Pokemon GO is a selfish battery hog. Without a portable battery recharger, Pokemon GO won’t last long with the app running AR and active. Fret not, because there are ways to slow down Pokemon GO’s battery life leeching ways.
A desperate community joined together in search of solutions, and we’re here to provide all the tips to keep your phone living as long as it can while you’re in the field capturing rare Pokemon. Check out all the tips, tricks, and methods for preserving your precious battery power with the guide below.
Find all the latest Pokemon GO news on our anthology of info with stories from all across the internet. Pokemon GO is a massive success for Nintendo, earning the Japanese company record-breaking stock increases and further proving the all-encompassing reach of the Pokemon franchise.
While easy to pick-up and play, Pokemon GO does have some hidden complexity. Browse through the list of guides and extra Gameranx content with our bank of bonus links to even more useful Pokemon GO content.
More Pokemon GO tips, tricks, and FAQs:
- Pokemon GO: 9 Essential Tips, Tricks & Answers To Your Questions
- Pokemon GO: Get All 3 Eeveelutions Every Time
- Pokemon GO: How to Become A Gym Leader
- Pokemon GO: How to Earn Coins (Fast) & What They’re Used For
- Pokemon GO: Where to Find (And Catch) Pokemon | Spawn Locations
- Pokemon GO: iOS & Android Compatibility – Which Versions Work
- Pokemon GO: Easy Ways to Earn XP & Level Up Fast
- Pokemon GO: How to Take In-Game Screenshots
4 Tips to Save Battery Life & Capture Outside Longer
Niantic knows about the battery-draining power of Pokemon GO, and they’re looking for solutions. In the meantime, here are the best alternative methods you can use on iOS or Android to save on battery life.
Use Battery Saver Mode
Battery Saver Mode does just what the name implies — it saves battery. There’s more to this mode than you might realize. Let’s start with the first step; turning it on.
- Tap ‘Main Menu’ from the Map View
- Go to ‘Settings’ [Top-Left]
- Toggle ‘Battery Saver’ ON
This toggles on the battery life optimization feature. Now you can have Pokemon GO running in the background while the display turns off — it will continue to track distance traveled for hatching Incubating eggs and notify you of nearby Pokemon.
- To get the most out of this feature — TURN YOUR SMARTPHONE UPSIDE DOWN — the screen will dim and continue to function as prescribed. It will only work if you turn your smartphone upside down.
Also, make sure to turn off any auto-lock or auto-sleep features temporarily. If your iPhone or Android device goes to Sleep Mode or locks after a minute automatically, the battery life optimization feature is essentially useless, even if it will save more battery life — but your Pokemon GO steps won’t be tracked, and you won’t get nearby Pokemon notifications.
Having Freezing Issues? Many players report bugs using Battery Saver Mode, forcing a hard reset of the app or your smart phone. To help, try turning off ‘Battery Optimization’ for Pokemon GO in the Battery settings screen.
Putting your smart phone on sleep mode / lock will not allow Pokemon GO to continue communicating. It will not notify you of nearby Pokemon or track your steps.
Use Your Smartphone’s Built-In Battery Optimization Settings
All smartphones feature their own battery optimization settings that might help you keep Pokemon GO running longer.
On iOS:
- Enable Low Power Mode [iOS 9]
- Settings -> Battery -> Low Power Mode
- Dim the Screen
- Swipe Up from the Bottom of the Screen -> Drag the Brightness Slider Down
- Turn Off Auto-Brightness
- Settings -> Display & Brightness -> Set Auto-Brightness to OFF
- Turn Off Locations Services on Other Background Apps
- Settings -> Privacy -> Locations Services
On Android:
- Turn Off Hardware Radios
- Swipe Down -> Notification Bar -> Settings -> Power Control / Battery
- Swipe Off GPS / Wi-Fi / Bluetooth Or Other Unnecessary Radios
- Toggle Off Automatic ‘Polling’
- Turn off auto-refresh for apps that frequently poll. Example: Twitter, Gmail, Etc
- Set apps to ‘Manual’ for refresh frequency. This way they will only refresh when you check.
- Turn Off Background Apps
- Settings -> Apps -> Swipe Left to Turn Off Apps running in the background
- Toggle Off Live Wallpaper
- Widgets, too!
- Turn Down Brightness
- Turn Off Auto-Brightness
Android phones feature a wide variety of battery-optimization options. It might require extra independent research to learn more about. Don’t worry, there are still more in-app Pokemon GO battery life options to explore!
Turn Off AR Mode
After entering an encounter sequence with a Wild Pokemon, you’ll enter into AR Mode. That stands for ‘Augmented Reality” and its one of the most touted features of the app. Augmented Reality places Pikachu (or any other Pokemon) over the real-world, overlaying the fantasy creatures over our mundane reality using your phone’s camera.
It’s a cool feature, but if you want to save battery life and catch Pokemon a little easier, it’s better to just turn this feature off. Especially if you’re not planning on taking an Augmented-Reality photo.
Here’s how you turn off AR Mode:
- Enter an Encounter Sequence from the Map Screen
- Tap the AR Toggle Button -> Top-Right Button During Encounter
That button toggles AR Mode on / off. The Pokemon will remain in the center of the screen, and the background will be replaced with a generic forest-themed static image.
Use Pokemon GO Plus
Pokemon GO Plus is a physical wrist-strap add-on meant to enhance your Pokemon GO experience. The device connects to your phone via Bluetooth and alerts you of events in-game even when the app is inactive.
- The tiny device isn’t out yet! Pokemon GO Plus hits wide release on 7/31 and costs $34.99 at retail.
What are the benefits? You can capture Pokemon while your phone is in your pocket and activate Pokestops — though it sounds like you’ll need to open the app to collect items. Only Pokemon you’ve already captured can be caught with Pokemon GO Plus, so this handy device is best served for grinding XP and earning plenty of candy / stardust by turning in duplicate Pokemon to the professor.
Basically, you can dramatically cut-down on battery-usage while capturing Pokemon for XP, or just leave your phone off until you stumble into a Pokemon / Pokestop. This is a great solution for joggers, runners, or those going on long trips or running errands — especially if you don’t want to keep your nose glued to your smart phone screen.
How does it work? The Pokemon GO Plus will vibrate and the center light will change colors. Pressing the button when a Pokemon is near will throw a Pokeball and attempt a capture. Not too complicated, right?
Those are all the methods we’ve found (so far) to keep your battery alive on long trips outside.
If there’s something you know that we don’t, please drop a comment and reveal some secrets. We’re always eager to update these articles and add more useful info.
