For the average person, their smartphone is a kind of black box. Sure, they probably have a basic understanding of iOS or Android, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 5G, but no more than they need to know. When new technologies come onto the market, confusion can arise.

UWB (ultra-wideband) still feels like a new technology in this respect, even though it’s actually several years old. Read our main guide to find out what it’s for and what it supports. Here we answer one of the most practical questions: do you need to worry about how much power UWB uses when it’s on?

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4 reasons why UWB is actually useful on Android

Many of these features are still fairly new to Android users.

Does UWB consume a lot of power?

In practical terms, UWB’s power consumption is negligible. It’s an intentionally low-power and short-range wireless standard, intended primarily for things like data transfers, digital car keys, or compatible object trackers like AirTags. You can leave it on 24 hours a day and you’ll barely notice a difference. You can save more battery life by turning down the screen brightness, temporarily disabling Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or cellular, or putting your phone in sleep mode. Also, keep in mind that processor-intensive apps like games will drain your battery faster than a web browser or calorie counter.

UWB could hypothetically become important if it were stuck in an active state rather than its usual passive one. For example, if you’re using the Precision Search feature in Apple’s Find My app, pinging is likely to be faster, so it’s in your best interest to find the item you’re looking for as quickly as possible. But even that’s unlikely to have any serious success.

Should I leave UWB turned on?

Yes, usually. It’s a largely ambient technology that only kicks in when it’s needed. In fact, it’s sometimes more of a hassle to turn it off and on again, as you may need to do this several times a week or even several times a day. If you have a vehicle that supports passive access via iPhone or Android car keys, you’re defeating the purpose by turning UWB off.

Only disable UWB if you know you don’t need it at all, or if you’re trying to extend battery life as much as possible — say, because of a natural disaster or because you forgot to charge your phone before a six-hour bus ride. There are probably more effective options.

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Are you still using a non-preinstalled home screen launcher on your Android phone?

Third-party Android launchers have been a staple of Google’s mobile operating system ecosystem for many years. Simply put, they are apps that replace your phone’s default home screen, typically offering advanced customization and tons of customizable settings. Some launchers go a step further and offer entirely different user interface paradigms to the stock Android application. In the early days of the operating system, popular home screen launchers like Nova Launcher were considered essential by many enthusiasts, as they added features that were often missing by default. Android itself has matured a lot in recent years, and now offers us a reasonable level of granular control over the appearance of our home screens. This goes doubly for customized OEM skins like Samsung’s One UI. Given the relatively feature-rich nature of the stock Android experience, is there still a strong need for launcher apps? Personally, download one