iPhone 5 Doesn't Keep Going and Going and Going...
Late in April, 2013, the new iOS was released for the iPhone 5.
I'll admit it, I don't follow the "is it better?" investigative reporting going on around each new iOS release for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, or any other smart phone. Like most of you, I just go with the update when I'm told to, good like ewe that I am.
Now, whether this has anything to do with the iOS or not, I started to notice that my phone ran out of power frequently, and fast. A simple 10 minute conversation, and my power would be dangerously low.
So I wondered: was my battery just going bad? The phone is about a year old. I was aware that Apple had had some issues with batteries before. So I did some investigation.
Turns out there are more complaints about the battery life on the iPhone 5 new iOS release than any other issue, except perhaps the speaker volume - which is also annoying to me, but I can live with it. Especially as compared to the supreme annoyance, not to mention inconvenience, of having my phone lose power so quickly.
You can opt to take your phone in for a battery fix, if indeed it really seems to be the case that your battery is defective. Or has become defective.
Then there are the "tips," which in some ways I found so amusing I had to share it with you. Let's take a look at how ZDNet recommends we save battery power to give longer text/talk life to our phones.
1. "Turn off Auto-brightness. Go to Settings; Brightness & Wallpaper; then reduce the brightness to 10-25 percent, or whatever feels comfortable."
My take: Well, of course my phone was set to auto-bright, and I have to say that I've found this to be a great (though not deal-breaking) convenience. However, I do like the fact that in most conditions, other than direct sunlight, I can fairly easily read the phone. Moreover, 10% is just not workable, and if that's what I have to do to spare battery, what's the point? If I can't read the phone... hmmm.
2. "Disable unnecessary push notifications.You can customize when you receive notifications through by going to Settings; Notifications."
My take: This one I concur with. Though it is convenient to know when a text message has come in, generally speaking I don't need to know when an email has been delivered, and there are many other apps that will send push notifications that I really don't care about. I've long since turned most of these off, and agree that your iPhone experience won't be compromised without them.
3. "Reduce how long it takes for your iPhone to turn its display off. Go to Settings; General; Auto-Lock; set this to 1 Minute or 2 Minutes. The shorter time period, the greater the benefits to your iPhone's battery life."
My take: yep. No problem.
4. "Disable Vibrations. Go to Settings; Sounds and select whether or not you want to enable vibration when your phone rings, or if you want it enabled while it is set to silent."
My take: this is one of the smart phone's real convenience features, and I really shouldn't have to do without it - especially if I've already disabled most of the unnecessary push notifications.
5. "Disable 4G (and LTE) connectivity While 4G is much faster than 3G cellular connectivity, it uses a lot more battery power. Go to Settings; General; Cellular; Set Enable 4G (or Enable LTE) to Off."
My take: Huh? Isn't this the platform they market the new generation of phones on? At item 5 I'm starting to wonder what the point of the new phone is.
6. "Close Apps when you're finished. On your iPhone in an unlocked state, double-press the Home button; touch and hold any open app until it enters a 'wiggly' state; then tap the red close button on each app that you no longer need. You can then return to your device by pressing the Home button again."
My take: absolutely do this one. When I first realized that the app will, in the old parlance, "terminate and stay resident," (which isn't exactly correct, but close enough!), I took care to check my running apps periodically and shut them down. Basically, I keep my text, phone, and browser running (the latter for convenience only).
7. "Don't let your phone get too hot or too cold. Almost above all else, keep your iPhone and its internal battery within the operating range, so that it doesn't get too hot or too cold. An iPhone will generate heat depending on what it is being used for, so keeping it at a level temperature is important.
The warmer your iPhone gets, the faster the battery will deplete."
My take: moreover, I have found that the phone gets extremely hot when I'm talking on it. Literally to the point where I won't put it near my face and always opt for speaker (when possible, and acknowledging that it's not loud enough), or for a headset. So I'm sure that when I have a longer conversation on the phone, I'm depleting the battery not only by simply using the phone, but because of the heat its own battery is generating.
8. "Regularly update your phone. These bugs occasionally work their way into Apple's iOS, the software that runs on iPhones and iPads, but can often be fixed with a software update. Normally, iPhone users are notified automatically when an update is available, and the change log will note if any bugs persist, particularly those relating to battery life."
My take: do this. It's simple.
9. "Check your phone less often."
My take: WHAT? Especially if I've followed the other instructions and turned off notifications, turned off vibrate, turned off my apps... I should not check for texts I'm not getting notified about with a vibrate, for example? And if I'm not using a notification for email, and I'm using my phone - as many of us do - for business purposes, I need to check in frequently to know what's happening.
10. "If all else fails and battery life continues to be a problem, consider an external battery pack. Some external batteries will extend the battery life of your iPhone for twice the ordinary length, if not longer."
My take: I have just ordered one so that I have a backup for emergency purposes. I used to have a Mophie belt-hook "sled" that would add a few hours life to an iPhone 4, and it bailed me out many times. I guess it's time to do something similar with the iPhone 5.
Ordering a new external battery, however, just served to renew my old grudge against Apple that it redesigned its charging plug so that all those peripheral items with the old plug end are useless.
Deep breath. I will let you know how the battery I ordered works out!
I'll admit it, I don't follow the "is it better?" investigative reporting going on around each new iOS release for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, or any other smart phone. Like most of you, I just go with the update when I'm told to, good like ewe that I am.
Now, whether this has anything to do with the iOS or not, I started to notice that my phone ran out of power frequently, and fast. A simple 10 minute conversation, and my power would be dangerously low.
So I wondered: was my battery just going bad? The phone is about a year old. I was aware that Apple had had some issues with batteries before. So I did some investigation.
Turns out there are more complaints about the battery life on the iPhone 5 new iOS release than any other issue, except perhaps the speaker volume - which is also annoying to me, but I can live with it. Especially as compared to the supreme annoyance, not to mention inconvenience, of having my phone lose power so quickly.
You can opt to take your phone in for a battery fix, if indeed it really seems to be the case that your battery is defective. Or has become defective.
Then there are the "tips," which in some ways I found so amusing I had to share it with you. Let's take a look at how ZDNet recommends we save battery power to give longer text/talk life to our phones.
1. "Turn off Auto-brightness. Go to Settings; Brightness & Wallpaper; then reduce the brightness to 10-25 percent, or whatever feels comfortable."
My take: Well, of course my phone was set to auto-bright, and I have to say that I've found this to be a great (though not deal-breaking) convenience. However, I do like the fact that in most conditions, other than direct sunlight, I can fairly easily read the phone. Moreover, 10% is just not workable, and if that's what I have to do to spare battery, what's the point? If I can't read the phone... hmmm.
2. "Disable unnecessary push notifications.You can customize when you receive notifications through by going to Settings; Notifications."
My take: This one I concur with. Though it is convenient to know when a text message has come in, generally speaking I don't need to know when an email has been delivered, and there are many other apps that will send push notifications that I really don't care about. I've long since turned most of these off, and agree that your iPhone experience won't be compromised without them.
3. "Reduce how long it takes for your iPhone to turn its display off. Go to Settings; General; Auto-Lock; set this to 1 Minute or 2 Minutes. The shorter time period, the greater the benefits to your iPhone's battery life."
My take: yep. No problem.
4. "Disable Vibrations. Go to Settings; Sounds and select whether or not you want to enable vibration when your phone rings, or if you want it enabled while it is set to silent."
My take: this is one of the smart phone's real convenience features, and I really shouldn't have to do without it - especially if I've already disabled most of the unnecessary push notifications.
5. "Disable 4G (and LTE) connectivity While 4G is much faster than 3G cellular connectivity, it uses a lot more battery power. Go to Settings; General; Cellular; Set Enable 4G (or Enable LTE) to Off."
My take: Huh? Isn't this the platform they market the new generation of phones on? At item 5 I'm starting to wonder what the point of the new phone is.
6. "Close Apps when you're finished. On your iPhone in an unlocked state, double-press the Home button; touch and hold any open app until it enters a 'wiggly' state; then tap the red close button on each app that you no longer need. You can then return to your device by pressing the Home button again."
My take: absolutely do this one. When I first realized that the app will, in the old parlance, "terminate and stay resident," (which isn't exactly correct, but close enough!), I took care to check my running apps periodically and shut them down. Basically, I keep my text, phone, and browser running (the latter for convenience only).
7. "Don't let your phone get too hot or too cold. Almost above all else, keep your iPhone and its internal battery within the operating range, so that it doesn't get too hot or too cold. An iPhone will generate heat depending on what it is being used for, so keeping it at a level temperature is important.
The warmer your iPhone gets, the faster the battery will deplete."
My take: moreover, I have found that the phone gets extremely hot when I'm talking on it. Literally to the point where I won't put it near my face and always opt for speaker (when possible, and acknowledging that it's not loud enough), or for a headset. So I'm sure that when I have a longer conversation on the phone, I'm depleting the battery not only by simply using the phone, but because of the heat its own battery is generating.
8. "Regularly update your phone. These bugs occasionally work their way into Apple's iOS, the software that runs on iPhones and iPads, but can often be fixed with a software update. Normally, iPhone users are notified automatically when an update is available, and the change log will note if any bugs persist, particularly those relating to battery life."
My take: do this. It's simple.
9. "Check your phone less often."
My take: WHAT? Especially if I've followed the other instructions and turned off notifications, turned off vibrate, turned off my apps... I should not check for texts I'm not getting notified about with a vibrate, for example? And if I'm not using a notification for email, and I'm using my phone - as many of us do - for business purposes, I need to check in frequently to know what's happening.
10. "If all else fails and battery life continues to be a problem, consider an external battery pack. Some external batteries will extend the battery life of your iPhone for twice the ordinary length, if not longer."
My take: I have just ordered one so that I have a backup for emergency purposes. I used to have a Mophie belt-hook "sled" that would add a few hours life to an iPhone 4, and it bailed me out many times. I guess it's time to do something similar with the iPhone 5.
Ordering a new external battery, however, just served to renew my old grudge against Apple that it redesigned its charging plug so that all those peripheral items with the old plug end are useless.
Deep breath. I will let you know how the battery I ordered works out!
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Todd Storie
AT&T Premier Technologies
(315)638-3733
Small Business Expert