5 Tips For Extending Your webOS Phone’s Battery Life

While we’re sure that HP’s purchase of Palm earlier this year is going to lead to some exciting devices and WebOS 2.0 next year, Pre, Pre Plus and Pixi users still want the best battery life out of their phones. Our five tips will keep you swiping, multitasking, and tossing cards around for longer before you need to reach for a power cable.

1. Lose the GPS.

Turn off the setting that allows apps to determine your GPS location without explicit permission. Open Launcher, select Location Services, and switch Background Data collection to Off.

2. Tweak your app settings.

Adjust preferences for individual applications. In Pandora, for example, users can turn off high-quality audio streaming (another potential resource and, therefore, power hog) under Preferences in the Application’s menu. In Twee, lower the number of tweets that load each time you open the application by selecting Preferences from the app menu. In Facebook, set your notifications to update less frequently, such as every hour rather than every 20 minutes.

3. Poll for e-mail less frequently.

Having your webOS device set up to sync new e-mail as it arrives can bring down that battery meter in a hurry. So change your settings to poll the server every hour or so. From inside a blank e-mail, click Preferences & Accounts. Then click on each account, scroll to the bottom, and check Get EMail, to change their settings.

4. Log off of IM.

Constant connections are the fastest way to deplete your power. Tap Buddies in the upper right-hand corner of the messaging app. Then, tap the green Available option and then Sign Off. Note: If you have your account set to Busy, you are still online and the battery is draining.

5. Carry a spare.

A Palm Standard Battery for Palm Pixi and Pre will run you $7.99 on Amazon.com, and it’s definitely worth far more than that when you need it.