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annabelle Author

Level 3

623 points

A better iPhone 4s battery life

Since I got my iPhone 4s I was very disappointed with the battery life: it looks like I'm not the only one..

During the last days I found several solutions that really improved my battery life 🙂

You have to read for days to find the good tips among hundred discussions, this is why I'm sharing those here

I'm still hoping that Apple will do something soon to improve IOS5 battery eating disorder

1) Fully charge the battery with the iPhone off

At night -or when you do not need it- plug in your iPhone to the charger , then switch it off

pulling the red tab on the screen and let it charge.

Do not switch it off before and plug in after because

the iPhone will start back automatically

The battery will go to 100% and it will last longer

This is a procedure I have done in the past even with old iPhone and iPad and I always found that works great.

Same for laptop.

2) Turn off Setting Time Zone function

in Locations (system services). It never turns off location searching so it drains the battery.

This setting was draining my battery 3% in one hour with everything off.

3) Turn off Diagnostic & Usage Data.

Settings > General > About > Diagnostic & Usage > Diagnostic & Usage Data.

Another big improvement

4) Brightness at the minimum you can stand

5) iCloud off

I use it to sync when I'm at home and with wi-fi for now: hopefully Apple will come up with some fixes

I had to kill several operations to get a decent battery life: I do not think this is what you need to do when you buy an expensive phone

Everything should work fine and the battery last as long as promised...

6) No iCloud cellular use

Settings > iCloud > Documents & Data > Use Cellular = OFF

7) Turn off Time Zone and Ask to join networks

8) Do not leave iMessage in standby when you do not use it

Quit as soon as you finish sending messages

Thanks to everyone who suggested all these tricks : it's difficult to go back and find them all but

my gratitude goes to all of you !

iPhone 4S, iOS 5

Posted on Oct 29, 2011 2:32 PM

127 replies

gremista

Level 1

0 points

Apr 17, 2012 4:47 PM in response to annabelle

thank you. it helped a lot.

Pam30

Level 1

0 points

Apr 29, 2012 1:10 AM in response to gfromlos angeles

If you change turn off push and the location feature, you basically turn off your ability to 'find my iphone' capability. I was a BB person for many years, transitioned to iPhone for 2 different versions and went back to BB soley for the purpose of the lack of battery sustainability. I travel a great deal with work and I cannot continually think about where and when I need to charge my battery. My BB battery lasts for a minimum of 4 days and this is with max use and never turning it off. If iPhone ever comes out with battery conserving features I would consider going back, but for my own personal and professional use the BB is best for me at this time.

Jun 23, 2012 6:06 AM in response to kennethfromsaint davids

Mine is actually alright battery wise I have mine on full brightness and close down apps when I'm not using them I also lock my phone as soon as im done using it. Sometimes it lasts up to 3 days

Aug 9, 2012 2:22 AM in response to annabelle

Follow all tips on battery related posts plus do this things

Activate 3G plan if not, leave it on and switch off cell data

Or at least reset all. Network settings once operator confirms 3G

Activated on ur iPhone.

I have issues of only one day battery life, now with double use

The battery life is doubled as well means it is enhanced to 4 times.

mtongy

Level 1

20 points

Aug 9, 2012 2:26 AM in response to annabelle

We're hoping to see some fixes to the battery life issues on the iPhone 4S.

Sep 5, 2012 4:25 AM in response to mtongy

My battery life was terrible on my 4S, but not nearly as bad as some of the other users described here. Could at least get through a full day without recharging.

My battery life is now excellent. For example is t was at 45% this morning with a 2 days & 12 hours standby.

My problems started when I did an OTA update to 5.1.1. I suspect that there is something going wrong with the OTA updates. I therefore did a full restore (in other words downloaded the full 5.1.1 file again) and set the phone up as a new phone (did not restore from back-up). As a bonus the phone's capacity actually increased a bit after the restore. If you did an OTA update of the iOS, try doing a full restore. It worked for me.

My screen brightness is set to between 50% & 60%. I have one push e-mail account always active. Location services are on, but limited to Find my iPhone and the apps that needs local location services to be on. All the "system services" at the bottom of the Location Services menu screen is turned off. Notifications are only on for those apps that really need it, for example Whatsapp, Messages, Reminders (not the Apple app), e-mail account, Words with Friends, etc. WiFi is off when I don't need it. Bluetooth is on 24/7/365.Cell data is on, but 3G is off. iCloud is on only for Contacts and my reminders app (not the Apple app) and also sync via cellular. iMessage is on. Facetime is on. My notes app (also not Apple) sync's via Dropbox and my grocery app through the developers website.

With the above settings I easily get 3 days out of my battery with moderate usage.

Hope it helps.

Vishnu V

Level 1

0 points

Sep 28, 2012 2:56 PM in response to annabelle

Hi All,

I don't believe in turning off functionality on a beautiful phone as iPhone 5. Here is what I did, and it did make a difference to me (I was a victim of the battery issue).

1. Go to Settings --> Notifications

2. 'Not In Notification Center' - Ensure all the new applications installed by each one of you, have not only the notification Center turned off, but also ensure you turn off unwanted apps - (Good to have Alert Style as None)

a) Badge App Icon

b) Sounds

c) View in Lock Screen

I did all this and from earlier, my power was draining out anywhere between 2%-4% every hour. Now it has reduced drastically to 1% maybe in 2-3 hours 🙂.

And I can't take my hands off the phone, which is why even the 1% every 2-3 hours, else that also should increase with time. Plus, feel free to use 'Do Not Disturb' from Settings frequently when you really won't be using the phone (sleeping, driving, meetings).

Over the air (wifi backup to iclouds also consume a lot of power, turn it off and do it once when you are charging the phone)

I believe, the new OS is taking time for people to learn about, as it contains 100's of new functions, which we have to get used to in time, and causing all these confusions. It is a great phone people, trust me 🙂.

Cheers,

Vishnu

A better iPhone 4s battery life