My friend keeps killing batteries!

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I have a friend who is paralyzed from the waist down. He mostly experiences life through screens. He leaves his TV on roughly 24 hours a day. When his Roku has issues, I ask how many days it has been on without being power cycled. His response is usually more like "you mean how many months"? He managed to wear out a TV in about 14 months. At first I thought it was a fluke, but then I realized that he had essentially put around 6-7 years of "typical use" on it in that time.

He does the same thing with his phone and his Android tablet. He plays multiplayer strategy games on them where events can happen any time, so he keeps them always on & plugged into charger. He had one phone for only about 7 months, and the battery bulged and ruined the phone, because he didn't replace the battery when he first noticed the bulging.

I wish there were a setting in Android for optimizing for "always plugged in" use. Is he pretty much destined to keep having extremely short Android device lifespans, just like he has with his TV, phone and tablets in the past?

 

[skriefal]

Samsung does have an option buried in the settings to limit the maximum charge level to 85%. Other phones may have a similar setting. This "always plugged in" usage pattern is one of the rare scenarios where it makes sense to enable that setting.

 

[Indus]

Umm what kind of a phone has a battery that you can replace these days?

 

[skriefal]

Probably referring to a battery replacement service from the manufacturer, or by a 3rd-party service/repair place like uBreakiFix.

 

[balloonshark]

If he needs background noise to sleep consider getting a white noise machine and put it on a stand near the bed. This would save around 8 hours a day of wear and tear on the tv.

Samsung has the protect battery and disable fast charging settings which only allow charging to 85% (as mentioned above) and charges at a slower rate. Maybe his phone has a similar option.

Instead of playing games on the phone have you considered a handheld or a cheap used PC? They make android emulators like bluestacks for the PC. https://www.androidauthority.com/best-android-emulators-for-pc-655308/

 

[Indus]

If he needs background noise to sleep consider getting a white noise machine and put it on a stand near the bed. This would save around 8 hours a day of wear and tear on the tv.

Samsung has the protect battery and disable fast charging settings which only allow charging to 85% (as mentioned above) and charges at a slower rate. Maybe his phone has a similar option.

Instead of playing games on the phone have you considered a handheld or a cheap used PC?

Or a touch monitor able pc, maybe with steam os on it!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Android-capable Chromebook instead?