How to prolong your iPhone's battery life
09 MARCH 11
If you generally want to get better longevity out of your battery or if your battery is running low and you don't have access to a charger then check out these tips to prolong your battery life.
General tips for good battery life
You can show the percentage of remaining battery life if you want a more accurate indicator of how much battery you have left.
Go to:
Settings -> General -> Usage
Change the Battery Percentage to "ON".
Change your settings until you can get access to a charger
You may like to change these settings to always experience longer battery life, or if you usually use these functions, then you can just change the settings until you can charge your iPhone.
Turn off Bluetooth
If you rarely use a Bluetooth headset or car kit, you can turn off Bluetooth to save power. Go to Settings > General > Bluetooth and set Bluetooth to Off.
Turn off Wi-Fi
You can also turn off your Wi-Fi to save power. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi and set Wi-Fi to Off. Note that if you frequently use your iPhone to browse the web, battery life may be improved by using Wi-Fi instead of cellular data networks.
Adjust brightness
Dimming the screen is another way to extend battery life. Go to Settings > Brightness and drag the slider to the left to lower the default screen brightness. In addition, turning on Auto-Brightness allows the screen to adjust its brightness based on current lighting conditions. Go to Settings > Brightness and set Auto-Brightness to On.
Minimise use of location services
Applications that actively use location services such as Maps may reduce battery life. To disable location services, go to Settings > General > Location Services or use location services only when needed.
Turn off push notifications
Some applications from the App Store use the Apple Push Notification service to alert you of new data. Applications that extensively rely on push notifications (such as instant messaging applications) may impact battery life. To disable push notifications, go to Settings > Notifications and set Notifications to Off. Note that this does not prevent new data from being received when the application is opened. Also, the Notifications setting will not be visible if you do not have any applications installed that support push notifications.
Fetch new data less frequently
Applications such as Mail can be set to fetch data wirelessly at specific intervals. The more frequently email or other data is fetched, the quicker your battery may drain. To fetch new data manually, from the Home screen choose Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and tap Manually. To increase the fetch interval, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and tap Hourly. Note that this is a global setting and applies to all applications that do not support push services.
Turn off push mail
If you have a push mail account such as Gmail, Yahoo!, or Microsoft Exchange, turn off push when you don’t need it. Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and set Push to Off. Messages sent to your push email accounts will now be received on your phone based on the global Fetch setting rather than as they arrive.
Minimise use of third-party applications
Excessive use of applications such as games that prevent the screen from dimming or shutting off or applications that use location services can reduce battery life.
And remember, if you do wish to use these functions, then remember to switch them back on once your phone is fully charged.
General tips for good battery life
- Keep your iPhone out of the sun or a hot car (including the glove box) as heat will degrade your battery's performance the most.
- Let it breathe - charging your iPhone while in certain carrying cases may generate excess heat, which can affect battery capacity. If you notice that your iPhone gets hot when you charge it, take it out of its case first.
- Always make sure your iPhone has the latest version of software from Apple, as engineers may find new ways to optimise battery performance. You can update to the latest software version by connecting your iPhone to your computer and opening up iTunes. Select iPhone in the source list and then on the Summary pane, click "check for updates". If there is a new version of the iPhone software available then click "update" to install it.
You can show the percentage of remaining battery life if you want a more accurate indicator of how much battery you have left.
Go to:
Settings -> General -> Usage
Change the Battery Percentage to "ON".
Change your settings until you can get access to a charger
You may like to change these settings to always experience longer battery life, or if you usually use these functions, then you can just change the settings until you can charge your iPhone.
Turn off Bluetooth
If you rarely use a Bluetooth headset or car kit, you can turn off Bluetooth to save power. Go to Settings > General > Bluetooth and set Bluetooth to Off.
Turn off Wi-Fi
You can also turn off your Wi-Fi to save power. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi and set Wi-Fi to Off. Note that if you frequently use your iPhone to browse the web, battery life may be improved by using Wi-Fi instead of cellular data networks.
Adjust brightness
Dimming the screen is another way to extend battery life. Go to Settings > Brightness and drag the slider to the left to lower the default screen brightness. In addition, turning on Auto-Brightness allows the screen to adjust its brightness based on current lighting conditions. Go to Settings > Brightness and set Auto-Brightness to On.
Minimise use of location services
Applications that actively use location services such as Maps may reduce battery life. To disable location services, go to Settings > General > Location Services or use location services only when needed.
Turn off push notifications
Some applications from the App Store use the Apple Push Notification service to alert you of new data. Applications that extensively rely on push notifications (such as instant messaging applications) may impact battery life. To disable push notifications, go to Settings > Notifications and set Notifications to Off. Note that this does not prevent new data from being received when the application is opened. Also, the Notifications setting will not be visible if you do not have any applications installed that support push notifications.
Fetch new data less frequently
Applications such as Mail can be set to fetch data wirelessly at specific intervals. The more frequently email or other data is fetched, the quicker your battery may drain. To fetch new data manually, from the Home screen choose Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and tap Manually. To increase the fetch interval, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and tap Hourly. Note that this is a global setting and applies to all applications that do not support push services.
Turn off push mail
If you have a push mail account such as Gmail, Yahoo!, or Microsoft Exchange, turn off push when you don’t need it. Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and set Push to Off. Messages sent to your push email accounts will now be received on your phone based on the global Fetch setting rather than as they arrive.
Minimise use of third-party applications
Excessive use of applications such as games that prevent the screen from dimming or shutting off or applications that use location services can reduce battery life.
And remember, if you do wish to use these functions, then remember to switch them back on once your phone is fully charged.
