IOS 4.2.1 battery drain

I know what doesn't work for me: all the "solutions" in this thread.

Hello from Brazil, first post here...
I think I sorted this bug out, at least for my phone.

I´ve had this problem two times in my 32g iPhone4: usage time = standby time and fast battery drain. First time I solved it restoring the phone as new. It keeped itself "normal" for about two days, and then the problem returned.

This time, instead of turning everything off, I did just the opposite: turned everything ON and did a hard reset. To my surprise, it rebooted fine again and it's working fine right now, two weeks later 🙂

I ended up doing some more tests, and I think you need to have the cellular data ALWAYS ON. Don´t ask me why, but I guess something on iOS 4.2 seems to be always trying to send some data through cellular?

Please try this method, I hope it can solve the problem for some of you.

All the best, and sorry for any English mistakes as it's not my native language.

lemarq

Hi lemarq! I´m from Brazil too, Salvador/BA!

I subscribed NuevaSync to sync with my google contacts and calendar and i had already wrote to NuevaSync support to report this issue (when we scroll contacts it becomes very slow with a litte stops and i can´t delete a sms AND THE MAIN ISSUE, THE BATTERY DRAINS VERY FAST!!!).

Example: To get this issue you only must have a exchange account to sync contacts with wifi and 3G/edge off line. Go to contacts, edit any contact and when you go back to contacts list try to scroll and you will see it very slow with a little stops!

How to fix: As our friend lemarq said, turn on any data connections (wifi or 3g/edge) and go to contacts to server sync the contact edition that you just made!

That´s it guys! i did a reset as new, didn´t restore the backup (as Lawrence said), and only configure nuevasync but the issue appear again!!!

So it´s a Apple problem, iOS 4.2.1 problem, not our operating problem. Let´s wait for a fix or send an email to uncle Steve, who don´t have this problem because should leave the data connections always on to sync their stuff.

[ ]´s

Norberto.

P.s.: I read all 28 pags of this discussion topic.

Hey Norberto, great to see you here!

I'm glad you could find a workaround for this problem too, it seems there are a few combinations that make this horrible battery drain happen, but making the cellular data on all the time done it for me, thankfully. No doubt is an Apple bug, and an ugly one...

The sad thing is I have a humble 100MB data plan, so I must watch carefully when I'm out of wireless range 😟

I hope more people can find in this method a workaround for their battery problems, if so please post here!

Best,

lemarq.

As a follow up: I have iOS 4.2.1 with the following config:

- Notifications ON
- Push eMail OFF (two mail accounts)
- Wireless ON
- Bluetooth ON
- Find My Phone ON (but do not sync contacts/calendar through MobileMe)

Battery lasts about 2-3 days now, with moderate use...

Do you leave all this on all the time? push > manual?

network > phone data?

My Iphone 4 has 2 weeks. Last week i noticed battery lasted only two days having EVERYTHING turned off, and when i say EVERYTHING i mean it.
Battery descends 1% every 30 minutes. Finally yesterday found the solution: Restore the Iphone on Itunes as a new Iphone. Now the battery is on 100% since midnight to 9:00 AM, and in this right moment(10PM), on 99%.
Hope this solves the problem for others.

Very Strange, updated to 4.2.1 as soon as it was out, not had any issues. Until yesterday notice the battery was almost flat at lunch time. Today after a full charge last night as soon as it was unplugged it's losing 1% every 2-3 mins!!

Tried reboot, reset, etc.. nothing seams to solve it, my mind it's got to be a bug in the OS, massive CELL connection issues in the area or an application update which is downloading data 100% of the time.

Any ideas how to monitor network usage easily and see if any of these are the problem. Apologies if this is further up the tread I've tried to scan read see as many as possible.

Hi again!

I'm back with another update. Switching carriers didn't work - apparently, it wasn't even possible to connect to another carrier, so the phone just said "No Service" and the drain persisted. BUT... I did find another way to test the bug: I locked my SIM card (or rather, didn't unlock it upon startup). With a locked SIM card, the drain went away and my overnight battery use was back to normal. This is obviously not a solution, since it effectively turns my iPhone into an iPod Touch; but it does confirm that the problem is with the cellular network.

lemarq, your solution sounds interesting. I personally keep my Cellular Data off at all times to save on phone bills, but with the symptoms I've been seeing, there could definitely be a connection. I'm trying it now, and so far, so good: just turning the Cellular Data on (not even a need to reboot the phone) has detached the Usage and Standby times in a five-minute test. To see if this was a complete fix, I'll have to monitor the battery life over a longer period. Unfortunately, I don't see this as a global fix, since I imagine most people keep their Cellular Data option on at all times (unless they switch it off when not using the phone to try to conserve their battery, in which case the whole thing would be delightfully ironic).

Thanks for the idea, lemarq!

Azukikuru

Logic here - if it was the OS version don't you think it would have happened as soon as you updated? In fact this problem has been around since v 2.0, so it isn't the OS version. And the answer is further up the thread in many places. In summary, there are dozens of possible causes, and you need to do some troubleshooting to find the specific cause for you. It's some app that is trying and failing to communicate.

"Hi lemarq! I´m from Brazil too, Salvador/BA!

I subscribed NuevaSync to sync with my google contacts and calendar and i had already wrote to NuevaSync support to report this issue (when we scroll contacts it becomes very slow with a litte stops and i can´t delete a sms AND THE MAIN ISSUE, THE BATTERY DRAINS VERY FAST!!!).

Example: To get this issue you only must have a exchange account to sync contacts with wifi and 3G/edge off line. Go to contacts, edit any contact and when you go back to contacts list try to scroll and you will see it very slow with a little stops!

How to fix: As our friend lemarq said, turn on any data connections (wifi or 3g/edge) and go to contacts to server sync the contact edition that you just made!

That´s it guys! i did a reset as new, didn´t restore the backup (as Lawrence said), and only configure nuevasync but the issue appear again!!!

So it´s a Apple problem, iOS 4.2.1 problem, not our operating problem. Let´s wait for a fix or send an email to uncle Steve, who don´t have this problem because should leave the data connections always on to sync their stuff."


Hello,
Interesting, I have the same problem but can you explain a little bit more the way to fix the problem, please,
Thanks

Message was edited by: Grandwazoo964

@Lawrence Finch, Logic indeed, I applied a little today and monitored the services enabled and the drain of battery over time.

My initial findings suggest that it's not one particular service or even one application but a combination of all the services combined.

The biggest shock was the test in flight safe mode, which all services off. Shown on my graph as the time between 1228 - 1553 where the battery lost 8% doing nothing over a 2hr period.

The graph speaks for itself, but I will continue to refine the process over the next few days to see what is revealed.

Here is a link to the graph, http://yfrog.com/h76j8rj

If the link is deleted then twitter for SMUGgaz

If that line and message gets deleted message me for a copy.

To fix it, you only have to stay with WiFi or 3G always turned on.

Because if you have any exchange account, like NuevaSync or GoogleSync, the app always try to sync to the server and when it cannot sync, it becomes into a loop and drains the battery a lot. Ok?

Good analysis. There are some processes (email being a major culprit) that will attempt to communicate with a server over a stale connection, and apparently even do so when the phone is in airplane mode (although I hadn't seen this before).