Saving iPhone Battery Life: 10 Tips And Tricks For The iPhone 4S And Older Models

Having trouble with the battery on your iPhone? You're not alone: A recent wave of complaints from iPhone 4S owners apparently even has Apple worried about battery issues.

But fear not, iPhone owner! You may not be able to have a work battery and a home battery like your Android-toting brethren, but there are simple steps you can take right now to improve the battery life on your new iPhone. Click through the slideshow to get some battery-saving advice, and remember that these are tips, not mandates: Pick and choose what you like, discard what you don't.

We want to hear from you, too. Have any battery life suggestions? Leave your tips in the comments section below.

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Comments

[emmanuel mccoy]

06:46 PM on 12/14/2011

Double your iphone 4 battery life with a battery case. I bought one at http://www.wegotyaback.com/
and I talk all day without charging it really doubled my battery life. Def recommend.

[brux]

04:11 PM on 11/14/2011

Maybe people just expect too much from these phones - like talking and messing with it all the time all day long. I have never even discharged by phone past 50% in a day ... but mostly I am a fairly light user.

You can always buy a larger battery case that holds more power.

[bigyahu]

08:00 PM on 11/08/2011

Tip 2 to disable push notifications you don't care about brings up a really important point: too many smartphone app publishers aren't thinking about how many push messages they send their customers, and not targeting them to meet the needs of their customers.

As we all install more apps, the number of unread, un-acted-on notifications grows, we're more likely to turn notifications off per app rather than tweak them ourselves, or just turn all notifications off, which could suck because push notification is something that's meant to make our smartphone more personal and useful, not less.

Smartphone app publishers need to take a look at www.otherlevels.com and start using push analytics to learn about what their customers actually want to have pushed to them, and then stop sending untargeted, broadcast push messages. This ain't SMS or email and push spam will not be tolerated for long.

[mathme]

10:15 PM on 11/07/2011

"Disable the features that make a smart phone into a smart phone."

I do like my smart phone, but I'm starting to think that i might miss 5 days of battery life. It's kind of a toss up. I wonder if I can just add a basic phone to my "line" so I don't have to worry about my phone konking out during a long drive.

[sdiggz302]

08:51 AM on 11/06/2011

Check this out folks. I love a company that listens to its consumers, admits its faults and provides a fix.... in weeks? yep that's good business. click the link

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/02/iphone-battery-life-ios-5-update_n_1072661.html

[sdiggz302]

08:30 AM on 11/06/2011

My best friend bought the Evo (Droid GOD... am I right???)
I bought the iPhone 4
I paid $100.00 less
I am on verizon so I never have dropped a call in the 8 months that have had it
He is on Sprint and misses calls at least once daily
My screen is much clearer with more detail, vibrant color and better response to touch (pointed out to me by him..I didn't care)
My camera is 5MP, his is 8MP but with HDR setting, mine takes better pics
My phone is way easier to maneuver through and functions more smoothly
AND even with a protective rubber case, fits in my pants pocket better than my wallet.
I also have way better battery life, at about 70% when I'm driving home from work after charging while I sleep.
He needs to take his charger to work.
He just switched to Verizon iphone 4 for he and his wife
My friend Katy is also furious for buying the Bionic before consulting me on iPhone 4.
Talk all you want but the FACT of the matter is that Steve Jobs built the best smartphone since the Treo650 and I have a BB 8830 that is now collecting dust

[mondialcorp2007]

09:14 PM on 11/03/2011

You can have your battery last longer by turning off your phone while driving. Plus you might also save you life. Texting while driving has killed 96% more females than males.
The way that woman drive is bad enough....imagine them texting and driving....Beware if you see a female driving and texting get away as fast as you can.

[mathme]

10:15 PM on 11/07/2011

Men get into more accidents, are more dangerous drivers, and that's why their insurance is higher.

[KarateKid]

11:54 AM on 11/08/2011

The _stupid drivers of the world are equally dangerous.

[FelixCat9]

12:37 PM on 11/03/2011

I have not had a problem with my 4S. Is there any clear word from Apple on the source of the problem? Is it software related or is there a problem with the batteries themselves? I see that law firms are investigating: http://www.abingtonlaw.com/iPhone-4S-class-action.html

Are there or have there been similar problems with Android phones? Very curious.

[mashud]

06:37 AM on 11/03/2011

They always say this for every phone (inc my BB 9900). Whats the point of having these features if I cant leave them on? I wish these phone companies would actually invest some time and money in battery technology rather than just the software.

[uniwarp]

01:12 AM on 11/03/2011

turn it off, put it back in it's box. if new, return to the store, if used, sell it on ebay and let that sucker figure it out.

[tvham]

11:31 PM on 11/02/2011

I really appreciate these tips BUT...It really pisses me off that we as consumers need to spend time troubleshooting their faulty product. Sure, I can turn iCloud and location services off, and manually get my email instead of having it pushed to the phone but those features are a big part of why I bought the phone in the first place!

I literally have just about everything turned off on the phone and it still drains from 100% - 90% in like 15 minutes.

[Andres Esteban Quezada]

11:19 PM on 11/02/2011

I know I'm most probably not the first one to be asking himself this but, why on earth would you like to tell the BofA where you are? Unless you have a deep sense of guilt for not being up to date with your loan payments?

[Anderson Newton]

10:41 PM on 11/02/2011

ios5? android? windows phone 7= best battery life of all phone os's. and the best UI

[ghee99]

10:12 PM on 11/02/2011

even though i have OS 4,2.1 and even though the article says "With iOS 4, Apple introduced the ability for apps to run in the background while another app is open" (which my phone does) the instructions for how to "Close Out Your Background Apps" are wrong, and do not work i.e. clicking twice fast on my home screen does NOT bring up the list on the bottom of the screen as such, bad reporting.

[KarateKid]

11:55 AM on 11/08/2011

It works on mine.

[ghee99]

06:59 PM on 11/08/2011

well, didnt work on mine, the article was wrong, it does NOT work on an iphone 3g (as claimed) but ONLY on those who have a 3gs

oh well, whoever wrote the article knows nothing about iphones, they should get reporters who know the product on which they are supposedly technically reporting on.

[ChicagoBob]

09:26 PM on 11/02/2011

Tip #11: Don't buy an iphone.

[KarateKid]

11:56 AM on 11/08/2011

Tip #12: Buy an Android phone and get two extra battery packs.