There is nothing worse than running out of battery life on your iPhone, the feeling of disconnection when your communications lifeline is suddenly no more. If you are like me, your connection to the outside world stops almost completely. Not only can you no longer make phone calls, but your access to email, Facebook, Twitter, and even the weather forecast is no more. So what can you do to reduce the likelihood of running out of battery power when you know the next charge is a long way off or if you are a heavy-duty user? Luckily, we can help.
Banish bluetoothBluetooth is the first of the iPhone's power-hungry features. Unless you need to use the technology to access a bluetooth headset, connect to your car, or use a specific app that requires it, odds are you don't need it turned on. To switch it off, tap Settings, General, Bluetooth, and then change Bluetooth On to Bluetooth Off.
Say bye-bye to wifi
Like bluetooth, wifi can chew up a lot of battery very quickly. If you don't use it, switch it off!
Wifi is what connects you to the internet using a wireless hotspot such as the ones you would find in McDonald's, coffee shops, or hotels. Your iPhone almost constantly scans for these hotspots, which only uses a little bit of power each time — but it adds up quickly!
Think twice before turning off this feature, though. If you have a limited data allowance on your phone plan, not using wireless hotspots will use up a lot of cellular data. If you're not bothered or don't want internet connectivity via wifi, switching the function off will save you lots of battery life.
To switch off wifi, click on Settings, Wifi and change Wifi On to Wifi Off.
Put background processes behind youYou may not realize it, but your iPhone will keep running many of the programs you have opened in the background, for easy access later. These programs can still use a substantial amount of processor time even when you're not using them, drastically reducing your battery life. One app can chew up more than 15-20% of battery life in one hour; you will find you phone goes flat very quickly if this happens.
So how do you stop these processes? The easy way, of course, is to restart your phone by holding the top button and then sliding to power off. However, if you don't want to restart your phone, there's another option. Go to your home screen by clicking the button under the screen. Once on the home screen, click the button twice quickly; a line of icons will appear at the bottom of the screen. Tap and hold one of those icons for five seconds, and the whole lot will start shaking. Then simply click on the red circle with the horizontal line on each app that you want to close.
(Confused? Let Tecca just show you how to close these apps!)
The future might be less brightOne very simple (and often overlooked) change that will make your battery last longer is to lower your screen brightness. This is a small but effective tweak — remember, the brighter you keep your screen, the more power it will use. Click on Settings, followed by Brightness, then slide the bar to the left.
Put notifications on notice
Call notifications are an awesome feature of the iPhone. These are the pop-ups that show up on the screen when it's locked, letting you know the weather forecast, the latest posts in your Twitter feed, or simply when your favorite app has been updated. However (you guessed it), these features also chew through battery power.
To disable notifications, click on Settings, then Notifications, then move the Notifications slider to off.
Grin and bear it
It's a fact of life: The charge on your iPhone battery simply won't last forever. But with these small tweaks, you can squeeze the most out of your charge — and if that's not enough, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for convenient power outlets.
