15 Battery Saving Tips For The iPhone 3Gs

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.

1. Turn off WiFi – Saves power when not searching and staying connected to a wireless connection. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi > Switch Off.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Cut down telephone calls – Only answer the important ones and let the rest go to your voicemail so you can check later.
9. Reduce Game time - Stop playing Paper Toss and Blowfish – save that battery power!
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.

 

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