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Have you ever wondered which apps tech and security experts stay far away from for the sake of their device’s battery and their own privacy? We went straight to the source to ask experts which five apps you’ll rarely find a security expert downloading on their phones. Follow their advice and you may find yourself better protected — and in possession of a phone that doesn’t lose battery power within hours.
Flashlight Apps
Almost all phones come with an in-built flashlight option now, which means there is little to no need for any battery-draining flashlight app, says Jigyash Kashyap, co-founder and editor of untoldtech.com. “You control the flashlight with the system directly as these flashlight apps drain so much power and are installed for no reason,” Kashyap says. “So it is better to say goodbye to them.”
Live wallpaper apps
Another app that once seemed exciting, but is not realized as the battery consumer that it is? “The live wallpaper — animated wallpaper apps —drain too much battery from iPhones, as they are constantly running in the background,” Kashyap says. “If you want to get longer battery life from your iPhone, make sure to delete these Live wallpaper apps and rather use a static wallpaper.”
Apps that need location access (GPS)
Most of the iPhone apps which need GPS, like Google maps, take up a ton of much power, Kashyap says. Getting rid of these apps is the best way to regain battery power.
“You can easily find which apps are draining most of your iPhone's battery by going into Settings > battery> Last 24 hours and delete them if you are not using them anymore,” Kashyap says.
Facebook and Facebook Messenger
Not only do Facebook and Facebook Messenger run continuously in the background, but they auto-play videos and sync contacts and updates, all of which eat away at battery power. If that’s not enough, Messenger lacks end-to-end encryption, which means your messages may not be fully secure and could be read by someone on Facebook’s end.
News Apps
Wanting to stay up-to-date with current events is commendable. Unfortunately, news apps run in the background, push through notifications, and have to sync constantly to provide all of those updates you crave. If you can get your news from your browser instead, you will save yourself battery power.
