A quick search on Apple’s online support communities shows numerous discussions by users over the years about how turning off iPhone apps helps save the device’s battery life. But an Apple executive has confirmed that common wisdom isn’t true.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, recently responded to a March 6 e-mail sent to CEO Tim Cook by a customer named Caleb with the question, “Do you quit your iOS multitasking apps frequently and is this necessary for battery life? Just wanting you to put this controversy to rest.”
“I know you asked Tim, but I’ll at least offer my input,” Federighi e-mailed back the following day, adding “No and No. :-).” The brief exchange was reported Thursday in 9to5Mac.
Low Power Mode an Option
We reached out to Apple to learn whether it planned to offer any additional battery-saving tips beyond what was in Federighi’s e-mail but did not receive a response. However, the company’s online iPhone help pages offer some suggestions for improving battery life.
Under the What’s New page detailing improvements introduced with iOS 9 last year, for example, Apple suggests that iPhone users can help the batteries in their devices last longer by turning on the low power mode. “Turn on low power mode, and iPhone reduces or disables non-essential features, helping your battery charge last longer,” according to Apple.
Low power mode can “significantly increase the life of the battery charge” by limiting background activity on the phone and tuning performance for essential tasks, Apple said. That helps users preserve performance when the battery power runs low or when they don’t have access to electrical power for recharging.
Avoid Damaging Heat
Another thing that can cause an iPhone battery to drain more quickly is using 4G or LTE to load and view online content, Apple said. “If you’re making a lot of phone calls, you may want to turn 4G/LTE off to extend battery life, although that option might not be available in all areas, according to the company.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and later models provide a couple options for turning off 4G/LTE, i.e., selecting voice and data or data only. Choosing slower data speeds also helps to increase battery life.
For iOS devices in general — including iPhones, iPads, iPods and Apple Watches — it’s also wise to avoid exposing them to ambient temperatures greater than 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius). High temperatures can permanently hurt battery capacity, and charging in the heat can make damage even worse, Apple said. However, the reverse isn’t true: while very cold temperatures can drain a battery more quickly, the effects of cold on a battery are temporary, according to the company.
Charging iPhones in certain types of cases can also generate excess heat, which might hurt their batteries. And users planning to let their iPhones sit idle for long periods of time (weeks or months), should store them when they’re about 50 percent charged. Low-battery storage can lead to a “deep discharge state” that leaves the battery unable to hold a charge later, while a fully charged battery in storage can also lose some capacity.
Finally, while switching off apps doesn’t do anything for battery life, turning off the iPhone feature that automatically refreshes background apps can help.
Image Credit: Screenshot of iPhone 6s via Apple.
skp:
Posted: 2016-03-14 @ 4:03pm PT
Buy a windows phone.
