15 Easy Ways to Extend Your iPhone Battery Life

November 18, 2008 / Updated: November 18, 2008 / Lena Shore
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Love your iphone, but wish the battery lasted longer? Here are some things you can do to get the most out of yours.

  1. Turn off 3G. (Settings –> General –> Network)
    3G is a way that information is transmitted on your mobile device. It stands for 3rd Generation. It loads faster but can drain your battery quicker. I use it when surfing the internet on my phone or when I need to download an email quickly. Otherwise, I keep it turned off.
  2. Upgrade your iPhone operating system.
    Not sure what Apple did, but the new OS seemed to really help the battery life.
  3. Cycle the battery once a month.
    Once a month, let your battery go down to 0% before charging. It supposedly helps the battery life and ensures an accurate display of battery life.
  4. Check your email manually. (Settings –> Fetch New Data)
    If you check your email manually, it will only download mail when you check your inbox. Otherwise, your phone will automatically check for mail periodically by itself.
  5. Set your auto-lock to 1 or 2 minutes. (Settings –> General –> Auto Lock)
    If you have it set to “never” it will really take a toll on your battery. Keeping it set to auto-lock will ensure you shut the screen off instead of putting it away in a pocket and forgetting. Nothing inside your pocket or purse needs to see your display.
  6. Turn off Bluetooth. (Settings –> General –>Bluetooth)
    When you aren’t using Bluetooth, keep it turned off.
  7. Turn off Wi-Fi. (Settings –> Wi-fi) 
    When you aren’t using Wi-fi, keep it turned off. 
  8. Turn down your LCD. (Settings –> Brightness)
    Turning down the brightness settings on your phone will save battery juice too. 
  9. Turn vibration in games off.
    If your games have an option to turn the vibration off – that will also save some battery life. 
  10. Exit out of the GPS map function if you don’t need it.
    Constant updating will use up more battery power.
  11. Download from your computer.
    Buy your songs and applications through the iTunes store
    on your computer instead of your iPhone.
  12. Avoid 3D games.
    If you are waiting for a long period of time, you may want to opt to play a game that doesn’t spend a lot of power rendering 3D objects. If your battery ran down and you couldn’t even play solitaire in the waiting room, you’d probably go crazy. 
  13. Set push to less frequent intervals or off. (Settings –> Fetch New Data)
  14. Turn off “Ask to Join Networks”. (Settings –> Wi-Fi Networks) 
    (This is a biggie.) Known networks will be joined anyway. Otherwise, your iphone is constantly looking for new networks.
  15. Keep a battery backup.
    There are probably lots of these products out there now, but one of them is called a 3G Juice. It plugs into the bottom of your iphone and will recharge it safely. You can keep one stored in your glove compartment for a year and still use it. 

You don’t have to do all of these tips to improve your battery life. But knowing what kinds of things will save you battery life will help you think in those terms. Start with the items that won’t affect you at all and see what you are left with. You might be surprised at what a few changes will do for you.

It could be if you just don’t answer your Aunt Mimi’s phone calls, that will be enough.

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