How would you like an extra 15 percent to 20 percent more battery life on your smartphone each day?
Most of us would say, “Yes, please … how?”
Believe it or not, by deleting the Facebook app.
But won’t that mean not getting to check on my Facebook feed from the phone?
Not at all — just switch to using Facebook on your mobile browser.
I have to admit, I was skeptical when I first heard this suggestion in an article from Samuel Gibbs of The Guardian.
It seems the Facebook app is a battery hog.
If you check the battery use in your phone’s settings, you’ll see exactly how much of the charge is used up by the Facebook app — both when it’s on the screen and especially when it’s in the background.
It seems Facebook doesn’t do any of those battery-hungry background things if you’re using a browser instead of the Facebook app.
You can check this for yourself. On an iPhone, go to Settings, then Battery, and scroll down to see Battery Usage. You can switch between usage from the last 24 hours and from the last seven days.
On Android phones, open Settings, pick the General tab and then scroll down to Battery & Power Saving. Then touch Battery Usage and scroll down for Battery Use Details.
If you are like me, you’ll see Facebook at or near the top of the list of battery use.
My own list showed Facebook using more than 20 percent of my battery over the last 24 hours.
So as an experiment, I deleted the Facebook app from my iPhone and signed into my Facebook account with Safari.
The mobile browser version of Facebook is very much like the app. I even placed a bookmark for the Facebook URL on my Phone’s desktop, and its icon looks identical to the Facebook app’s icon.
The browser version’s Facebook toolbar at the top of the screen isn’t always visible, and some features like Instant Articles and autoplaying video are not available, but I found it a worthy tradeoff for an extra 20 percent on my battery at the end of the day.
If you’re a regular Facebook user, go check your battery usage, and if you’re stunned by what you see, try the browser for a few days. You can always reinstall the app if you don’t like the change.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Jim Rossman writes for The Dallas Morning News. He may be reached at jrossman@dallasnews.com.
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