How to maximise your phone battery for the Taylor Swift Eras tour
Plan Ahead: Tickets, meetups and media
The event is set to be packed, and time is going to be short, so make sure you’re prepared before you head to the venue with everything you need.
Log onto the Ticketek app in advance and make sure you download your tickets ahead of time, preferably on your home Wi-Fi network. That way, you’ll have them ready to go, instead of wasting precious battery life at the gates before the show.
Also, vibe the 90s and set up a meeting point for you to meet your mates in advance of the concert starting. The less admin time on your phone the better!
Finally, you’re going to be taking tonnes of videos and photos throughout the night. Instead of missing out on what’s happening on stage, upload your media when you get home so you don’t miss a second of your fave era!
How to optimise your battery settings
Whether you're rocking an iPhone or an Android device, the first step is to optimise your settings to squeeze out every last drop of battery life.
Both platforms offer low power modes that limit background activity and reduce performance to conserve battery.
So, before you head to the concert, dive into your settings and activate low power mode to keep your phone humming along. Find out how to turn it on for Android here, and iOS here.
Also make sure to turn off battery-sucking apps like those that use location services (GPS), audio or gaming features.
How to manage your phone brightness for better battery life
We all love a dazzling light show, but your phone's brightness doesn't need to match Taylor's stage presence.
Lowering your screen brightness can significantly extend your battery life. Plus, let's be honest, you'll still be able to capture those Instagram-worthy moments even with a slightly dimmed screen.
You should also limit your notifications throughout the show so your phone screen isn’t constantly lighting up. You can find out how to put your phone on Do Not Disturb for iOS here and Android here.
Minimise your flashlight use to save battery even more
Sure, waving your phone flashlight in the air during "Love Story" might seem like the ultimate concert experience, but remember, every flicker drains your battery.
Instead, save your flashlight for emergencies or when Taylor asks the crowd to light up the stadium – trust me, your battery will thank you later.
How to know if your phone is an ultra-power-saving device
Some Android devices specifically focus on squeezing the most life out of your phone possible with ultra battery saver modes.
These power-packed devices can stretch your battery life to the max by limiting background apps and non-essential functions. Just make sure to charge up beforehand and activate this superhero mode when you're running low on power.
Samsung Galaxy devices and Google Pixel devices both have their own versions of this battery saver. Find out how to turn on ultra power saving mode for Samsung here and Pixel here. By the way, the Pixel 8 Pro also has mmWave capability which can provider higher levels of speed and capacity where available.
How to pick the right external charger
For the ultimate peace of mind, bring along an external charger to keep your phone topped up throughout the concert. These portable powerhouses come in all shapes and sizes, from pocket-friendly lipstick-sized chargers to high-capacity bricks that can revive your phone multiple times over. Simply plug in and rock on without worrying about your battery life dwindling away.
Just make sure you follow the concert rules for the size of your battery: you won’t be able to bring any baggage into the venue larger than an A4 piece of paper. Plus, any battery you bring has to be smaller than the size of the device it’s charging.
Our payphones are there for you, always
In a pinch and need to make a call for your lift home? Look no further than the trusty Telstra payphones scattered throughout the venue.
Ever since 2020, our payphones have been free for local, national and mobile calls within Australia. So you can keep the number of a trusted friend or a cab in your pocket and dial them for free at the end of the night.
Here's an interactive map of all of our payphones!
Taylor fans in Melbourne went nuts for the singer recently. So, what did they like the most?
Lots! In total over the three nights of the Eras Tour at the MCG, Taylor fans used around 35 terabytes of data. That’s the equivalent of15,500 hours of video content travelling over our network over the three concerts, or a little over 5000 hours per concert.
To put that in perspective, to consume all the content that went over our network across those three nights, you’d need to stream The Eras Tour Concert Film loop for 1.7 years straight!
Compared to other artists at the same venue, Taylor Swift fans used almost 2x more data sharing the concert with their mates during the Eras Tour at the MCG.
From our data, we can tell what the most popular moments at the Eras Tour were.
Fans waited on their phones before Taylor took the stage, but when the lights went down, so did their devices, the peak of sharing content of the night was just before the opening.
People uploaded videos they’d captured steadily throughout the night, but at the end of the 1989 era when it was time for the surprise songs, downloads decreased and everyone was paying attention.
Traffic peaked again when it was time to go home, as people start to order Ubers, check tram schedules and map their routes home.
To support the legions of Swifties in Sydney, we are rolling out a Cell-on-Wheels that is designed to boost bandwidth in the area so more users can get online at once. Think of it like adding another lane to a busy road to ease congestion.
Accor Stadium has also been upgraded with an upgraded 5G antenna system which is expected to significantly improve the indoor performance.
The real question is: can Sydneysiders capture even more Taylor content than their Melbourne fan friends?