So you got your new shiny iPhone 5s. The phone’s hardware and software have improved a lot since it previous model. iOS 7 has many new features like the Air Drop and iTunes Radio. The OS also have a new control center and a redesigned multitasking app switcher. With all those improvements, many users feel like Apple forgot something in its new OS: to improve the battery consumption. That’s a problem that every one seemed to have after updating their device or buying the latest Apple’s phone or tablet.
Although in order to have a drastic battery improvement in an iPhone or an iPad, Apple has to begin making their iPhone thicker instead of thinner in order to put a bigger battery in it – which would require a hardware change. But to see improvements, although no drastic, in our iPhone or iPad battery we don’t have to wait until Apple release a device with a bigger battery. We can improve the battery by tweaking some of the settings found in iOS 7. These are the settings you’ll need to tweak or change in order have a more lasting battery on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
Force close WhatsApp, Facebook, VoIP apps
Killing all your apps in iOS will not save you battery. When you close an app by pressing the home button, the app goes to sleep, it does not keep running in the background. Since it’s sleeping, it will not consume any battery power. These does not apply to all apps. Although it’s okay to leave app running in the background, there are some apps that will keep consuming battery when you put it to sleep using the home button. These apps are Facebook, WhatsApp, and any VoIP apps like Skype or Talkatone. Facebook, WhatsApp, and VoIP apps keep running in the background communicating with their server for 10 minutes after being closed, they do not go to sleep once quit. So unless you’re waiting for a call or a message from those apps, you should force close by pressing the X in the app switcher.Â
Turn off LTE, cellular data when not in coverage area
If your’re not in an area with a strong LTE or cellular data coverage or no coverage at all, then you should disable it in the settings. When you have LTE on, then the LTE radio will be looking for a LTE even if there’s any. By having the radio on, the phone will consume battery looking for something that does not exist, which is LTE. The same applies for 3G or any other cellular data. Sprint users should do this. You can disable LTE by going to Settings> Cellular > LTE.
Put your phone in Airplane mode
You’re in you job or at school, don’t have a charger, and not waiting for any calls? Then if you have WiFi around you, go enable Airplane mode in the settings and turn your WiFi on. This will turn off all radio in the phone, consuming battery for the WiFi radio only.
Disable ‘Raise to Speak’ Siri function
If you don’t use Siri that much, then disabling Siri might increase your battery usage. If you don’t want to disable Siri then turning off the ‘Raise to Speak’ option will do the work. When turning off ‘Raise to Speak’, Siri will no longer be able to use the proximity sensor.
Reduce the brightness
This one is obvious for many of you. But if you’re not around a charger and value your battery life, then you should reduce the screen brightness the most you can. The screen is the component in the phone that consumes the most battery.
Now, you might say wouldn’t it be better to sell your iPhone and buy a Nokia 1100 if you going to disable all these features. No. By closing Facebook, or VoiP apps you’re not loosing anything, you can reopen those apps when needed. When turning off LTE you will not lose anything because there’s no LTE anyway. The option to put your phone on Airplane mode is a great idea if you’re on WiFi. Many people, if not most, don’t even care about Siri, so by turning off Raise to Speak the phone will not lose any important feature. So not, at the end you’re not losing much functions.