What is downloaded onto your phone?

[happystuff]

Backstory: I usually carry my tablet, my phone, and my mp3 player to work. They all tend to make my backpack/purse heavy - especially the tablet. I have avoided downloading certain apps onto my phone because I hate having to charge my phone often. Current usage gives me about 3-4 days before I have to recharge the phone. However, I am now contemplating downloading a couple apps onto the phone so that I no longer need to carry the tablet. I know that will increase my phone usage and, hence, require recharging sooner.

Yes, I admit this is a silly little concern, but I was wondering how much do folks use their phone over other devices and how often do folks have to recharge their phones?

[bae]

I have found it very helpful to carry a small pocket-sized Anker (or similar) battery/charger for my devices.

[herbgeek]

My phone stays in my dining room (office) most of the time and I recharge it every morning whether I need it or not. I plug it in first thing in the morning, and unplug after I'm finished with breakfast and exercise. I also carry a battery when I know I'll be out for more than a couple of hours.

[catherine]

I have a lot of apps on my phone--161. I have a charging cable near my bed and I just charge while I'm sleeping. I never knew more apps require more frequent charging, but I don't feel bothered by my current routine.

[rosarugosa]

I don't have too many apps on my phone. I think I tend to use my laptop rather than my phone for a lot of things. On my phone I have FB, Instagram, Insight Timer, Sirius, Alexa (to set up Mom's device), Zoom and a banking app. I'm sure there are a few others I am forgetting. I mostly use my phone for texts, calls, photos, google and directions.
I charge my phone every evening whether it needs it or not because that's just the way I am wired. ;)
I find it easier to make something part of my daily routine than to do it every few days.

[Alan]

I'm guessing that you're not really interested in what apps other people have but rather what apps cause people to spend more time using their phone during the day. I keep a couple of news apps, a banking app and a real time stock monitoring app on my phone which account for most of my daily usage.

As for charging, we have a couple of combination clock/wireless charging devices on our bedstands. Our phones have to be somewhere when not in use so we just place them on top of the charger/clock when we go to bed and they're fully charged when we get up.

[Rogar]

I'm a light cell phone user, but a few apps that make my life easier or more pleasant are, Maps for route finding, itunes, the library app for audio books, chrome, and couple of field guides for bird identification. I don't do any financial transactions or account apps via cell phone.

[razz]

I have the same apps (34) on my phone as I have on my laptop as I switch between the two with some additional use of my iPad.

I have VOIP home phone which is dependent on electricity to operate so I have my iPhone with me all the time and it gets plugged in overnight beside my bed to charge and be available if the electricity is ever out.
I am curious why you are not charging your phone every day? What needs to change in your daily routine to include charging your cellphone daily?

I don't have an MP3 player but do play music and podcasts on my cell phone. It is linked by Bluetooth to my hearing aids but you would use earphones.
Could the cellphone replace the MP3 player so that you are down to one device to carry with a small battery pack reducing the weight even further? Charge them both of those overnight and you are good to go for the full shift and more each day. Tablets are definitely heavy to carry around every day.

[happystuff]

Alan, I know I didn't word the title exactly right as it was a combination of desired information. I'm hesitant to add new apps to my phone for a multitude of reasons - admittedly, some negatively unwarranted. LOL. I don't like having to charge my phone often. I don't know why that is, but I don't. I want/expect the battery to hold up for several days, at least. I know that adding more apps will be a drain on battery, space, etc. BUT... I also want the convenience of having what I want at hand. (Yes, I know how that sounds. LOL)

I am thinking that I am not using the phone technology as best as can be used for my lifestyle. I see other people use it for EVERYTHING! Some for things I only use my laptop for! But I think I am ready to expand the usage available with my phone, even though I may still be somewhat hesitant. :)

This is definitely a "me" thing, but I was curious about the degree that others utilize their phone for... everything? whatever? etc.

[happystuff]

razz, I have considered downloading the music and spanish lesson to the phone, but - again - the amount loaded on the mp3 player is pretty big and I'm not sure I want to use up that much storage space on the phone. My mp3 player is approximately 1 inch by 2 inches in size, the larger of the two is 8gig. I don't mind carrying them. It really is the tablet I was looking to replace. Um... I still don't do Bluetooth. :|( Baby steps!

[bae]

I'm not positive that it is true that simply having apps on your phone will drain your battery.

On my iPhone and my Android OS devices, apps seem to only use power when they are being used. I have hundreds of apps on the devices, and the power monitoring tools show that only a couple ever use power.

[happystuff]

I'm not positive that it is true that simply having apps on your phone will drain your battery.

On my iPhone and my Android OS devices, apps seem to only use power when they are being used. I have hundreds of apps on the devices, and the power monitoring tools show that only a couple ever use power.

Thanks, bae. I will look at my settings and see if I can find anything that allocates battery usage. Mine is an android phone and I know that some of these apps use a lot of space! Maybe only ones that are open/left open use power? Again, I'll be looking into this on my phone. Thanks!

[Rogar]

My cell phone has a slot for a small removable memory card and those are cheap. I don't know how common that is, but it the price of built in memory has seemed like a rip off compared to the little memory cards. But, I'm no cell phone expert.

[happystuff]

My cell phone has a slot for a small removable memory card and those are cheap. I don't know how common that is, but it the price of built in memory has seemed like a rip off compared to the little memory cards. But, I'm no cell phone expert.

You just reminded me that I have this!!! (duh on me!) This may be where I can store my music and photos! Thanks for this reminder!!!!

[happystuff]

Just want to thank everyone who responded as you have all given me information to move forward with! Granted, lots of work with music/photos/etc storage and what apps to download, etc. But I really appreciate all the feedback.

I really am technology-capable, just technology-hesitant. I feel like I can take some steps forward that I have previously been hesitant to take. Thank you all.

[rosarugosa]

Happy: You might already know this, but on my Android phone, if I click on the little 3 lines on the lower left, it shows me apps that are still open (even though I'm not currently using them) and then I can close them all or individually.

[happystuff]

Happy: You might already know this, but on my Android phone, if I click on the little 3 lines on the lower left, it shows me apps that are still open (even though I'm not currently using them) and then I can close them all or individually.

Thanks, rr. I've been digging deeper into the features/settings of my phone since I started this thread last night. Mine doesn't have the three lines, but does have a single line at the bottom of the screen. If I swipe up on the single line, it shows me the open apps and I just swipe to close them.

What I have been trying to find out is which apps-if any- run in the background. I know my weather app runs in the background continuously, as does the clock/time and things like that. It's been rather interesting exploring the phone beyond the basics I've been using it for. And I've downloaded one app that - once I see how it works - will make me feel better about not carrying the tablet.

All-in-all, very interesting stuff. Oh, and I want to see about the micro SDcard and how I can use that going forward. I've always liked technology, but haven't been bothering with anything new lately. I'm actually have fun with this!

[frugal-one]

happystuff…. What is the app you downloaded?

Like you, I hate having to charge the phone daily. I really am NOT reliant on it. I rarely even have it on. I mostly use my iPad and laptop and have calls on either landline or Magic Jack (wintering in TX). I know I will soon be required to use the cell more but really don’t want to. I was tethered to the phone while working and have no desire to repeat that experience. I only check the phone every few days since I rarely give the number out. Those that matter know the best way to contact me.

[happystuff]

happystuff…. What is the app you downloaded?

Like you, I hate having to charge the phone daily. I really am NOT reliant on it. I rarely even have it on. I mostly use my iPad and laptop and have calls on either landline or Magic Jack (wintering in TX). I know I will soon be required to use the cell more but really don’t want to. I was tethered to the phone while working and have no desire to repeat that experience. I only check the phone every few days since I rarely give the number out. Those that matter know the best way to contact me.

This current job is physical but pretty mindless. I have been using the tablet to access Kindle for books to read, the browser for some online free signing lessons (and sometimes this site - lol) and, yes, a tv app to watch some tv during my breaks. These were basically the things I wanted to do on the phone. I've downloaded the Kindle app and it is working well. For space, I'm just careful with how many books I have downloaded at one time. And I did download the tv app, but haven't tried it out yet. LOL. Phone already has a browser, but I haven't really used it, so I will be trying that out as well.

I'm still going through my settings and such to see how much space these have taken up and I want to see how the usage will affect my battery life.

[KayLR]

I recently decided to try and significantly reduce the amount of time I use my phone, for lifestyle reasons. Have you ever looked at your Digital Wellness stats? I got a wake-up call one day when I looked at mine. I was spending an average of 36.5 hr on my phone per week. That equates to 79 days a year on my phone. Ridiculous! WTH was I doing?! What did I do before my phone?

So I wiped off some apps, stopped all notifications except Messenger (because family only texts) and cleaned my home screen of app icons so I couldn't see them easily. It all really made a difference, mainly because I was intentional and aware of the time I was spending away from real life. I still get the urge to pick up my phone (it will show you how many pickups you do, too) but I try and stop and do something else. The urge passes. I tell you what, I am getting lots of stuff done and feel much more satisfied.

One thing I quit was Instagram. I discovered I was feeling anxious when I scrolled it because I followed so many talented people who I could never measure up to. That's just BS.

[Tradd]

I have a ton of stuff on my phone from weather, Kindle, Bible/prayer book apps, the apps for free download of ebooks via my library. NYT (I have a digital subscription), FB, FB Messenger. I don’t do Twitter or Instagram at all. Digital dive logs apps, dive planning, too. BBC Radio. Local news station.

I surf and read a ton off my phone. I don’t have a tablet. My iPhone 8 Plus is plenty big to read and surf on. Also will watch the streaming news on it and a lot of radio. I love the BBC.

[happystuff]

I get what you are saying, KayLR. My phone is mainly used as just that - a phone for calls and texting, and even that is mainly family. The only social media I belong to is Facebook and that is not on my phone and I rarely log in (which is probably why they keep locking up my account - LOL). Adding the apps on the phone now is purely for doing something somewhat constructive with my time and my mind during my free time at work.

[happystuff]

Tradd - how often do you have to recharge your phone?

[bae]

I just looked at the battery monitoring tool on my iPhone, and it shows that my "inactive" apps are basically using no battery power over the past few weeks. Only the expected apps are showing up there.

[jp1]

Some apps will drain your battery because they can be set to run in the background, like email constantly checking for new mail, etc. Changing the settings for those has eliminated most battery drain for me. Occasionally I've downloaded apps that seemed to really suck the life out of my battery, like an airline tracker app I downloaded a few years ago. Even when it wasn't launched it caused a serious drain, so I just deleted it since I had mainly downloaded it out of curiosity.

I've deleted a couple of apps from my phone which have greatly reduced my screen time. Facebook being the main one. But I still charge the phone at least daily. Usually overnight. Like catherine I have a charger cord at bedside and I just plug it in every night. But we also have chargers all over the place. In my office I have one that gets used for my personal phone, my work phone, and my ancient ipad (which only gets used as a radio/music player since not much else works well on it anymore because it is at its terminal iOS of 10-something. Even our couch that we bought last year came with plugs on the sides for USB chargers so we have charging cables on either end for when we're sitting on it. And I have a charger in my car so that using Waze doesn't run my battery down. But I'm one of those people who worries anytime my phone gets below 70-80% charged...

[Tradd]

Tradd - how often do you have to recharge your phone?

Probably twice daily at least. But when I’m streaming audio it’s always plugged in.

[bae]

I got a new small battery pack/charger in for my iPhone this last week, and I've been quite happy with it. The Anker 622. It magnetically couples to the back of the phone, even through the phone case, and provides quite a bit of additional juice. It also functions as a phone stand if you find that useful, and can recharge some of the other small irritating devices I commonly carry.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09925S3R9/

[Tradd]

I have three, maybe four, of the battery packs, but not one attached to a case.

[happystuff]

Interesting. Mine is not an iphone, but I've seen folks with such things. Don't they then need to be charged?

[Tradd]

Interesting. Mine is not an iphone, but I've seen folks with such things. Don't they then need to be charged?

Yes. They’re good for power outages or when you’re out and about and not able to charge your phone.

[happystuff]

Yes. They’re good for power outages or when you’re out and about and not able to charge your phone.

Thanks, Tradd. What I mean is, don't the chargers eventually need to be recharged?

[Tradd]

Thanks, Tradd. What I mean is, don't the chargers eventually need to be recharged?

Yes. Depending on the unit, you can get 2-3 (or more) full phone charges out of backup battery pack.

[happystuff]

Yes. Depending on the unit, you can get 2-3 (or more) full phone charges out of backup battery pack.

Thanks for the additional info!