How To Fix iPhone Battery Life Problems
With the release of iOS 5, there have been a number of reports of poor iPhone battery life. While recent iOS updates have helped some, there are still plenty of accounts of iPhone battery life problems. Apple continues to offer maintentance releases, the latest being the forthcoming iOS 5.1 release. Our team has tackled these issues on more than one occasion and here’s our latest attempt at helping you fix your iPhone battery life problems.
Reset Your iPhone
Are you a believer in Ghosts In The Machine? Apple does a great job of keeping rogue apps from entering the App Store, but odd things can happen when you are continuously updating software. I once had an issue with Navigon where it would enter some odd augmented reality mode and refused to provide me with directions. Reseting your iPhone to factory settings ensures a fresh start. It fixed my Navigon issue and could very well be a contributor to ensuring the best possible battery life.
Are you a believer in Ghosts In The Machine? Apple does a great job of keeping rogue apps from entering the App Store, but odd things can happen when you are continuously updating software. I once had an issue with Navigon where it would enter some odd augmented reality mode and refused to provide me with directions. Reseting your iPhone to factory settings ensures a fresh start. It fixed my Navigon issue and could very well be a contributor to ensuring the best possible battery life.
Update Your Software
Have you recieved a notice of a new iOS update? This sounds fairly simple, but make sure you are running the latest and greatest iOS 5 release. As of now, that’s iOS 5.0.1. You can check the version at any time by going to Settings > General > About > Version.
Have you recieved a notice of a new iOS update? This sounds fairly simple, but make sure you are running the latest and greatest iOS 5 release. As of now, that’s iOS 5.0.1. You can check the version at any time by going to Settings > General > About > Version.
Adjust Screen Brightness
The display on your iPhone is a big contributor to battery loss. When you first crack open the box, your iPhone is typically set at 50% brightness. By adjusting this down, you won’t be pushing as much light. If you purchased an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S, then you might not be thrilled about reducing the impact of the retina display. Why get this great display and not utilize it? If you aren’t sold on reducing the display brightness for fear it’ll be less than optimal for your location, you can select the Auto-Brightness to ‘ON’. The iPhone has an abient light sensor built-in, so it can automatically adjust for the optimal brightness based upon your environment. If it detects your are in a well-lit area, it will decrease the backlight. This decreases the amount of juice required to power the display.
The display on your iPhone is a big contributor to battery loss. When you first crack open the box, your iPhone is typically set at 50% brightness. By adjusting this down, you won’t be pushing as much light. If you purchased an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S, then you might not be thrilled about reducing the impact of the retina display. Why get this great display and not utilize it? If you aren’t sold on reducing the display brightness for fear it’ll be less than optimal for your location, you can select the Auto-Brightness to ‘ON’. The iPhone has an abient light sensor built-in, so it can automatically adjust for the optimal brightness based upon your environment. If it detects your are in a well-lit area, it will decrease the backlight. This decreases the amount of juice required to power the display.
Jailbreaking
There are merits to jailbreaking your iPhone, but do they come at the expense of your battery life. I’ve seen arguements on both sides. If we are eliminating potential causes, then you might try going with a pure iOS install, devoid of any jailbreaking. Don’t worry, you can always jailbreak at a later date, which will help you isolate any potential causes.
There are merits to jailbreaking your iPhone, but do they come at the expense of your battery life. I’ve seen arguements on both sides. If we are eliminating potential causes, then you might try going with a pure iOS install, devoid of any jailbreaking. Don’t worry, you can always jailbreak at a later date, which will help you isolate any potential causes.
Quitting Backround Apps
In general, you need not worry about apps that are ‘open’. Apple’s iOS does a great job of letting apps enter a paused state, so they are not affecting your battery life. With apps, it’s not a one size fits all. Streaming apps like Pandora or navigation apps such as Navigon will work in the background. That means they will continue to tap into your battery, despite not being in the forefront. Double click to reveal the multitasking bar, then press and hold on the app you’d like to terminate. Press the minus sign at the top left of the app to quit the app.
In general, you need not worry about apps that are ‘open’. Apple’s iOS does a great job of letting apps enter a paused state, so they are not affecting your battery life. With apps, it’s not a one size fits all. Streaming apps like Pandora or navigation apps such as Navigon will work in the background. That means they will continue to tap into your battery, despite not being in the forefront. Double click to reveal the multitasking bar, then press and hold on the app you’d like to terminate. Press the minus sign at the top left of the app to quit the app.
Again, no need to go through and quit all of your apps. Target the apps that might be engaged in background activities. If you have a thousand apps open, you could also press and hold the ‘power’ button. This will shut down your iPhone. Power up and you won’t have any apps open.
Location Services
Are you checking in on Foursquare, tweeting your location? Need access to Maps or searching for restaurants using Yelp? If none of these apply, then you can safely turn off location services. Go to Settings > Locations Services > Off.
Are you checking in on Foursquare, tweeting your location? Need access to Maps or searching for restaurants using Yelp? If none of these apply, then you can safely turn off location services. Go to Settings > Locations Services > Off.
Email
On iOS, you can setting the frequency with your iPhone will check for new mail. As someone who is obssessive compulsive, I often find myself with the ‘Check every 15 minutes’ setting. Setting this to ‘everything 30 minutes’, ‘Hourly’ or even manually will help reduce the number of times your iPhone will have to ping your server for new mail. You can make adjustments in Settings > Mail > Fetch New Data > Every 15,30,60 minutes.
On iOS, you can setting the frequency with your iPhone will check for new mail. As someone who is obssessive compulsive, I often find myself with the ‘Check every 15 minutes’ setting. Setting this to ‘everything 30 minutes’, ‘Hourly’ or even manually will help reduce the number of times your iPhone will have to ping your server for new mail. You can make adjustments in Settings > Mail > Fetch New Data > Every 15,30,60 minutes.
WiFi Enabled
This tip will help increase battery life and reduce wireless data usage. If you have access to a WiFi network, then by all means use it instead of your 3G connection. Downloads should be faster, it’ll reduce your data usage and it should help with battery drain.
This tip will help increase battery life and reduce wireless data usage. If you have access to a WiFi network, then by all means use it instead of your 3G connection. Downloads should be faster, it’ll reduce your data usage and it should help with battery drain.
At the end of the day, don’t be a slave to battery life. Utilizing car chargers when on the go, keep your iPhone charging while at home and conserve where possible. If you utilize a mix of these battery saving tips for the iPhone, you should see an increase in battery life.
Siri (iPhone 4S)
If you don’t use Siri, then disable her. Visit Settings > General > Siri > Off. If you disable Siri, you can still use Voice Control, which does not have to ping Apple’s servers with each request.
If you don’t use Siri, then disable her. Visit Settings > General > Siri > Off. If you disable Siri, you can still use Voice Control, which does not have to ping Apple’s servers with each request.
Notifications
With iOS 5, third-party applications can take advantage of Notifications. This can get unruly and affect power. Visit Settings > Notifications and turn off notifications that aren’t necessary.
With iOS 5, third-party applications can take advantage of Notifications. This can get unruly and affect power. Visit Settings > Notifications and turn off notifications that aren’t necessary.
Have a suggestion on how to extend battery life on the iPhone or want to share your battery life stories? Post in the comments and let us know.
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