Month: November 2024

Categories
Batteries Guide

How to Calibrate Your Android Smartphone Battery

Android smartphones and bad battery life is a never-ending love affair. Despite the efforts of smartphone companies to improve battery performance through software optimization, adding features such as optimized charging,users just can’t help but grumble about their Android phone’s battery life.

Users often complain that their Android device discharges very quickly or their phone unexpectedly shutdowns in the middle of the day. The reason behind, quite often, this is the fact that the battery of their Android smartphone isn’t calibrated properly. In such cases, the displayed battery percentage fails to align with the actual charge level.

The batteries of new smartphones, and often those of old ones as well, need to be calibrated. This procedure is usually done in the factory, but it should be repeated many times, and it certainly doesn’t hurt.

This is because in some cases, the operating system indicates a charge level that is DIFFERENT from the actual charge of the battery, and in many cases, this ‘reading’ problem translates into a shorter duration of full charges.

Therefore, in this article, we will learn more about battery calibration on Android—three easy ways to calibrate the battery of your Android device.

Manual Calibration

The best way to calibrate the battery of your Android smartphone is to manually reset the stats. Here’s how you can do it:

  • Use your phone until it powers off on its own.
  • Switch it back on and wait for it to turn off again.
  • Connect your phone to a charger and do not switch it on. Let it charge in the power-off state until 100%.
  • Once the phone reaches 100%, turn it on. It’s likely that the battery indicator will show a percentage below 100%. In this case, reconnect the charger while keeping your phone on, and continue charging until it shows 100%.
  • Once it reaches 100%, disconnect it from the charger and reboot your phone. If the battery indicator still shows a percentage below 100%, repeat the steps above until it shows 100%.
  • Again, use your phone until it reaches 0% and powers off on its own.
  • Finally, charge your phone once again without disconnecting it in between, and now your phone will show the actual battery readings.

Use a Third-Party App

If you don’t want to follow the manual process, you can consider using a third-party app to reset the battery statistics of your smartphone. There are several apps available on the Google Play Store that can help with calibration. However, many users have reported that these apps are less effective than manual calibration.

Reset Your Device

If nothing works, it’s best to factory reset your smartphone. Remember, this should be used as a last resort when all the other methods fail. also, just make sure you back up your device before performing a factory reset.

Lastly, it’s important to note that this process should not be performed frequently, as excessive calibration (full charging and discharging cycles) can be detrimental to the battery of your smartphone. Only rely on the methods mentioned above if the battery is behaving strangely. If calibration is required more often, it likely indicates a more serious issue (you might need to get that battery replaced).

General Tips:

  • Use the original charger and cable that came with your smartphone.
  • Do not fully charge or fully discharge the battery on a regular basis.
  • Avoid using your smartphone in extreme temperatures, as this can damage the battery.
Categories
News

iPhone 17 may to use Apple’s own Wi-Fi 7 chip

At least one iPhone 17 model launching next year will be equipped with an Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip, according to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

All current iPhone models are equipped with a combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip supplied by Broadcom, but Kuo expects Apple to equip “nearly all” of its products with its own in-house Wi-Fi chip “within about three years.”

The chip will replace the Broadcom chip that Apple currently uses for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Apple’s Wi-Fi 7 chip will be built using TSMC’s 7nm process. Apple apparently wants to move “nearly all” of its products to its own Wi-Fi chip within about three years, in order to cut supply costs and rake in more profits.

All four iPhone 16 models already support Wi-Fi 7 with Broadcom’s chip, but with some limited specifications. Kuo said Apple’s in-house Wi-Fi chip will support “the latest Wi-Fi 7 spec,” but he did not provide any further details. The chip will be manufactured with TSMC’s 7nm manufacturing process known as N7, he added.

Kuo has aligned with information shared last year by Jeff Pu, another analyst who covers companies within Apple’s supply chain. Pu said the iPhone 17 Pro models would be equipped with an Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip, and he said the in-house chip would expand to the entire iPhone 18 lineup the following year.

Apple is also working on its own 5G chip, which will be separate from the Wi-Fi one and built using a different TSMC process technology. This will also start to be used gradually from next year onwards. The first product to come with Apple’s own 5G modem will be the next iPhone SE. This will however still use a Broadcom Wi-Fi chip. There have been conflicting rumors about whether the Apple-designed 5G and Wi-Fi chips will be separate chips, or one combined chip with 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS capabilities.

Wi-Fi 7 allows for data transmission over the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands simultaneously with a supported router, resulting in faster Wi-Fi speeds, lower latency, and more reliable connectivity. Wi-Fi 7 can provide peak speeds of over 40 Gbps, a 4× increase over Wi-Fi 6E, if a device supports the maximum specifications.

Categories
News

Google confirms highlights an earlier Android 16 in Q2 2025, developer preview begins soon

In a major shift of its release cycle, Google has revealed that Android 16 will be released in Q2 of 2025. Google typically pushes out a new major release of Android in Q3 or Q4, but the company has decided to move next year’s major release up by a few months so more devices will get the update sooner.

Google’s updates kicked off by highlighting the future of its Android SDK. In a blog post, the company states it will bring “more frequent” SDK releases, beginning in 2025. Google states it will have a “major” release in Q2 that contains “behavior changes” for apps. This seems to be Android 16 as Google states developers should keep their eyes out for more information regarding its first preview. The company states app developers can prepare for the major Q2 2025 release by conducting the “annual compatibility testing” a few months sooner.

The minor SDK release in Q4 2025 will contain feature updates, optimizations, and bug fixes to clean up any issues with the intended major Q2 launch.

Q1 and Q3 2025 will be minor, offering “feature only” updates to developers, per Google’s set timeline.

Gemini in Android Studio Updates

Following the debut of “Gemini in Android Studio” in April,the company is pushing the boundaries of its AI by boosting its coding capabilities, allowing it to edit your work by “implementing common design patterns.” Several of Gemini’s new code editing features include the ability to “modify and refractor” code based on custom prompts.

A commit message generation feature lets the AI analyze your changes and propose its own set of alterations. “Rethink and rename” lets Gemini generate names for your coding classes, methods, and variables. “Prompt Library” enables the AI to “automatically” save and manage a user’s most frequently used prompts for easy recall. Users can also generate documentation for a select chunk of code by right-clicking.

In the Android Studio, Gemini can now auto-generate “composable” previews and simplify the visualization process for your intended UI. Moreover, “coming soon,” Google says Gemini in Android Studio will support image attachments.

As Gemini in Android Studio picks up a Ladybug feature drop, developers can weed out bugs quicker and (hopefully) see fewer crashes. Additional features include test scenarios using local code context, build/sync error insights, and app quality insights for suggested crash fixes.

Play Store Updates

In a separate blog post, the company states it’s changing how apps are displayed on its store. These new formats include a full-screen mode for portrait videos in an app store listing. Google states a more “prominent” install button should now be visible to users.

Google highlights the Play Store’s “personalized” query recommendations. According to the post, users can find these recommended search queries via the “Search Home.” This is available for English with support for additional languages set to arrive “soon this year.”

Google’s “interest picker” arrived to help the Play Store understand where your interests are for accurate recommendations. The company rolled out a similar tool for games in July.

The post adds that the Play Store delivers a more robust security system when purchasing content. The company says users can now choose “on-device biometrics” when purchasing an app. This includes deciding between using your fingerprint or face to authenticate a purchase instead of inputting your account’s password.

The final two updates for the Play Store involve boosting revenue for developers and their apps alongside Play Integrity API upgrades. Concerning the former, Google states that it has “proactively” encouraged users to assign a payment method on the Play Store and within the Android OS. This has reportedly “doubled the number of purchases” in 2024 and provided a nearly 3% increase in conversion rate.

Payment options have continued to expand as users find options like Paypal, Cash App, direct carrier billing, and more. Additionally, Google highlights its Play Store algorithm for pushing what content users might buy as additional content for their favorite apps.

Google also highlighted its “gentle nudge,” an alert that reminds users of an item they’ve forgotten in their cart.

Google states, “in the coming months,” developers can opt into improved Play Integrity API verdicts to bolster their app’s defenses. What’s more, Google’s “app access risk” feature has exited beta. Developers can now “detect and respond” to apps that capture a user’s screen or control their device to avoid security disasters.