Battery Go! Plus Review

Developed by recent college grads, Battery Go! Plus is a simple utility that analyzes your current battery charge level and calculates the remaining time you have left for various activities.

Many of you know that watching a movie has a greater impact on battery life than reading an eBoo,k and if both activities are commenced with the same initial charge level on two different iPads, the one used to watch a movie will have less battery life remaining after a fixed amount of time than the one used to read. That’s common sense enough, right?

However, even many of the self-proclaimed tech-savvy can not differentiate accurately between activities such as using GPS, hardcore gaming versus casual gaming, audio playback, standby, and web browsing (Wi-Fi versus 3G) and their respective effects on battery life. This is why Battery Go! Plus was developed.

Battery Go! Plus has a single screen with a few options to better optimize your estimates. The Battery Health Manager allows you to select which type of device you have: Wi-Fi or 3G, its age, the amount of time you use it on an average day, your screen brightness settings, your favorite color and preferred theme. Unfortunately, while I was able to change the theme from Steel to Doodle, I had no success changing my favorite color. This is a minor issue and not one that adversely affects functionality but is still notable, especially for a paid app.

The estimates provided are merely that--estimates--and not guaranteed to the minute, as the app may otherwise imply. We found them to be fairly close but not totally precise. They provide a good basis for deciding how to allocate your time, especially if you’re traveling and do not have access to a charger. They will likely help you decide whether you have enough juice left to watch that movie on the plane or not, but it will not necessarily help you plan out all your tasks down to the minute, although the Battery Tips option teaches you to learn how to optimize your battery life.

Overall, this app is a decent solution for those wishing Apple had provided more details about your battery use and its life. It will certainly help you estimate how to utilize your time spent on the device between charges and may teach you how to get more longevity out of your battery, but it will not do a whole lot more. If you’re OK with paying $0.99 for these simple features and understand that the estimates are fairly accurate but not perfect, feel free to purchase this app.