Imagine you're traveling but your smartphone is about to run out of battery. You're probably panicking because you still need to access maps, texts, emails, or whatever else in order to get from point A to point B as well as contact loved ones.

Well, you're not the first person to have suffered from this issue.

Although manufacturers like to brag about the days of use you'll get with their products, the truth is all smartphone batteries can easily run out of juice. For some, it takes a couple hours of moderate use in an area with poor service, while for others, a top-up is required after a day of intense mobile gaming.

Luckily there are a few things everyone can do right now to quickly save power and make their battery life last even longer. Pocket-lint has detailed several of the top tips, and they work for every type of smartphone and tablet including those running Android, iOS, Windows Phone, or BlackBerry.

READ: Flying somewhere? Charge your phone or you could be grounded

Dim that display

If your display's brightness is on full-blast, turn it down a notch. Most devices have a brightness setting that you can adjust. You could also set the screen to turn off after a period of time like 30 seconds. These settings stop your screen from draining your battery and stealing precious play time.

Ditch the vibration

Vibrating alerts are useful when you visit the library or need quiet (while also remaining connected), but they're such a battery suck. You therefore need to turn off vibrating alerts in order to prolong your battery life. You could instead use quiet ringtones or a silent mode without vibrations.

Opt for simple screensavers

Don’t use animated screensavers. While many high-end devices feature sensor tricks that make your screensaver move or look 3D, it makes a big difference switching to both a static and dark background. You don't want to overwork your internal hardware or even display brightness when trying to save juice.

Stop quitting apps

Closing out of apps and then reopening them, especially if done often, puts stress on your RAM. It's a myth, for instance, that iOS apps waiting in your multitasking menu are running in the background. They're actually paused unless playing music, pulling location data, recording, etc.

Note: Also, if you can, disable Background App Refresh under Settings. This feature - when turned on - allows some apps (like Facebook) to constantly pull new data and have a full-time connection, thus straining your battery.

Forget flash photography

Avoid using the flash when snapping a photo with your mobile device. Flashes are so powerful that they consume a lot of energy, and that's something you can't have while also trying to maintain a decent battery level.

Pick and choose features

Switch off nifty features like GPS location, push email, voice control, notifications, 3G/4G LTE, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. You don't have to turn them all off, but disabling at least a few will give you a lot more use-time. Controls to do this are accessed through Settings.

Axe the battery meter

If you can, disable the battery percentage meter that shows you how much battery life you have left. It's a handy visual, but it also causes people to check their battery often. That action wakes the phone and uses battery. Turning off the meter will therefore decrease your urge to check and save battery life.

Enable Airplane Mode in poor service areas

Some phones increase antenna power (and subsequently drain the battery) when in an area with poor signal. This happenw when you have a strong Wi-Fi connection too, because your phone wants to stay connected for calls/texts. Turn on AirPlane Mode to stop this endless cycle. You can keep on Wi-Fi.

Watch the heat

Don’t leave your device in a hot car or anywhere with hot temperatures. Your battery will quickly heat up and lose all of its steam. Besides, there is always an optimum temperature that most manufacturers recommend for their mobile devices.

And that's it.

Let us know in the comments if you can think of anything else worth mentioning. Also, remember: when all else fails, you could consider a charging accessory. The Mophie JuicePack Air (£40), for instance, fits over your smartphone, doubling battery life.

 

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