MR650
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Battery Drain Fixes: The A List

Hi All,

 

I'm (used to be) a battery issue sufferer myself. I got one of the first batches of 4S.

A lot of people are ******* their pants about this battery issue, so I wanted to help them out and create a list of fixes that I've tried and have seen.

 

Please try them all and it will improve your battery life up to 9 hours, but if you get 1-300 emails a day, don't expect to get these numbers.

 

This list is not one of those lists that tell you to turn off everything and to a stupid Phone

 

1. Battery cycling

Use your battery till it turn itself off then charge it to 100%. Do this 2-3 times, it doesn't have to be consecutive times. This method has helped many.

 

2. Turn off programs that does not turn off GPS after exiting.

If you exited your program by pressing the hardward button, and you see a purple arrow next to the battery, go to settings->location services and see which programs has an arrow beside it. That is the program that will kill your battery.

 

Delete it or turn off location services for that program.

 

3. Do a Reset Network Settings

Do this when ever you did a big change in your system like changing your Sim card.

Go settings->general->reset->Reset Network Settings.

This can clear corrupted settings that cause things to crash inside your phone.

 

4. Do a Reset ALL settings.

Same as number 3, but at a system level. Don't worry, you won't lose any of your data or program settings. 

 

5 Do a Erase all content and reset all settings.

Same as number 3, but BACKUP/Sync everything before you do this!

After resetting, do a restore from iCloud or from Computer.  I prefer sync/restore from computer over NON-wifi as it is the fastest.

 

6. SIM Card Issues:

Another thing to try is to replace your sim with a new one if you converted(cut) the normal SIM before, or even get your Carrier to reload your Sim card's info.

 

For me, I had a SIM that was several years old. So I used sissors to cut them down to size to make it MicroSim

 

After updating to 5.01, things went down hill or cliff. The signal was weak, and it was eating up all my juice!! I did all sorts of tests for apple, and did logs. I notice it kept trying to get new profiles for the phone, but was rejected some how.  Thats when I suspected the SIM.  I went to get my number transfered to a real MicroSim, now everything works, and I can get great uses before the battery goes down. I can get almost 9 hours of USAGE on WIFI.

 

Your SIM could be the source of your issues!!

 

7. Go hardcore.

You shouldn't be debugging for apple, but you can't treat your iOS 5 device like a simple Nokia phone anymore, treat it like a computer.

Go here and download the iPhone Configuration Utility. http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/

Plug your phone into your computer, and watch the console logs.  Try to notice any weird warning or Error message.  It may indicate some things are crashing or some Apps are still running constantly on the background.  You can then kill those.

iOS 5 is getting more complicated, and is basically almost a full fledge OS that can replace PC's.  So you will get a lot more crap running, but this is way better than android.  Imagine that, android Apps are NOT controlled, and anything can run.

 

8. Turn off the battery percentage count.

By turning it on you would watch it obsessively like you watch a stock fall.  It helps to drain your battery more if you keep turning on and off watching to see how much it drains.  Once you did all of the above, turning this off will calm your nerves. When battery drops, it won't make you feel like you got screwed by Apple.  I see A LOT of people are b**ing about drops that are normal because they think that 1% drop in 5 min of usage is BAD but infact that would give you around 9 hours.

 

Regardless on how much you use your iPhone, If you have did all of the above, you will have maximize the battery capacity for YOURSELF, and not from excessive drain from standby.

 

Feel free to add to the list, but the above list keep your phone a Great phone, not a nerfed phone.

iPhone 4S, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Nov 12, 2011 5:12 PM

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MR650

Q: Battery Drain Fixes: The A List

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  • Helpful answers

  • by James Cohen,

    James Cohen James Cohen Nov 12, 2011 5:29 PM in response to MR650
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 12, 2011 5:29 PM in response to MR650

    Compare your actual usage to Apple's specs. Such as with one of the battery monitor apps. Then you can see if your iPhone is not normal.

  • by drStrangeP0rk,

    drStrangeP0rk drStrangeP0rk Nov 12, 2011 5:52 PM in response to MR650
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 12, 2011 5:52 PM in response to MR650

    Great advice about iOS Config utility. I tend to use XCode which gives you the same log.

     

    Make sure if you are an enterprise user do not replace your older version of iPhone Config Util. Use this only for gaining access to the logs especially if your organization tend to stand back a version.

     

    I wonder if people are having issues of massive network traffic due to Access Point Name (APN) and cell network proxy settings. Something to explore. Could explain why some users are finding a reset alone helps.

     

    For enterprise users that are not on the cutting edge take note:

     

    Note:  Configuration profiles created with iPhone Configuration Utility 3.4 fully support iOS 5 devices. You can use these profiles with earlier iOS releases, but payloads and settings that aren’t supported by a release are ignored.

    Review what are the payloads and setting that aren't supported.

    Read http://help.apple.com/iosdeployment-ipcu/#appc28ee0f4

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Nov 12, 2011 6:08 PM in response to MR650
    Level 8 (38,305 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 12, 2011 6:08 PM in response to MR650

    Something to add to your list if you have first determined that the phone is not meeting its battery life specs:

     

    If you have a Microsoft Exchange email account it can get into a loop where it continuously tries to communicate on a connection that the Exchange Server is ignoring. It's even possible to have several such "stale" connections. This is not unique to iOS 5; it has been a problem with every version since 2.0 (which was the first to support Exchange) There are two ways to fix this:

     

    1. Delete the Exchange account (settings/Mail,Contacts,Calendar), reboot the phone (hold HOME and SLEEP until an Apple logo appears) and add the account back. Be sure you are connected to WiFi before adding the account back to avoid cellular usage surprises.

     

    2. Go to Settings/Mail,Contacts,Calendar and tap on the Exchange server name. There will be 3 switches for mail, contacts and calendar. Turn off all 3. Back out of the Settings. Open Mail, then Contacts, then Calendar so the apps clear the queues of requests. Reboot the phone, then go to settings and turn the 3 switches back on. Mail Contacts and Calendar will then resync with the server. Allow time for this to complete before checking battery life, as there will be an initial heavy drain. Also, DO THIS WITH A WIFI connection to avoid unexpected cellular data usage.

  • by CDFreet,

    CDFreet CDFreet Nov 12, 2011 7:55 PM in response to Lawrence Finch
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 12, 2011 7:55 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

    This list is ridiculous. The whole idea of Apple and this phone is that it should 'just work' and simply so. For one, I did not buy into Apple products to work with them in this way.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Nov 13, 2011 4:25 AM in response to CDFreet
    Level 8 (38,305 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 13, 2011 4:25 AM in response to CDFreet

    Well, it may be ridiculous, but your choice is to follow methodical diagnostic steps or get rid of the phone. There is no other alternative. This particular problem (Exchange accounts) is a flaw in the Exchange protocol, which was created by Microsoft. It also happens on other phones that can use Exchange (WinMob and Android). It isn's a problem with BB, because BB phones use RIM's proprietary protocol rather than exchange.

  • by CDFreet,

    CDFreet CDFreet Nov 13, 2011 9:03 PM in response to Lawrence Finch
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 13, 2011 9:03 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

    @Finch,

     

    If you have a Microsoft Exchange email account it can get into a loop where it continuously tries to communicate on a connection that the Exchange Server is ignoring. It's even possible to have several such "stale" connections. This is not unique to iOS 5; it has been a problem with every version since 2.0 (which was the first to support Exchange) There are two ways to fix this:

    ....

     

    Actually, I hadn't even read your posting and was referring to the top level post/list.  Your simple explanation is actually one of the most reasonable explanations that I've read, and for me made sense. It explains a theory that I've had about why the battery issue was a problem for me - I've got a Google Calendar account set up and when I turn it off my battery performs much better.  Small consolation, yet manageable for now.

  • by sean105,

    sean105 sean105 Nov 15, 2011 2:46 AM in response to MR650
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2011 2:46 AM in response to MR650

    Sooooooo helpful!!

    These steps has me back to a 4s with 2days at minimum battery life now with normal usage.

     

    Thank you :)