Apple reveals ‘two simple ways’ to boost battery life – and says Wi-Fi mistake could be ruining it for you
APPLE has revealed two ways to instantly reduce the strain on your battery.
If you’re worried about running out of charge, two iPhone settings in particular will help you extend its battery life.
A modern smartphone will usually be able to make it through a whole day comfortably.
But sometimes you might find that with heavy use, your iPhone struggles to keep up.
Thankfully it’s easy to adjust how much burden you’re placing on your battery.
“There are two simple ways you can preserve battery life — no matter how you use your device,” Apple said.
“Adjust your screen brightness and use Wi‑Fi.”
For brightness, it’s a reasonably easy job.
Apple recommends dimming the screen in the first instance if you’re trying to quickly preserve battery.
This will have an enormous impact on how much battery your iPhone is using.
But for a better alternative, Apple recommends generally leaving Auto-Brightness on.
This will adjust your screen to ambient lighting conditions automatically.
So it’s more sensible than leaving your iPhone on full brightness all the time.
Just go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and then activate Auto-Brightness.
However, if you need to save battery immediately, overriding this by dimming the screen in Control Center is still the best option.
Wi-Fi is also fairly easy to manage.
The general rule is that if Wi-Fi is available, it’s significantly better for battery life to have Wi-Fi enabled.
Apple said: “When you use your device to access data, a Wi‑Fi connection uses less power than a cellular network.
“So keep Wi‑Fi on at all times. To turn on Wi‑Fi, go to Settings > Wi‑Fi to access a Wi‑Fi network.”
SUPER SAVER
iPhone tricks to try today
Here are some of the best...
- Typing cursor – When typing, hold down the space bar to turn your keyboard into a trackpad, letting you move around words and sentences more easily
- Close all Safari tabs – To do this in one go, simply hold the overlapped squares in the bottom right-hand corner, and press close all tabs
- Delete lots of photos quickly – Hold down on a photo and then drag your finger diagonally in Photos to select lots of images at once, then hit delete
- Convert currency quickly – Swipe down from the top of your Home screen, then tap in the bar and type a currency (like €200) and it will automatically covert to your local currency
- Check if you’re due a battery upgrade – Batteries inside smartphones degrade over time. Just go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health, and check out the Maximum Capacity reading. Generally a battery is considered worn when you’re down to 80% capacity. If you’re below, you can buy a battery swap from Apple
- Move apps around faster – Hold an app until it starts wiggling, then (while still holding) tap other apps, causing them to stack so you can move them around easier
There is a nuclear option when it comes to saving battery life: Low Power Mode.
This is a special mode that you can activate to really extend your charge.
You can turn it on by going to Settings > Battery and pressing the Low Power Mode toggle.
“Low Power Mode reduces display brightness, optimizes device performance, and minimizes system animations,” Apple explained.
“Apps including Mail will not download content in the background, and features like AirDrop, iCloud sync, and Continuity will be disabled.
“You can still use key functions like making and receiving phone calls, email, and messages, accessing the Internet, and more.”
Once your iPhone is charged up again, Low Power Mode will automatically switch off.