No matter which smart phone or tablet you use, maximizing your battery life is always important, because who wants to actually take the time to plug a device in? Yuck. No. Whether you own an iPhone or one of the many Android smart phones now littering the mobile landscape (or even a Windows Phone), learning how to get the most out of your phone's battery can at the very least spare you some serious inconvenience. We've compiled a list of ways that you can save precious battery juice on your phone or tablet. Check it out.

Screen, screen, screen!

According to CNET, your phone or tablet's display is its battery's number-one enemy. Period. Nothing eats up power like a mobile device's display. This is especially true with the super high definition screens manufacturers are putting in their devices nowadays. So the first thing you'll want to do to save battery is manage your screen's brightness. Either turn it down to a fixed amount you can live with, or use an auto-brightness setting if your device has it. But be warned, auto-brightness can actually burn more battery in the long run because it requires a device's light sensors to be constantly working; also, auto-brightness can sometimes make a screen brighter than it needs to be, which obviously will burn more battery.

Beware media consumption

So, remember how your screen is your battery's enemy? That means you shouldn't use it--ever! Just kidding, but remember that the more you use your screen, the faster your battery will drain. Gaming or watching video content on your device is the surefire fastest way to deplete any phone or tablet's battery. But if you must watch Netflix or play that latest game, so be it. But you've been warned. 

Stop using GPS!

Just kidding, because who doesn't use GPS on a daily basis? It's awesome. But it also comes at a price--a battery price, to be specific. So remember navigation apps (Google Maps) or social media apps that tag your location (4square, Facebook, Yelp, etc.) should be used sparingly if battery life is an issue for you. Certain apps will even let you disable these locations features altogether. Just remember that a lot of these settings that drain power (Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi) are all toggle-able. So just switch them on and off as you need them.

Who's that in the back(ground)? 

Yep. Background data is coming for your battery life, and it's sneaky. You won't even know it's draining your battery. Most apps will use your data connection to constantly look for updates, whether its an email client, social media app or something else. A way to get around this is by telling the app to only update when your device is on a Wi-Fi network, or you can just disable its ability to run in the background. Like so:

iOS: to disable background data altogether on your iOS device, go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh. Within this sub-menu you are able to select which apps can constantly run in the background. 

Android: If you are using a stock Android device (and you probably should be) go to Settings > Data Usage, and then simply select an app and then scroll to the bottom of the page and you'll find a 'restrict background data' check box.

There you go. Now you know everything you need to save your mobile device's battery. Of course, there's an even better way to save your phone or tablet's juice: don't use it. Just kidding!