Norwich Photographer : Ross Harvey

For those of you with an iPhone (especially 4S) and iOS 5, you’ve probably noticed the poor battery life. There are some useful tweaks:

Update to iOS 5.0.1 then go to Settings:
General – Reset – Reset All Settings (photos, music, apps and data are safe!)
General – Siri – Voice Feedback: Hands Only, Raise to Speak: Off
Location Services – (Disable what you don’t need on all the time)
Location Services – System Services: Disable Diagnostics, Location iAds and Time Zone
Wi-Fi – Ask to Join Networks: Off
Notifications – (Remove what you don’t need)
iCloud – Disable Photo Stream and other you don’t need (I only use Contacts and Find iPhone)
iCloud – Storage & Backup – iCould Backup: Off
Mail, Contacts – Fetch New Data – Push: Off, Fetch: Manual
General – Bluetooth: Off
Important! Use the phone until it runs out completely; i.e. spinning wheel then power off (this re-calibrates the battery so I’m told)
Charge the iPhone fully overnight (try not to use it), then use as normal in the morning

With the above, and toggling services when needed, I got some great battery performance; 4 days standby and nearly 7 hours of use (FaceTime, emails, messages, recording/watching videos, taking photos, using apps):

3G and Wi-Fi are known to use more battery life, regardless of the performance of the battery. Enabling them only when needed is an incredibly useful means in which to prolong the life of any battery.

Currently, turning Wi-Fi on/off takes three actions from the home screen, while toggling data takes a rather unfriendly four. The below would take two, and two fast actions at that. This is what you call a ‘no brainer’ with regards to usability.

The iPhone 4S saw the removal of the 3G toggle also, which seems a backwards step in usability. We need this back as it is very useful (if you’re in a poor 3G coverage area, the iPhone will choose to remain using it rather that revert back to a strong 2G signal). If you’re in agreement with this functionality, leave a comment (make your voice heard), and we’ll get this sent to Apple. Will they listen to their users? One would hope so, it should be at the core of any consumer orientated business.

Update – even better, add it to the notification center. Two actions can toggle functionality from any app, without needing to return to the home screen.