If your smartphone battery seems to disappear faster than you can keep up with daily charging, certain apps might be the culprits. Some apps run constantly in the background, using location services, notifications, or data—even when you’re not actively using them. This not only drains your battery but can also slow down your phone, making it feel sluggish and less efficient. It’s frustrating, but you’re not stuck with this fate.
While deleting these battery-guzzling apps is the most effective way to stop the drain, you can also tweak a few settings to help manage their impact. Whether you want to keep the app but use it in smarter ways, or you’re ready to let it go completely, being aware of how it affects your battery is the first step. Here are two apps that are known battery zappers and what you can do about them.
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1. Facebook
Facebook is actually one of the biggest battery drainers on most smartphones. Even when you're not using it, the app often runs in the background, constantly refreshing your news feed, sending notifications, tracking your location, and even syncing contacts or media. All of that background activity takes a toll on your battery and can make your phone feel slower over time. Plus, the app itself is pretty heavy, using lots of data and memory just to load all that content.
If you still love scrolling through Facebook, there are a few ways to reduce the damage without deleting it completely. First, head to your phone’s settings and disable background app refresh for Facebook. You can also turn off location services unless you're using a feature that requires it. Another great tip is to use Facebook through your mobile browser instead of the app—it uses way less battery.
2. TikTok
TikTok is addictive for a reason—it’s constantly serving up fast-moving, high-resolution videos, and that eats up a ton of battery life in a short amount of time. Every time you scroll on this app, your phone is working overtime, especially if you’re watching for more than a few minutes. TikTok also runs in the background, preloading videos and pushing notifications to keep you coming back for more, and this drains power even when the app is not open.
If deleting TikTok is not in the cards for you, there are a few smart ways to cut down on battery loss. Try using TikTok with your screen brightness turned down a bit, and limit your usage to shorter sessions. You can also disable background data and app refresh for TikTok in your settings, so it’s not draining power behind the scenes. And just like with Facebook, switching to the mobile browser version occasionally can give you what you need from the app without taking up so much of your phone’s resources.
