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Pokémon Go is draining everyone’s phone battery

The developers are working on it.

Photo of Michelle Jaworski

Michelle Jaworski

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Pokémon Go, a new mobile game from Nintendo, is finally available for people to download and play, but users are quickly discovering one of the game’s big draining problems.

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Pokémon Go allows you to find and capture Pokémon in the real world through augmented reality technology, but it comes at a cost of your smartphone’s battery life. Fans soon found that out the hard way after finding out their battery percentage went down drastically from when they started to play the game.

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The battery issues with Pokémon Go is something that Niantic, the game’s developer, is aware of and lists “Heavy battery use” on a page of its Known Issues.

“Some devices may experience battery drain while playing Pokémon GO for prolonged periods of time,” it reads. “We are working on a solution.”

Pokémon fans have worried about for the game’s effect on battery life months before it became an issue. Here are a few antidotes you can try to make your battery life last longer.

  • Turn on Battery Saver Mode: An option available directly in Pokémon Go, hold the Poké Ball on your screen and select “Settings” on the top right of your screen. Turn on Battery Saver. However, some have reported that Battery Saver Mode isn’t super effective. 
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  • Lower your screen brightness: Manually turn it down in your phone’s settings so that your screen is using less battery.
  • Turn off anything you’re not using. That might include closing other apps, turning off Bluetooth and Wifi, switching your phone to Airplane Mode, and muting the sound.
  • Use an external charger: Want to play but can’t access your wall charger? Carry one with you, which will let you play longer with a power boost.

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Update 11:12am CT, July 7: This story has been updated to include tips on saving your battery life. 

H/T Kotaku

 
The Daily Dot