Posts Tagged ‘Iphone’

Apple Resolves the Issue Plaguing the Battery Life of Their iPhones . . . . Maybe

Friday, November 11th, 2011

Shortly after the release of the iPhone 4S and the iOS 5 software update many users began experiencing major problems with the life of their iPhone batteries. In our last blog post we addressed these issues and even provided some tips for conserving your iPhone’s battery. In the article we discussed how Apple had announced that their iOS 5 update was at fault and that they were working hard to bring an update to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

full iPhone battery

Image of the iPhones Full Battery Icon

Yesterday, Apple released the new iOS 5.0.1 software update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, the update is supposed to fix the battery problems that a number of users have reported with iOS 5 over the last few weeks. Along with a fix for the bugs that were affecting the battery life, the latest update also added multitasking gestures for the original iPad, resolved bugs with documents in the cloud, and improved voice recognition for Australian users using the dictation feature.

The update is now available in iTunes or also available with the over-the-air function for existing iOS 5 users. Users with the previous iOS 5 can update by going into Settings>General>Software Update to update their device over-the-air. Using the update OTA provides a much faster experience due to the smaller size of the update file. For users who are not operating on iOS 5 they can update their operating system the traditional way by plugging in their device into iTunes.

iOS 5.0.1 update

Image of iOS 5.0.1 update

Although the update has only just been released it has been reported at PCWorld that some users are still experiencing a slightly faster battery depletion rate. One user posted on a forum that they had “Updated about 1.5 hours ago, the battery has drained 20% since then with no usage! This is awful”. Another forum commenter stated that they have “Lost 15% in 45 minutes and I didn’t even use the phone. What happened?”. Others have even started saying that the battery life was better before the update took place.

Although there have been a lot of complaints that the update hasn’t resolved the issue there have been other users that say that the update has worked fine for them. Did it work for you, or are you still suffering from a fast draining battery?

If the problem still persists for you, others have suggested being patient and that possibly resetting your phone to its original factory settings may help the battery update to take effect. However if you find that this doesn’t work then try some of the tips to save your iPhone battery that we offered last week until resolved. Hopefully Apple will hear the new complaints and implement another update shortly.

Have a Great Day!

Dustin

ComputerFitness.com

Providing Tech Support for Businesses in Maryland

Tips for conserving your iPhone’s Battery life

Friday, November 4th, 2011

A couple weeks ago Apple released the iPhone 4S which is their latest mobile device. Along with the 4S, Apple also released their latest mobile operating system upgrade. The iOS 5 comes standard on the iPhone 4S but is also available as a free download to all compatible iPhone users. Since the release, a small but significant number of users have reported a drastically shortened battery life.

iPhone's Low Battery Display - Tips for conserving your iPhone’s Battery life

iPhone’s Low Battery Display

According to The Loop’s Jim Dairymple on Wednesday November 2, 2011 Apple confirmed that the battery issues were due to a bug in the iOS 5 software update. According to the article Apple reassured users that they have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and will release a software update to address them in a few weeks to help conserve your iPhone’s battery life.

In light of the recent problems surrounding the iPhone’s battery we thought it would be beneficial to discuss some methods for conserving your phones battery life. Although this particular problem was a result of a bug in the software we feel that these tips will still be tremendously useful because iPhones already have a natural short battery life due to its powerful performance and crisp display. The suggestions below for saving your phones battery are applicable to all iPhone models and are designed to ensure that you have the juice when you need it the most.

  • Close Background and Inactive Applications – Double tap the home button to access the list of running applications. Similar to how you would move the apps hold your finger down on the application for a couple seconds and then select close when the app begins to shake.
  • Use the Auto Brightness Feature – Access the settings folder, select brightness, and make sure the Auto-Brightness feature is selected.
  • Decrease the Brightness – Within the same menu you can increase and decrease the default screen brightness. The lower the brightness the less battery your phone will consume.
  • Turn off Your Bluetooth – Transmitting wireless data requires the battery and leaving Bluetooth on when you are not using it takes up more of your phones battery life.

Settings > General > Blue Tooth > Move the slider to the off position

  • Keep Wi-Fi off When Not Using It – Unless you are in a Wi-Fi hotspot there is really no need to have this feature on. Keeping it on at all times will cause it to continuously look for a network to connect to and wastes its battery life in the process.

Settings > Wi-Fi > Slide switch to off position OR

Settings > General > Network > Wi-Fi > Slide switch to off position

  • Turn off 3G – If you don’t need to be on 3G or you are using a Wi-Fi hotspot turn off your 3G network. Connecting using 3G for faster data speeds and higher-quality calls requires more battery life.

Settings > General > Network > Move 3G switch to the off position

  • Turn off Location Services – The GPS is a great feature because it lets apps know where you are and become more interactive but at the same time it is a huge energy drain. When you’re not using an app that utilizes your location turn it off.

Settings > Location Services > Slide to Off (After iOS 5 updates)

Settings > General >Location Services > Slide to Off (Before iOS update)

  • Turn data push off and Fetch less – Turning this off reduces the number of times your phone connects to the network and will extend your battery’s life. Push is when your phone automatically connects to the network to download new information like email and app updates. When Push is off you can fetch data every 15 minutes, every 30 minutes, hourly, or manually. Choosing manually or hourly will use the least amount of battery.

Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendar > Fetch New Data > Slide Push to off and select the fetch frequency

  • When Your Battery is low, avoid extraneous activities – Avoid playing games, watching movies, or listening to music while the battery level is low.
  • Turn off Music Equalizers – The iPods music equalizers may make your music sound better but can also cause an unnecessary drain in your battery life.

Settings > Music > Select off from the equalizer selection list (After iOS 5 update)

Settings > iPod >Equalizer >Off (Before iOS 5 update)

  • Adjust the Auto-Lock Function – Enable your phone to Auto-Lock sooner to save energy when not using it.

Settings > General > Auto-Lock > Select Lowest amount of time from time selection list

  • Turn off Siri’s raise to speakfunction – Because Siri is activated when lifted to the user’s ear it can accidently drain the battery if you’re not actually using it.

Settings >General > Siri >Slide “Raise to Speak” to the “Off” position.

  • Use iPhone regularly – For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).

  • Sleep and wake less – Avoid waking your iPhone only to lock it again without using it.

These are just the basics there are plenty of other ways that you can conserve the life of your iPhone’s battery. For more information check out Apple’s iPhone Battery life Page.

Have a Great Day!

Dustin

ComputerFitness.com

Providing Tech Support for Businesses in Maryland

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Jailbreaking Your iDevice Might Enhance or Endanger Your Investment

Friday, September 17th, 2010

Hey, everyone, Josh from Computer Fitness back with another award-winning article to help you with your computer conundrums.

Okay, anyone who owns an iPhone has heard about jailbreaking. No, you haven’t? Well, let me enlighten you. A term relating specifically to hacking an iDevice, jailbreaking allows users (you!) to run programs and code that has not been sent through the Apple approval process nor submitted to the App Store. In essence, it gives you a lot more freedom when using your device. Now, this sounds good at first. Who doesn’t want to get more for their money? However, jailbreaking is not something to do without thinking first.

If you jailbreak your phone, you are enabling unsigned code to run on your iPhone. Where before you might download apps from the app store without thinking twice about it, now you’re on a case of “do I trust this software publisher”. This is the same situation you are in when you download content to your computer. There could be spyware or a virus in there. Proceed with caution. While you do need to be careful in this brave new world, there are some upsides.

You can get access to content not available on the App Store. This could be anything. People are working all the time to create new and interesting apps. You also get to use custom themes and MMS alerts. I know I’m not the only one who gets sick of the standard message alerts. In short, jailbreaking opens up your device completely…for better or worse.

-Josh

Computer Fitness