from "Google Play".
11. 
    11
    The app will be automatically installed to your device once it gets synced with your computer. (Refer to "On your Android Device" section above)

Tags: 2012 FREE LEATEST BROWSING → TIPS

How to Find and Install Free Android Apps

By Ehijoshua (Jboss) →

Your vote could be that one which makes the difference so please make it count.

 Your vote could be that one which makes the difference so please make it count.

                                                    FRANK LEMON

                          PLEASE VOTE OUR BROTHER

                                      FRANK LEMON 

           AS THE BEST AFRICAN GOSPEL MUSICIAN

                                EVERY BODY HAVE VOTED PLEASE COMPLETE THE VOTE

PLEASE I NEED YOUR VOTE DON'T IGNORE THIS JUST CLICK TO VOTE NO REGISTRATION IS NEEDED JUST CLICK AND VOTE FRANK LEMON PLEASE REMEMBER FRANK LEMON NEEDS YOUR VOTE AS YOU VOTE YOUR TODAY WILL BE BETTER THAN YESTERDAY PLEASE JUST CLICK TO VOTE NOW IT WONT TAKE YOUR TIME FRANK LEMON LOVES YOU ALL

Tags: 2012 FREE LEATEST BROWSING → TIPS

Your vote could be that one which makes the difference so please make it count.

By Ehijoshua (Jboss) → Thursday, 24 July 2014

Top 70 Quotes Every Business Owner Must Read To Get Inspired

When it comes to business, I discovered that to become successful, you have to ask successful people what they do differently, apply it to yours and watch the magic happen. Nature is actually neutral, simply applying the said successful individual’s approach to your business would definitely improve your venture and that is the reason I decided to share with you today, a collection of 70 outstanding quotes from successful entrepreneurs around the globe that would not only boost your confidence, but also build an unshakable business person in you. Do enjoy the quotes.

1. When You are ready to quit, you are close than you think. – Bob Parsons
2. In deciding whether to include a service , look at how it fits in with the overall vision. – Iain Dodsworth
3. The key to success for everything in business, science and technology is never to follow the others. – Masaru Ibuka
4. The difference between a vision and hallucination is that other people can see the vision.  – Marc Andreessen
5. Expect and hope that a quarter of your projects fail.If not,you’re not taking enough risk. – Adam Smith
6. Always deliver more than expected. – Larry Page
7. Don’t take forever to make a decision, but don’t make it too fast. – Micah Baldwin
8. The largest opportunities are found in ideas that go against the grain. – Omar Hamoui
9. A person who is quietly confident makes the best leader. – Fred Wilson
10. Ambition and Hard work go hand in hand. – Adii Pienaar
11. The strongest thing you can have as an entrepreneur is not to rely on luck but cultivating an ability to recognize  fortunate situations when they are occurring. – Jack Dorsey
12. Whateveryou are thinkng, think bigger. – Tony Hsieh
13. Success is very much the intersect of luck andhard work. – Dustin Moskovitz
14. Nothing worksbetterthanjust improving your product. – Joel Spolsky
15. You are the most powerful force in your life. – Brian Wong
16. There is no finish line. So love the journey. – David
17. If everything you do works, then you’re not taking many risks and probably aren’t innovating either. – Paul Buchheit.
18. No is easier to do. Yes is easier to say.
19. To have a great idea,have a lot of them. – Thomas Edison.
20. Individuals don’t build great companies, teams do.
21. It isn’t the consumers job to know what they want. – Steve Jobs
22. Success is defined in units of fun, It’s all about being happy. – Jake Nickell
23. Everyday that we spent not improving our product was a wasted day. – Joel Spolsky
24. People are not good at expressing their frustration. The best way to listen to  the customer is through metrics. – Chris Hughes
25. When I’m hiring, I don’t look for credentials, I look for knowledge. – Aza Raskin
26. Design is more important than technology in most consumer applications. – Dave McClure
27. Simplicity and common sense should characterize planning and strategic direction. – Marc Andreessen
28. Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk. – Tony Stark
29. It’s not always the most popular person who gets the job done. – Gordon Gekko
30. Everything’s impossible until somebody does it. – Bruce Wayne
31. Hire great people and give them freedom to be awesome. – Andrew Mason
32. People will pay for something they like because they want to ensure its future. – Marco Arment
33. We try to to solve complicated problems without letting people know how complicated the problem was. – Jonathan Ive
34. Startup success is driven most by the product passion, quality, vision, team-work and persistence of the founding team and the talent that the team attracts. – Jim Breyer
35. Design is a career where you learn creative decision making. – Biz Stone
36. There is nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team. – Jason Fried
37. Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once. – Drew Houston
38. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Companies need time to figure out what they want to be. – Bart Decrem
39. A good idea is worthless without impeccable execution and a commitment to iterate. – Zack Klein
40. Get five or six of your smartest friends in a room and ask them to rate your idea. – Mark Pincus
41. Don’t worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about they day they stop. – Jeffrey Zeldman
42. Price is what you pay. Value is what you get. – Warren Buffet
43. You don’t need to win every medal to be successful. – Jason Fried
44. Make mistakes faster. – Andrew Grove
45. Fail often so you can succeed sooner. – Tom Kelley
46. Your work speaks for you. – Michael Lopp
47. Simple things should be simple. Complex things should be possible. – Alan Kay.
48. Chase the vision and not the money, the money would end up following you. – Tony Hsieh
49. I mostly built stuff that I liked. – Mark Zuckerberg
50. Do fewer things. – Evan Williams
51. A business has to be involving, it has to be fun,and it has to exercise your creative instincts. – Richard Branson
52. We watch our competitors, learn from them, see the things they were doing for customers and copy those things as much as we can. – Jezz Bezos
53. Don’t try to be original, just try to be good.  – Paul Rand
54. You don’t need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea. – Larry Page
55. Don’t leave hold of your common sense. Think about what you’re doing and how the technology can enhance it. Don’t think about technology first. – Esther Dyson
56. For the most ambitious young people, the corporate ladder is obsolete. – Paul Graham
57. We have a strategic plan. It’s called doing things. – Herb Kelleher
58. Why join the navy if you can be a pirate? – Steve Jobs
59. Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. – Bill Gates
60. Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard. – Guy Kawasaki
61. The only thing worst than starting something and failing; is not starting something. – Seth Godin
62. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. – Steve Jobs
63. Solve a real problem and the world is yours. – Aaron Patzer
64. Marry the problem, not the solution. – Dan Greenberg
65. Experience is great but never let it stand in the way of progress. – Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten
66. Think of it as you want it, not as it is! – Larry Ellision
67. Remember: It’s not innovation until it gets built. – Garry Tan
68. Stop Sketching and start building. -Dennis Crowley
69. Make sure the thing you are working on is something you love. – Bred Feld
70. Nobody accomplishes success by themselves. – Malcolm Gladwell.

I’ve made it a habit to read 10 of these quotes to myself daily (that covers the 70 quotes within a week). You could apply my strategy, and you’ll see the effect it’ll have on your thinking about business in the next 60 days.

Hope you apply these tips by great minds into your daily business activities. Feel free to add yours in the comment box below and share with your friends.

Tags: 2012 FREE LEATEST BROWSING → TIPS

Top 70 Quotes Every Business Owner Must Read To Get Inspired

By Ehijoshua (Jboss) → Monday, 7 July 2014

How To Create A GTBank Verified Paypal Account In Nigeria

Few days back from time of this post, every Nigerian internet marketer would kill to have a Paypal account so as to easily run their online businesses but that wasn’t possible as a result of Nigeria not listed in their supported countries, though there are several ways to bypass their restriction and create a Paypal account in unsupported countries, it still wasn’t easy managing such accounts.

The good news all came up when Rupert Keeley, the executive in charge of the EMEA region of PayPal, the payments unit of eBay Inc, said in an interview on Monday (16th June, 2014) that 10 new countries were going to make their list of which Nigeria was included.

Paypal has been the world’s major means of Payment on the web, and bringing their services to Nigeria is one welcome development we have always been praying for. Though for now, Paypal has not enabled peer-to-peer transactions in Nigeria, you can only make purchases and not receive payments with your Nigerian Paypal account.

• Must Read: My 6 Secrets To Managing Paypal Accounts From A Blacklisted Country

How To Signup A Nigerian IP Based Paypal Account

Here is a beginners guide to signing up a paypal account from Nigeria.

1. Visit Paypal Nigerian homepage via https://www.paypal.com/ng/ and click on Signup at the top right corner of the page.

2. Click on “Open Account” under the “individual” section for a personal account.

3. Fill in all details and click on “Agree and Create Account“.

Getting Verified Using GT Bank’s Naira MasterCard

Without verifying your paypal account, you would be placed at a $250 limit. Verifying your paypal account lets you spend as much as you will.

• Must Read: How To Verify A Paypal Account Using A Payoneer Mastercard

4. A new page would come up with a form to log in your Card details. I used my GT Bank’s Naira MasterCard to get mine verified.

5. You’ll be redirected to your account’s dashboard. But there are few things you still need to do. Firstly, you have to activate your paypal account by clicking the activation link sent to the mail you registered the account with. Secondly, you need to link and confirm your credit or debit card. Click on “Link and confirm credit or debit card” or “Get Verified” link in your account’s dashboard, insert your GTB Mastercard details here again, then click on “Continue“. You can make use of any Nigerian bank’s Visa or MasterCard.

6. Paypal would deduct $1.95 from your card which they’ll refund in 24hrs. Now, your bank will alert you via SMS or email with a code which you’ll use in completing the whole verification process.

Your bank’s SMS alert should read.

Acct:******1234
The Naira equibvalent of USD1.95 has been authorized for the transaction done on PP*0123CODE 0123456789FF

What you need do is copy the 4 digits before CODE (highlighted in red) from your mail or SMS alert. That’s what you need to confirm your card.

7. You now have to login once more to your Nigerian Paypal account and click on “Confirm Card” link which should appear on the right sidebar of your dashboard. Then type in the four-digits you copied from your bank alert and click on “Confirm Card” as shown below.

8. You’ll get a success popup if everything was fine and successful.

Here is a screenshot of my Nigerian verified Paypal account.

And that’s how easy it is to signup a Nigerian Paypal account and get verified using any debit or credit card. Remember, I made use of my GTBank MasterCard here and it did work for me.

FAQ about Nigerian Based Paypal Accounts

Ques: Does Paypal only support the GTB Naira MasterCard In Nigeria?
Ans: No, people also making use of UBA, Zenith, Access and some others bank’s credit cards have been verified using same procedures in this tutorial.

Ques: What Credit Card Types are accepted by Paypal?
Ans: Paypal supports Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Debit or Credit Cards

Ques: How Do I Fund My Nigerian Paypal account to make online purchases?
Ans: You don’t have to worry about funding your paypal, whenever you make an online purchase, your linked credit/debit card would be charged.

Ques: Can I make Transfers to other Paypal Accounts?
Ans: No, for now Paypal has not enabled peer-to-peer transactions in Nigeria.

Ques: Do I need a token device before I can get Verified?
Ans: No, that isn’t necessary

Ques: Can I add My Bank Account to Nigerian Paypal like I did in my US Paypal?
Ans: No, PayPal doesn’t offer this feature at this time for Nigerians.

Ques: Can I add more than 1 Debit/Credit Card to my Paypal account?
Ans: Yes

Ques: Can I purchase services from sites like Fiverr, Addynamo, Amazon with a Nigerian Paypal?
Ans: Yes, it works on all sites that accept Paypal payments.

Now, I’ll be glad to know which card you used in verifying your Nigerian Paypal account. Share your thoughts using the comment section below, and please do not forget to share this post with your friends. They might find it useful. Cheers!

Tags: 2012 FREE LEATEST BROWSING → TIPS

How To Create A GTBank Verified Paypal Account In Nigeria

By Ehijoshua (Jboss) →