iPhone Battery Draining Fast with iOS4 'Power Vampire'
|
|
CREDIT: Apple |
Poor battery life is the latest gripe about the new iPhone 4 and the recently updated operating system for Apple for mobile devices, dubbed iOS4.
Users have complained on Apple's Support forum of batteries draining fast on the iPhone 4, as well as older iPhones and iPod touch devices upgraded with iOS4.
"My battery life has suffered since I upgraded the software to ios [sic] 4 last night," wrote Leemholmes a week ago on Apple's Web site. "I left the house this morning with 100% and by the time i [sic] got to work it was down to 91% and I wasn't even using the phone . . . I thought the new software was supposed to improve battery life not bleed it dry!"
Apple says on its Web site that the iPhone 4 should get up to seven hours of talk time on a 3G network, or 14 hours on a 2G network, and have a standby time of about 300 hours. So far, many similarly upset users are finding the standby time to be adding up to far less.
"Power vampire"
PC World wrote of iOS4 being branded by many people as a "power vampire" who have seen their battery lives cut in half or worse.
A possible culprit is the operating system's new multitasking feature that allows certain apps and programs to be run simultaneously, such as a music player and an Internet browser.
Other smartphones have long offered this versatility but Apple had demurred with the iPhone until now citing (appropriately enough) battery life concerns.
Some poorly written, energy-sucking rogue apps could be to blame, PC World speculates, or maybe the new wallpaper feature or even how the iPhone reports its own battery life. At any rate, business people used to running an iPhone 3GS all day on a single charge have been irked, according to PC World.
Tips for better battery life
While the issue gets sorted out, with rumors of a potential software fix in the mix, there are a number of ways Apple recommends extending battery life on its iPhone and other devices.
Top on the list of Apple's tips is keeping the iPhone out of the sun or a hot car. The phone works bests between 32 degrees Fahrenheit (zero degrees Celsius), or freeze point, and 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), or just plain uncomfortable.
Apple also recommends making sure the phone is updated with the latest Apple software because their engineers are always looking for ways to use battery life more efficiently.
Other tips are to optimize your Phone's settings, such as turning off Bluetooth if you rarely use it or maybe lowering the screen brightness just a tad.
Worst-case, iPhone battery replacement is an option if a presumably older device can no longer hold a charge. Such replacement might fall under a warranty or protection plan for free, but otherwise getting a new battery costs $79, as Apple details on its Web site.
• Everything You Thought You Knew About Batteries Is Wrong
• iPhone 4's 'Death Grip' Might Trigger Class-Action Lawsuit
• Smartphone Reviews
