Let’s face it, despite the welcome improvements in hardware and software, the new iPhone 3GS still suffers from the same problem that all its predecessors had – battery life is terrible.
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve compiled a list of 15 ways that you can keep your iPhone 3GS juiced up.
- Turn off WiFi – Saves power when not searching and staying connected to a wireless connection. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi > Switch Off.
- Turn off Bluetooth – Similar to switching off Wi-Fi you can get more time by turning this feature off. Go to Settings > General > Bluetooth > Switch Off.
- Turn off Vibrate Alert - Audio alerts take up less power than a vibration alert. Go to Settings > Sounds > Switch off Silent Vibrate and Switch off Vibrate Ring. You can also flick the Ring/Silent switch on the side of the iPhone.
- Turn Off iPod Equalizer – This was an old tip from Apple when they were helping users conserve battery on iPods. Go to Settings > iPod > EQ > Switch Off
- Get an iPhone Car / Vehicle Charger - Re-energise your iPhone while you’re driving. Normal charge time via one of these adapters is from 30 – 40 minutes.
- Get a iPhone Battery Extender – There are a couple of gadgets out there that allow you to add a battery extender to your iPhone. The negative impact is that it adds extra bulk.
- Turn off Location Services / GPS – When switched on quite the juice drainer as it employs a combination of Wi-Fi, cellular and GPS to determine your location. Go to Settings > General > Location Services > Switch Off.
- Cut down telephone calls – Only answer the important ones and let the rest go to your voicemail so you can check later.
- Reduce Game time - Stop playing Paper Toss and Blowfish – save that battery power!
- Reduce Screen / Display Brightness – One that I only recently implemented that has given me more time with my iPhone everyday. Go to Settings > Brightness > use slider to select lower brightness. Also switch Auto-Brightness off.
- Activate display of battery percentage - Keep close tabs on how much battery power you actually have left and display this permanently on your screen. Go to Settings > General > Usage > Battery Percentage > Switch On.
- Check mail less frequently – Increasing the intervals your iPhone fetches emails or doing it manually fewer times a day can also help battery life. Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data > Turn off Push and set to Manually.
- Activate Auto-Lock with short interval – This feature dims your iPhone screen after a selected period of time of inactivity. The shorter the interval the faster it will put your iPhone to sleep and initiate auto-lock. Go to Settings > General > Auto-Lock > 1 Minute.
- Turn off 3G - Although you won’t be able to download data as quickly this saves you a substantial amount of power. Go to Settings > General > Network > Enable 3G > Switch Off.
- Turn off Data Roaming – Turn data roaming off when abroad especially, to avoid substantial roaming charges when using email, MMS, web browsing and other data services. Saves battery and money! Go to Settings > General > Network > Data Roaming > Switch Off.
Would love to hear if you have any others.
