iPhone
 

My wife had a simple flip cell phone for years. The flip has just flopped as it fell apart. She purchased an iPhone S4 so it would be compatible to her iPad. Problem with the phone is, battery life is poor. Not sure what is draining the battery but she is very unhappy. A charge won't make it thru the day. Any suggestions what to look for?

Apps running in the background will contribute to battery drain.

Bill :)

I am an Apple geek myself, If I had it in front of me I could probably figure it out. Sounds like some program is running in the background all the time and eating up the battery life.

Who is your service provider? If AT&T, I would take it to the store on 441 as they are very helpful there. If Verizon, not sure where the store is, but I'm sure either one could help.

Tom, you can try Googling iphone background apps battery (or anything fairly similar to that) - lots of helpful articles on the topic.

Bill :)

Hey, thanks. Looks like I'll be spending some time there.

you can stop your emails that will help

Tom,

As a new user, you might be puzzled by all this the talk about "apps" (applications). I recommend that you install the "BatteryMagic" app. At any state of charge, it will display how much time remains for various tasks, like talking, internet, gaming, video, etc. For example, right now on my phone it shows that my 70% charge time remaining would provide 5hr 04min of talk time and 4hr 12min of internet searching. I am a light talker and surfer, so my battery charge lasts about three days if I let it. Nevertheless, these smart phones should be put on charge just about every day.

I just bought my wife a book on the I phone and there is a lot of useful information in this book. I would suggest it to anyone that is some-what timed with the phone. I bought the book at Sams.

My wife ordered "iPhone for senior dummies" from Amazon two days ago. I expect UPS to deliver it it today.

As soon as you log onto the forum there is a little chat window available where you can chat with an Apple tech support rep and ask a question - I have chatted with them a few times. They are very helpful.

iPhone User Guide & way to close apps
 

Apple has an iPhone User Guide here:
manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/iPhone_iOS3.1_User_Guide.pdf

I don't have an iPhone, I have an iTouch, but they are pretty similar.

To close apps:

1. Double click the "home button" (big one at the bottom), you should see apps recently used.
2. Next, press the first app button until they shake and show a red circle with a "-" (minus sign) in the middle.
3. Touch the "-" in the red circle and that will close out the app. She will probably have a lot of apps open.
4. After you have closed the apps, press the home button once to return to regular screen.

Hope this helps!

PS For anyone interested, this works on the iPad too :-)

Found YouTube video too:
Closing Applications on iPhone 4 or iPad - YouTube

Tom...the typical culprits are Location Services (GPS), WiFi or Bluetooth. All of those things will drain the battery in certain situations. For example, if WiFi is enabled and there is no WiFi available, the radio will continue looking for WiFi, which will drain you battery. Likewise, if you have an App that is using the Location Services, that will also drain the battery quicker. Look for a little arrow on the top of the screen to see if this is happening. Finally, bluetooth will drain the battery, especially if you are connected to bluetooth, like the car or to an external speaker.


I see she couldn't wait for the 5 to come out... ha ha

The biggest drain on the battery is having the screen on. When you put it back in your pocket hit the on/off button and turn the screen off. I know when I use mine for golfing with the "golfshot" app if I leave it on I am dead in about 15 holes. If I turn that screen off after getting my yardage I have 50% battery left after 18 holes.

Not to throw a wrench in the works, but the newest iphone, (dubbed the iphone5 for now) will be announced 9/12, and most likely be available by 9/20.
That is less then one month from now......