The Android platform has come a long way since its early beginnings. I remember my first Android phone and how awkward it was to use. Even worse, I remember how bad the battery life was–I was lucky to get four to six hours out of that HTC Hero.

Nowadays however, Android battery life can meet or exceed your daily needs. Given the platform now makes use of artificial intelligence (AI) to help improve the longevity of the mobile power source, it’s become quite impressive. With my Google Pixel 4, I rarely run out of juice by the end of the day. One of the reasons for this is the battery optimization. This tool is what works with AI to improve battery life on the device.

But out of the box, you might find only certain apps are included with the Battery Optimization feature. Fortunately, the developers have made it possible to add third-party apps, such that they will be optimized.

How do you pull off such a feat? I’m glad you asked. Let me show you.

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What you’ll need

I’m going to be demonstrating on Android 10. Earlier versions of Android worked with battery optimization, but you might find the process slightly different with the iteration found on your device. With that in mind, you’ll want to have an Android device that includes Android 10.

How to add apps to Android 10’s Battery Optimization

Unlock your device and pull down the notification shade twice. Tap the gear icon to open the Settings app. From this window, navigate to Apps & Notifications | Advanced | Special App Access | Battery Optimization. 

In this new window, you’ll see a listing of all apps that are not included in the battery optimization (Figure A).

Figure A

Some apps you’ll find listed as Not Optimized, while others are listed as Battery Optimization Not Available. Obviously, the only apps you can add to Battery Optimization are those listed as Not Optimized.

Locate and tap an app you want to add to the Battery Optimization feature. When you do, a popup will appear where you can tap Optimize to add the app (Figure B).

Figure B

Once you tap Optimize, tap Done to save the changes. Go through the list and continue adding those apps you want to be included in the Battery Optimization feature. Once you’re finished, that’s it.

The caveat

You might find that once added to Battery Optimization, some apps might not work properly. If you discover an app you’ve added that doesn’t seem to function as expected, you can go back to Battery Optimization, tap All Apps from the drop-down at the top of the screen, locate and tap the app in question, tap Don’t Optimize, and tap Done. The app should then return to normal functionality.

Your mileage may vary, depending on the apps you decide to add to Battery Optimization. Fortunately, adding and removing those apps is quite simple. Give this a try and see if you can’t eke out even more battery life on your Android device.

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