Why is my iPhone 4 battery draining so quickly?

[njsweetP]

All of a sudden my iPhone 4's battery (verizon) is draining too quickly. Usually with my usage of the phone I can go about 2 days without charging. Last night I got home, the phone was down to less than 20% battery, so I plugged it in and let it charge overnight. This morning it was at 100%, I texted a few times and that was it. By 10:30 it was down to 38% I haven't done anything different ..any suggestions?

 

[ChrisFL]

Make sure you don't have any apps running in the background taking up usage (there shouldn't be any, but just in case).

If you press the main button twice, it should pop up a window on the bottom showing your open apps, close them out.

You can also try shutting your phone completely off, and rebooting it. Hold the power button down for about 5 seconds and it asks you if you want to power it off....wait about 30 seconds, then hold down the power button again to turn it back on....see if that helps

 

[RitaE]

I just upgraded to an iPhone 4 from a 3Gs and I spent about an hour yesterday googling "iPhone 4 battery life" because my phone charge life cycle was significantly worse than my old phone.

a couple issues off the top of my head

Google email and push seems to be problematic. If your using a google email account - stop it or at least turn off the part where it automatically downloads. All your other accounts have them only check the server like once every 30 minutes or hour if possible.

All the apps that use location services that you really don't use - turn it off if you don't use it.

If you don't need Bluetooth etc turn that off.

I did those things and then got 11 hours off my phone yesterday including some time my kid spent playing Angry Birds so it seemed to work.

There was more, if you Google you'll find lots of blogs and message boards discussing it. To me it's kind of like "Here's a whole bunch of toys but if you want to actually use your phone for more than a couple of hours ---- turn them off."

 

[kesha]

I am searching for information on the i phone 4 from Verizon and I run onto this. Does this mean I shouldn't purchase one?

 

[RitaE]

Well - I really do like the iPhone. But between the reception thing (I did have to get a bumper case for mine) and my experience with the battery life I'm not sure I would make the decision to upgrade from a 3Gs to an iPhone 4 again -- I bought mine refurb from ATT and it cost me $199 and I had to sign a two year contract. I did go from 16GB to 32GB which is good because I was out of room, but I'm glad I didn't pay new prices at least.

You might look at some of the refurb deals around and also check out some of the other smartphones. There are many good options now, Apple is by no means the only game in town.

 

[kelly1218]

Check your location services....if it's constantly looking to see where you are it drains it.

I've had it drain quickly a time or two (I've had mine since last July) and it's always been because I've left an APP running.

RitaE gave some good ideas of where to look.

 

[kesha]

Well - I really do like the iPhone. But between the reception thing (I did have to get a bumper case for mine) and my experience with the battery life I'm not sure I would make the decision to upgrade from a 3Gs to an iPhone 4 again -- I bought mine refurb from ATT and it cost me $199 and I had to sign a two year contract. I did go from 16GB to 32GB which is good because I was out of room, but I'm glad I didn't pay new prices at least.

You might look at some of the refurb deals around and also check out some of the other smartphones. There are many good options now, Apple is by no means the only game in town.

I thought I had my mind made up to get a droid, then the guy tells me how much better the iphone is. Still not sure what I am doing.

 

[Hillbeans]

After i'd bought my iPhone 4 I hadn't realized how quickly the battery drains. I think it's a great phone for apps and internet searching, but if you need a phone for business or often, the battery life would be the one reason not to get one.

With that being said, I love my iPhone4 and am glad I bought it. I just get into the routine of charging it often and turning off any apps when not in use.

 

[njsweetP]

OP here, I"ve had the phone since Feb., and this is the first time I experience such a drastic battery drain. Besides pushing the phone button twice, how can you close an app?

 

[Kurby]

what apps are you guys using that are draining the bat?

i got my iphone about a month ago and didn't allow the push option since i didn't really understand what it was - guess thats a good thing now.

but i don' tknow what apps would cause bat draining.

i've got a few games for dd (and myself whos kidding who lol) gots some news feeds but none of them suck bat life.

 

[golfgal]

Is there an app killer app for the IPhone? I know there is one for the Droid-but since the last software upgrade you don't need it.

I know if I leave my GPS feature on that my battery drains faster on my Droid X-is that similar on the Iphone?

 

[WebmasterAlex]

They just came out with a new upgrade 4.3.3 that supposedly cures that sudden battery drain issue. I have heard it can be caused by an application that gets stuck and reboot will cure it

 

[SookieStackhouse]

I just dumped my Droid X for the iPhone... I love it. The iPhone's battery life seems to be better than the Droid, of course I am bad about spending A LOT of time on it. Somebody said that turning off the wifi will help with battery life.

 

[MonkeyDishwasher]

Also- if you constantly have your 3G on, that can drain the battery as well.

 

[Green Tea]

OP here, I"ve had the phone since Feb., and this is the first time I experience such a drastic battery drain. Besides pushing the phone button twice, how can you close an app?

Just X out of anything at the bottom of the phone after you see them. Anything you have ever opened on the phone runs until you close it out. Just remember to do this every few days. It did help me.

But, also, go by an apple store. They can check to see if the battery is working properly. Mine wasn't and they reinstalled something. That along with closing apps (No one had ever told me to do that) has helped.

 

[J3nn78]

My iphone 4 has great battery life. It is going on 1 year old and my battery will last for 2 days with no trouble.
Check what apps you have running in the background.

Do you have wifi on? I only turn that on when I need it, otherwise I drain my battery quick.

 

[rotlex]

Good suggestions here, but I'll add just a few things to do\check. Biggest thing is PUSH. Make sure that if you are using it, it's only for things you really need. Apps, particularly those that use the GPS for location services. The GPS functions will kill a battery quickly, especially if it's an app that doesn't clean up after itself very well.

With that said, I've been using an iPhone 4 since day one, and pretty much leave everything turned on. (Heck, that's why I own this hi-tech device in the first place right)? On average, and I use the phone for both personal and work e-mail all day, amongst other things, I can go from roughly 5am until 10pm without fully draining the battery. When I DO notice faster battery drain, there are two things that help me quite a bit. One, is allowing the battery to drain completely, as in, until the phone dies, then recharging overnight. Second, is to simply "reboot" the phone. To do this, just hold down the top power button, and the big round action button until the phone appears to shut down, and you see the Apple logo again.

I do run a lot of apps, all the time, including location and push stuff, and just doing these few things, again, gets me at least a full day out of the battery. The only time I plug it in during the day, is if I'm using the GPS in the car, or sitting at my desk playing games all afternoon on it.