Android manages RAM by closing background apps when it needs room, while RAM uses about the same energy whether empty or full.
Goran Damnjanovic’s How-To Geek article explains why repeatedly force-closing apps can increase battery use: they may need to reload, and background activity such as notifications or syncing can be interrupted.
Closing apps can increase consumption
Android manages RAM, the space used by apps while they're running, on its own. It closes apps in the background when it needs space, and RAM uses about the same amount of power whether it's full or empty. So you don't have to constantly remove apps from your recents list.
If you close an app and reopen it, the processor has to load it from scratch; this can use more power than if it remained in memory. Closing it can also interrupt features like notifications, smartwatch syncing, or live score and weather updates.
If an app is using too much battery, Damnjanovic suggests limiting its background activity instead of closing all apps. On a Pixel phone, the path is Settings → Apps → [app] → App battery usage → Allow background usage . There you can choose Optimized instead of Unrestricted , or turn off background usage altogether if you don't need it.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth consume little power unless the signal is weak
In a MakeUseOf test, cited by How-To Geek, a phone with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on consumed just 3,4% more battery over 24 hours. Damnjanovic says he had come to a similar conclusion from his own measurements.
In the same test, however, a phone connected to a weak Wi-Fi signal used up almost three times as much battery as a device with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned off. So a weak connection can have a bigger impact on battery life than keeping both features on. If you're turning them off for privacy reasons, that's a different reason; according to the test, it's not necessary to turn them off to save battery.
Fast charging did not show any greater wear on the Androids in the test
Testing by the HTX Studio YouTube channel showed that fast charging causes roughly the same amount of wear and tear as slow charging. On iPhones, after 500 charge cycles, fast charging reduced battery health by about half a percentage point more. On Androids tested, wear was slightly less with fast charging.
The results are for the specific tests. As a way to slow down wear, the source also mentions charging when the battery is between 30% and 80%.
When is antivirus needed on Android?
A modern Android that continues to receive security updates usually doesn't need an additional antivirus, Damnjanovic said. Google Play Protect is built into Google Play Services and checks both apps from Google Play and those installed manually. Chrome also has Google Safe Browsing, which warns about dangerous websites and downloads.
These features don't replace manufacturer security updates. Google releases them monthly for Pixels that are still supported. Samsung does the same for its newer flagships, while many of its other models receive updates quarterly or twice a year.
Antivirus might make sense on a phone with a custom ROM without Google services, on a device where apps from outside Google Play are frequently installed, or on an old phone that hasn't received security updates in a while. For the latter, Damnjanovic recommends Bitdefender. Techblog notes that Play Protect doesn't detect every threat, and that continued support for the device remains important.
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