Extend Your Battery Life by Changing Your Wi-Fi Sleep Policy

Generally speaking, you don’t need to leave your Wi-Fi turned on when your screen is turned off, and Android has a settings area where you can set your Wi-Fi sleep time accordingly. It’s buried pretty deep in the settings, so some people may not even know it exists.

To make sure your Wi-Fi radio is set how you want it (to maximize battery life, or to maximize convenience), open up Settings, Wireless & networks, Wi-Fi settings, press the menu button, Advanced, Wi-Fi sleep policy, and make the change.

These settings can be set and customized by your carrier (or custom ROM author), but most phones have “When screen turns off”, “Never when plugged in”, and “Never”.

I use “Never when plugged in” so I can sync my news, RSS feeds, and podcasts at night over Wi-Fi while my phone is charging. The T-Mobile myTouch 4G, any any phone that features Wi-Fi calling, will likely have this set to “Never”, otherwise you won’t be able to receive calls over Wi-Fi. This can eat into your battery life, but if you have a low cellular signal it’s probably worth the extra power consumption.

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Android, HTC, myTouch 4G, T-Mobile, Video

About The Author

Joe Levi

Joe graduated from Weber State University with two degrees in Information Systems and Technologies. He has carried mobile devices with him for more than a decade, including Apple's Newton, Microsoft's Handheld and Palm Sized PCs, and is Pocketnow's "Android Guy". By day you'll find Joe coding web pages, tweaking for SEO, and leveraging social media to spread the word. By night you'll probably find him writing technology and "prepping" articles, as well as shooting video. Read more about Joe Levi here.