How-To

iPhone and iPad Battery Saving Tips Ultimate Guide

Got an iOS 5-based iPad, iPhone or iPod touch? Then you know how location-based services, Siri and other new features drain a battery. Here’s the complete guide for iPhone and iPad iOS devices for improving battery life. This guide is a work in progress so if you see something I’ve missed, please leave a comment and I will add your battery saving tip!

Before you tweak any settings, remember to reboot your device.

Hold the Power button down for 5 seconds until you see Slide to Power Off. Slide the red arrow over and leave it off for 30 seconds to a minute. Then turn it back on.

slide to power off

Delete the Find My Friends app. It’s a huge drain. If you can’t or won’t do that, at the very least move your friends from the All section to Temporary.

find friends

Siri takes up more battery juice than regular iPhone use. Sure, Siri is fun to play with when you first get your iPhone 4S, but to save battery life, use it only when necessary.
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One of the biggest battery drains in iOS 5 is its location based reminders. These require iOS 5 to continuously keep track of where you are. So take them out where possible.

Reset your network settings to resolve network-related battery issues, but keep in mind you will lose all stored passwords for WiFi networks. To do this, head to Settings >> General >> Reset.

Reset iOS 5

Then tap Reset Network Settings.

Reset Network Settings

Many apps you download will be turned on for location services.  For apps like Foursquare or Gowalla, you’ll want to leave this on. Turn it off for any app that doesn’t need to track you.

To do this, go to Settings >> Location Services. Ruthlessly trim down the number of apps that gather location data.

Location Services

The new weather app in iOS 5 uses your location to give you the local weather. Open a window and turn this app off to save power. First open the Weather app and tap the “I” icon at the lower left corner.

Weather App

Then turn Local Weather off.

Local Weather

If you’re not using Bluetooth, turn it off. Go to Settings >> General >> Bluetooth. Then turn the setting to Off.

Bluetooth

Remember iTunes Ping — the social music network Apple launched that few people use? Turning it off saves battery life.

Go to General >> Restrictions >> Enable Restrictions.

Enable Restrictions

Then turn off the Ping feature.

Ping

Turning off WiFi when you’re not connected to a hotspot will save battery life. It can also inhibit some apps from finding your location accurately. Use discretion here.

Disable WiFi

Notifications get tiresome. Go to Settings >> Notifications and turn off some of the apps that notify you. The more you turn off, the better.

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Just tap on the app you no longer need notifications from and turn them off.

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The iCloud feature in iOS is innovative, but the default setting of Push is a battery suck. To change it to fetch or manual, navigate to Settings >> Mail, Contacts, Calendars >> Fetch New Data.

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Then go to, Advanced >> iCloud.

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Change iCloud from Push to Fetch or Manual.

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If you have iCloud set to automatically backup, your device will back up your system to Apple’s server farms. That is, the cloud. Turn it off. This features has a significant impact on battery life.

To turn off iCloud backup, go to Settings >> iCloud >> Storage & Backup.

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Now tap to turn off iCloud Backup.

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If you have your screen Brightness set to high, it is a battery drainer. Go to Settings >> Brightness and turn it down. For more, check out our article on how to change the brightness settings.

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It’s a good idea to close apps running in the background, especially ones that are checking for your location.

Close Apps

These tips work the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch running iOS 5. Have a battery saving tip we didn’t cover? Leave a comment and tell us about it. You don’t need to use all of these tips. Experiment and find which one works best for you.

10 Comments

10 Comments

  1. Conner

    November 2, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    Is it helpful to turn off iCloud backup if it only automatically does it when the phone has been locked connected to wifi and plugged in. Those are quite the circumstances that should have been highlighted more.

  2. Andrew

    December 1, 2011 at 5:50 am

    Great tips! Thanks

  3. Lee

    December 9, 2011 at 4:05 pm

    I’m wondering how iCloud backup trains the battery. It only works automatically when it’s connected to power.

  4. Mr Antsy

    March 1, 2012 at 8:48 pm

    does double clicking the home button show you “recently used apps” or “apps that are actually running”?

    • 5rr5 (Xplozion)

      November 2, 2012 at 2:33 pm

      It shows apps that are running.

  5. Charlie Melbye

    March 20, 2012 at 9:24 am

    Mr Antsy: It mainly shows recently used apps, and advice that encourages users to manually close apps is patently inaccurate, false, and unnecessary.

    • Ivan

      March 26, 2012 at 9:03 pm

      Sometimes I will use apps to listen to radio. If I go back to home, the radio will still be playing. But if I double click the home buttons and close the apps manually. The radio off. So do you still think it shows recent open apps or apps that are running?

  6. 5rr5 (Xplozion)

    November 2, 2012 at 2:39 pm

    After turning off Ping, should I disable restrictions?

  7. borodatuy

    June 4, 2013 at 2:32 pm

    There is a new app which also can help – SynergiOS smart battery manager

    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/synergios/id653045685?mt=8

  8. Giznp

    April 17, 2019 at 1:10 am

    Useful tips for iPhone and iPad users.

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