Do you turn your phone off at night?

By Joe Maring
published

As smartphones have matured and become more powerful over the years, use habits with them have also changed. We stream more video content than ever before, play a ton of extra games, and don't have to worry about charging overnight like we once used to. Along with this, a lot of people seem to be on the mindset that there's no real need to turn phones completely off anymore.

I can remember doing this with my first couple of phones, but it's not something I've done in the past few years.

Our forum users recently got into a discussion about whether or not they turn off their phone at night, and most of them seem to be on the side of not turning off their device.

No moving parts, nothing to wear out.. I never turn mine off except on planes on long hauls.... However, if it makes sense to you, then turn it off by all means :-) :-)

Tim1954

I put mine on airplane mode. I'm a light sleeper, so will always look over at it on the charging pad to see what the time is on the always on display (and to find out if I still have those precious few hours left in bed until the alarm goes off!)

saffy77

I have no landline so my phone is always on in case there's an emergency call. Even aside from that consideration, I wouldn't go to the trouble of shutting it down daily. My DND settings prevent the phone from ever ringing for any caller who's not on my contact list, and I trust my contacts not to call at unreasonable times.

Gary02468

With that said, there are still some folks who do make use of that power button.

I turn my note 8 off every night. Allways turn off my mobile phone, someone wants to get in contact with me, they wait till morning, lol. I use one of my old BlackBerry phones as my alarm clock.

anon(3641385)

Yes I turn mine off after 8 PM. I need a break and so does everyone else. However, I do have a land line and a computer. I need to resolve to turn the computer off after 8 PM too. Life is so much less frantic when you turn off the technology imo.

kitmo

How about you – Do you turn off your phone at night?

Join the conversation in the forums!

Joe Maring
Joe Maring

Joe Maring was a Senior Editor for Android Central between 2017 and 2021. You can reach him on Twitter at @JoeMaring1.

43 Comments
  • I've never turned my cell phone off overnight. I haven't had a landline in 10 years maybe.
  • I usually just put it in airplane mode, battery drops maybe 1% overnight.
  • It is a computer so it is imperative then it get turned off regularly as to recycle itself and correct any problems.
  • In my subjective experience, restarting once a week is plenty. They start acting a little weird at about 10 days, and stay to develop emotions and self awareness after about a fortnight... Either way you don't need to leave it off overnight. As you say, it's a computer, 8 seconds is as good as 8 hours.
  • I never turn off my laptop, just close the lid to suspend.
  • I leave my Linux box at home (along with the Windows 10 virtual machine running on it) on 24/7. I only restart either for patches and upgrades. As far as my phone - if it has 60% or more charge, I leave it off the charger overnight & charge it fully at work the next day. If less than 60%, I let it charge overnight.
  • I keep my phone on, as I use it to listen to music before getting asleep, and I use it to wake me up in the morning, as my table clock fails when there is a power outage. Before doing this with my cell, I was using another device (PDA or other device) to wake me up, as I do not trust my table clock to stay accurate with a power outage, even with a backup battery. However, I turn off any notification between 9PM and 5:15 AM.
  • Turn mine off nightly while at home, airplane mode when away from home. Also charge it at night, when needed.
  • On all the time. If someone kicks the bucket in the middle of the night, or needs bailed out of the pokey, I need to know.
  • I plug in my phone to the charger on the nightstand, go to sleep with music on the sleep timer of Neutron, wake up to music with the Neutron wake up Timer, and have an alarm set 15 minutes later on Android Clock in case the music doesn't work.
  • I don't turn my Xperia X off at night but the phone itself gives me a notification asking me turn it off after it's been on continuously for more than 168 hours, telling me it needs to clear out an accumulation of stuff that can slow it down and promising me it will work better when switched back on. I ignored it the first time but the notification kept coming back until I did what it told me.
  • Nope, stays on all the time. At night it sits on my nightstand where I charge it. Do Not Disturb is set. But the phone is my main alarm clock.
  • Never. My phone is always on silent so it won't wake me up but it's my alarm clock and regular clock with always on display. Every now and then I'll restart it but my phones just get abused.
  • +1
  • I forgot to mention in my previous comment that I have a Do Not Disturb schedule set up for Priority Only which would allow alarms to sound. I use this setting because I have a weather app that supposedly would alarm if severe weather is imminent. I would not want to miss these alarms.
  • If I had a land line, I might. But it's my phone. Under normal circumstances, the only time my current phone gets turned off is the two or three times I've accidentally let its battery drain completely.
  • No land line, so mine stays on all night with DND set to allow family calls/texts.
  • I'll leave it on and sitting on the charger on my bedside table. I use do not disturb to keep it quiet but allow emergency calls through.
  • No, I don't turn it off at night. That would be insane. I just slide the alley slider to do not disturb.
  • Pixel XL 2. Charge to 100 then unplug and put on do not disturb only leaving a select few MVPs able to get in touch. Phone only drops 1% by morning.
  • Wait. Are you telling me these things turn OFF? Can't say I've ever used that feature. What a crazy world we live in. Trump is President, and smartphones turn off. What next?
  • Every night! Every person is entitled to guaranteed peace & quiet. I'm a light sleeper. I'll get to whatever it is I'm the morning when I wake up. Now those with kids and other obligations may have to do things differently.
  • I turn my phone off every night. I start with a fresh bootup everyday. I am convinced it minimizes issues with apps & device etc.
  • Heaveans1 and kitmo need to learn about DND. or more accurately, need to learn to not be lazy (especially about things that seem to matter to them) there are situations when powering off to shift when battery will get used are useful, but it certainly isn't every night, at least for most. my phone and computer do not bother me. I use them when I want. my pixel2 has only been power cycled for system updates, otherwise it's been on since minutes after it arrived.
  • No don't turn it off every night... Then I wouldn't get any calls jeez
  • I don't turn mine off at night because it is my only phone and as there might be family emergencies that is why it stays on. However I put it on 'do not disturb' with some family members in the 'exception' section.
  • I leave my phone on at all times. I do use the DND during sleep hours. I have not had a landline in years. I do have health issues and need/want a ready method for 911. Might not have time to wait for the start up. Also, I want to know if someone might need help that can't wait until the next day. I'm talking teenage grandkids with cars. Everyone has different needs/wants and should turn off or leave on as fits there situation.
  • My M8 was on for 3 years until I retired it. Never restarted it either, except after major updates or trying a bad app. That's what I like about HTC's. The reason I kept my phone on is because of work emergencies and family and friends.
  • I don't turn it off but it's in a different room on a different floor than my bedroom charging all night. Sleep is important to me, I don't need interruptions.
  • I don't turn my phone off. I may restart it every now and then but I have no issues so far just leaving it on.
  • It's my alarm clock o_o
  • Never turned my phones off at night since feature phones were a thing (those were able to sound alarms while off). Especially now that DND takes care of everything and night-time standby is ridiculously good (as in I usually lose less than 5% of battery overnight). I *may* consider it just in case if for some reason I have no charger with me where I'm sleeping. That happened maybe once.
  • I turn off at night.
  • I leave my phone on over night to charge. It also is my primary alarm clock. However I do try and re-start the phone at least twice a week. I also re-start the phone if the touch screen becomes unresponsive. Which does not happen very often.
  • Nope. It's either charging overnight or off the charger and next to my head in case I need it.
  • It's my only phone, so no way would I ever turn it off. That would be like pulling out the cord from the wall socket if my only phone was a landline.
  • Never shut mine off, have it on silent most of the time. Battery only drops 2 or 3 percent over night.
  • no
  • No. It's usually charging when I'm sleeping. I do let the screen turn off though.
  • I turn mine off every night and check emails and calls in the morning. My sleep is too important and I need a disconnect especially with working from home all the time I work more than I did at a actual office.
  • Yes. It turns itself back on when I need the alarm work. I could just not use it and buy an alarm clock because buying redundant things makes sense.
  • "I wouldn't go through the trouble of turning my phone off..." -Gary02468 It's one button, pressed two times. How lazy are you Gary? How do you even put pants on? Put one leg on and wait a day for the next, wait for the next day to zip the zipper, wait another day to button the pants. Wait another day to put a sock on. Wait another day for the next sock. Wait another day to put a shirt on. Wait another day to put a shoe on. Wait another day to put the other shoe on. Wait another day to put a shirt on. Wait another day to call an Uber, schedule it for the next day because he can't be bothered to open the door to leave his house. And so on... Work 4 days a year because he can't be bothered to do anything more than press a button once in a day.
  • That's a lot of words to be a dick. Gary, like many people, doesn't care for pointless exercises in futility. How on Earth does that bother you at all?