Free & ProPhones consume battery primarily through display brightness, GPS radio, and cellular antennas searching for weak signals. Use these proven strategies for long rides:
- Enable Dark Mode: On modern OLED / AMOLED displays (recent iPhones and Android phones), pure black pixels draw zero electrical current.
- Adjust Screen Brightness: Reduce brightness slightly from maximum, or use auto-brightness.
- Pause During Long Stops: Tap Pause during rest stops or lunch to prevent extra GPS calculation while stationary.
- Airplane Mode in Remote Areas: If you are riding in mountainous regions with zero cellular reception, your phone expends significant power searching for towers. Turn on Airplane mode and keep GPS & Bluetooth active.
- Avoid System "Low Power Mode" or "Battery Saver": System-level power savers throttle GPS hardware polling and cause the operating system to terminate background tracking apps. Keep system power savers off and conserve power via screen brightness instead.
App Terminating When Screen Turns Off? If your ride stops recording after you lock your phone or put it in a pocket, your operating system is killing background processes. See our complete guide: Prevent the OS from terminating SuperCycle in the background (Android & iOS).