How to improve your iPhone's battery life

       
                 How to improve your iPhone's battery life

Enterprises and business users love the iPhone because of its back-end management and security features that allow employees to bring their own from home (BYOD) and use it in the workplace. The one thing that lets the device down from full marks is its battery life. Compared to the old business favorite BlackBerry, the iPhone's battery life is far from comparable.

Here are 15 simple things you can do to make your iPhone run that little bit longer :

1. Turn off auto-brightness

Some, including Apple, believe that the iPhone's "auto-brightness" feature will help conserve battery life by dynamically and automatically increasing or reducing the brightness of the screen, based on how light it is around you. Yet others argue this alone can actually lead to battery draining.
It may not be easy to read your iPhone's screen in direct sunlight, and you may not get the most out of your high-resolution display, but this is about conserving your battery rather than anything else.
The best practice seems to point to disabling the auto-brightness. Go to Settings > Brightness & Wallpaper > then reduce the brightness to 10-25 percent, or whatever feels comfortable.

2 .Disable system Location services

Location services use GPS for location-aware apps and services. While it's useful knowing where you are on Google Maps, what you don't see is what is going on behind the scenes. Ads are being displayed based on your location, traffic data is being downloaded, and your iPhone is always pinging out to see where you are to keep an eye on which time zone you're in. All of these things are unnecessary and churn up your battery life.
Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services. When On, scroll down to System Services, then uncheck all of these items. When you're not using Location Services, such as GPS, then simply turn it Off.

3.Disable push email

Push email is very useful for when you're running against the clock. Emails are downloaded automatically and instantly from the server when they arrive, rather than waiting for you to 'send and receive.' But if you don't mind waiting that long, you can reduce the download cycle so your iPhone isn't constantly listening for new email. Instead, it will run a schedule every few minutes that helps in conserving the battery life.
Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendar > under Fetch New Data set Push to Off — then scroll down and set the 'fetch' schedule to Every 15 minutes so that it runs the 'send and receive' schedule every quarter-hour.
If you need certain email accounts to push email to your device, select Advanced and confirm the setting for each separate account.

 

4.Disable Wi-Fi, Bluetooth when you're out and about

Wi-Fi and other wireless radios should be disabled when they're not being used as they use a significant amount of battery life. If you are not near or not using a Wi-Fi hotspot, or sending items to other devices using Bluetooth, these can and should be turned off.
Go to Settings > Wi-Fi > set to Off. Also, go to Settings > Bluetooth > set this to Off.

5.Enable Wi-Fi while you're at work

However, if you are at work or at home, and you're in a building where cellular signal is weak — such as a thick-walled house or a city apartment — you might find it helps your iPhone's battery life by actually leaving Wi-Fi turned on.
Anecdotal reports suggest that when your iPhone has good cellular signal, the device's battery will remain at a relatively stable discharge rate. But when you're on an older GPRS, EDGE or 3G, your iPhone's battery life may decrease far quicker because it is constantly searching and 'pinging' for a higher quality cell site with better signal.
Go to Settings > Wi-Fi > and set to On. Also, set Ask to Join Networks to Off to keep that Wi-Fi hotspot connected.

6.Disable unnecessary push notifications

Applications use notifications to inform you of what's going on in the world, such as new email, text messages, reminders and who is responding to you on social networks. But these notifications turn the iPhone's display on, and often include audio and vibrations.
You can customize when you receive notifications through by going to Settings > Notifications. You can suppress audible and vibration notifications, as well as those that turn on the display so they arrive silently. But these can still be included in the Notification Center so these can be checked when you periodically check your phone.

7.Reduce auto-lock period

Reducing how long it takes for your iPhone to turn its display off helps conserve the battery life. When the smartphone is put down on a table, for example, it can take a minute or two -- perhaps even longer -- for the display to turn off. This means the display can quietly chip away at the device's battery life while it's not actively being used.
Go to Settings > General > Auto-Lock > set this to 1 Minute or 2 Minutes. The shorter time period, the greater the benefits to your iPhone's battery life.

8.Disable vibrations

Vibrations are useful to enable, particularly when you're working in loud environments or even very quiet ones, so you can leave your iPhone on silent and receive a buzz in your pocket when a new message or notification has come through. A physical motor spinning in your device causes these vibrations, but this uses precious battery life. These can be limited or disabled altogether.
Go to Settings > Sounds and select whether or not you want to enable vibration when your phone rings, or if you want it enabled while it is set to silent.

9.Disable 4G (and LTE) connectivity

While 4G is much faster than 3G cellular connectivity, it uses a lot more battery power. Long-term evolution (LTE) uses an entirely different hardware radio and often drains the battery even quicker. When not using high-bandwidth applications, streaming videos, or tethered to a laptop or tablet, disable 4G and LTE connectivity. You'll receive slower (albeit still rather fast) download speeds but it will also help conserve your iPhone's battery throughout the day.
Go to Settings > General > Cellular > Set Enable 4G (or Enable LTE) to Off.

 10.Close unused or dormant apps regularly

Some iPhone apps don't completely close when they're not longer being used. Instead they lie dormant in the background. When using memory or battery intensive applications, these are still churning up power in the background. It's suggested that when you no longer need to use an app, close it down completely.
On your iPhone in an unlocked state, double-press the Home button > touch and hold any open app until it enters a 'wiggly' state > then tap the red close button on each app that you no longer need. You can then return to your device by pressing the Home button again.

11.Install a battery-monitoring app

Many Android phones already include a feature that determines which installed (and in-built) apps are using the most battery life, allowing you to close them and conserve power. But iPhones do not contain this feature, leading many to third-party apps to monitor device usage in order to extend the battery life.
There are plenty of applications in the App Store that monitor battery usage, but only a few — such as Battery Doctor — will work out which apps are using the most battery power so you know when to limit their usage.

12.Be aware of where you put your iPhone

Almost above all else, keep your iPhone and its internal battery within the operating range, so that it doesn't get too hot or too cold. An iPhone will generate heat depending on what it is being used for, so keeping it at a level temperature is important.
The warmer your iPhone gets, the faster the battery will deplete. Sometimes it's better to keep your iPhone out of your pocket and carry it in your bag — carefully to ensure the screen or case doesn't get knocked about or damaged — or even clipped to your belt. Some cases will also result in the device getting warm, so choose your accessories and cases carefully.

13.Check for iOS updates regularly for unfixable bugs

In some cases, software bugs have led to complaints that battery life decreases quicker than normal. These bugs occasionally work their way into Apple's iOS, the software that runs on iPhones and iPads, but can often be fixed with a software update. Normally, iPhone users are notified automatically when an update is available, and the change log will note if any bugs persist, particularly those relating to battery life.

14.Adjust human behavior: pick up your phone less!

While it is often tempting to pick up your phone and check to see if there are any messages, notifications, or missed calls, one of the easiest ways of keeping your battery ticking over is to stop picking it up every few minutes. Putting your phone to 'sleep' and 'waking' it up will drain battery life.

15.Cheat, and buy an external battery

If all else fails and battery life continues to be a problem, consider an external battery pack. Some external batteries will extend the battery life of your iPhone for twice the ordinary length, if not longer. There are some wrap-around cases that clip to your phone and can be activated with a switch, though these will make your iPhone thicker in size and heavier to carry. Others plug into the charging port at the bottom to give your iPhone additional juice.

                                                                                                                                             

via ZDNET