Paying attention to just a few common sense pointers will pay off with a longer battery lifespan and battery life for your iOS device. The most important thing is to keep your iOS device out of the sun or a hot car (including the glove box). Heat will degrade your battery’s performance the most.
Here are 8 more tips to improve your iOS device battery life:
Update to the Latest Software
Always make sure your iOS device has the latest software from Apple, as engineers may find new ways to optimize battery performance. Using the latest version of iTunes, you can update your iOS device with the latest software.
Connect your iPhone to your computer, then select iPhone in the Source List. In the Summary pane, click “Check for Updates” to see if there’s a new version of the iOS software available. Click Update to install the latest version.
If your iOS device is running iOS 5 or later, you can also wirelessly update it to the latest version by going to Settings > General > Software Update and following the onscreen instructions.
Optimize Your Settings
Depending on how your settings are configured, a few features may decrease your iPhone battery. The tips below apply to an iOS device running iOS 5.0 or later and may help extend your battery life.
- Adjust Brightness: Dimming the screen can help extend battery life. Go to Settings > Brightness & Wallpaper and drag the slider to the left to lower the default screen brightness. You may also turn on Auto-Brightness, which allows the screen to adjust its brightness based on current lighting conditions.
- Turn Off Push Mail: If you have a push mail account such as Yahoo! Or Gmail, turn off push when you don’t need it. Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and set Push to Off.
- 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 change how often you fetch data, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and tap which length you would prefer, Manually using the least battery.
- Turn Off Push Notifications: Some applications from the App Store us 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 disable notifications for select applications. This does not prevent new data from being received when the application is opened.
- Minimize Use of Location Services: Applications that actively use location services such as Maps may reduce battery life. To disable location services, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services or use location services only when needed.
Charging In Cases
Charging your iOS devices 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.
Use iOS Device Regularly
For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).
Charge Cycles
A properly maintained iOS battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity at 400 full charge and discharge cycles.