Is your iPhone battery not lasting as long as you would like? Here are a few tips on how to extend your battery.

Apple do like to switch every bell and whistle on when setting up a new or freshly restored iPhone. However, most of these features are not needed by the average user or needed every day, so I outline some of the biggest ways to get more battery life from your iPhone.

Bluetooth

This is on by default, and Apple also insist on turning it on whenever an update is installed. Unless you pair it with a headset, a speaker, or your car, most users won’t need this daily, so it can be turned off.

This can be done either by bringing up the Control Centre or by going into Settings > Bluetooth.

WiFi

If you are not connecting to your home broadband or a WiFi hotspot, WiFi can be turned off too. Be aware data charges might occur depending on your SIM card and also that cellular data is heavier on battery than WiFi.

This can be done either by bringing up the Control Centre or by going in to Settings > Wi-Fi.

Cellular Data

If you have no need for data services at all – although I wonder why anyone would buy an iPhone without data – then turning off mobile data altogether could save a huge amount of battery life.

You can turn it off completely in Settings > General.

Or you can limit it to to 2G, 3G, or LTE (new in iOS 8.1) data connection only in Voice & Data.

Location Services

Its great when your phone knows where you are. Luckily, it can be tamed to use use location services only for certain apps, so you get the best of both worlds.

I have looked in mine, and I only have Siri & Dictation and Weather set to ‘While Using’ – everything else is set to ‘Never’.

This can be found in Settings > Privacy > Location Services.

Quitting Apps

There is no exit button on most apps. To get out of them, you simply press the home button. This doesn’t quit them but merely puts them in the background.

To quit an app, double-click on the home button to bring up the multitasking screen. Swipe up on any open app, and it will quit it.

Push

Having data sent instantly to your phone is great but can seriously guzzle your battery. This is especially true of Mail.

This can be set to off, manually, or timed in Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendar. Where it says Fetch New Data you can turn this to Fetch rather than Push.

Unless you are someone who only receives an email once a week, I don’t see the need for push emails. I have mine set to check every hour.

Background App Refresh

With the introduction of iOS 7, Apple decided to allow a lot more background processing, especially for third party apps. Once again, all that unseen activity affects battery drainage.

Turn this off in Settings > General > Background App Refresh.

Automatic App Update

If Apple or developers push through a new update, it can now be automatically updated on your phone.

This can be turned off in Settings > iTunes & App Store. There is a slide switch for Updates; slide it to off.

Brightness

Having your screen shining out might be nice, but lowering its brightness will reduce battery consumption.

This can be adjusted in Settings > Display & Brightness.

Reduce Motion

With the introduction of iOS 7, Apple added some fancy graphical effects that interact with the built-in sensors; these are nothing more than smooth animations.

This can be turned off in Settings > General > Accessibility > Reduce Motion.

Screen Orientation

We are now getting to the things that could make a small difference to battery life. Rotating your phone will also rotate the screen (in most apps). This can be stopped by locking it in the Portrait view.

Prior to iOS 7, it was available on the multi-tasking screen. However, in iOS 7 it is now accessible from the Control Centre, which you get to by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.

Handoff

This is whizzy new feature for iOS 8 that allows jumping from Mac to iPhone and back seamlessly. Unless you have a Bluetooth 4.0 equipped Mac, you won’t be able to take advantage of it.

Turn this off in Settings > General > Handoff & Suggested Apps.

Vibrate

One final way of saving a bit of battery is to turn off the vibrate function for calls and notifications.

Turn this off in Settings > Sounds.

Signal Strength

But battery life can also be affected by your carrier and the strength of the signal. A device struggling to keep hold of a signal or one that is flitting between GPRS and 3G/4G will use more battery than one that has a more stable mobile signal.

Battery Percentage

There is also a handy thing called ‘Battery Percentage’ that will give you a more accurate indicator of battery life than just a battery icon in the top right of the screen. This is in Settings > General > Usage.

Conclusion

I know all this above might sound like you are turning everything off on your shiny new device, but your needs will determine what you turn off. For light users, a lot of the fancy items are just a waste of battery life.

If you feel you need something, you can always turn it back on again.

Your mileage on your device will vary depending on what iPhone you have and which version of iOS you have and how heavy you actually use it.

Most of these tips have been floating around the Internet since the iPhone came out and some of them will also help on other smartphones too.

Experiment and see what works for you.

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