New iPhone User - A Few Questions

[Nexxus]

Hi. As the title indicates I am new to iPhone, however, not iPod Touch or Ipods in general(mini and Classic). Because I'm new to the phone part, I have a few questions.

1) I purchased my iPhone on 12/21/10 since then I am on my 3rd iPhone. Cause: Terrible battery life. So awful I had to charge the first 2 units twice a day with just average use. I just picked up my 3rd iPhone on Friday (NZ time) and I would like to know if this 3rd iPhone is a keeper.

With 3G on all the time and all push and notifications off (I don't like them anyway) I have the following: 44% battery remaining - usage 5hr 11 min - standby 1day 1hr.
Is this good so far? Is it Fair, Good or Great?


2) When do I need to use 3G? I seem to be able to get data (email and some sites) without it on most times, but other times it just keeps searching.


3) While in standby, what should be the rate at which the battery drops a percentage to declare the battery a good one? I really don't want a bad battery.

Thanks.

 

[Watcher]

Something doesn't seem right with you only having 44% of your battery remaining when you just have 3G on and push notifications off. However, I'm not really cognizant of how quickly my iPhone 4 battery loses a charge but I do know that I don't need to charge it more than once a day. And it wouldn't even bother me if I had to charge it more frequently than that since I have the ability to recharge it wherever I am, whether it be with a computer's USB port, a wall socket, a USB car charger or a portable USB battery powered charger.

 

[Ceworld1958]

Have you loaded any Apps on the phone. I have run into my battery draining after having great life. I was able to find the App that just continue to run and drain the h@$ll out of my battery. Then the same thing happened to my wife so I knew what to do. Most of the draining Apps are GPS users. Check and see?

 

[Nexxus]

Hi. How can I detect which apps are the battery drainage? I have loaded gps apps but haven't used them. I haven't had the opportunity to use them because I haven't had the phones long enough. I keep bringing them back because the battery was terrible.
So what is the best way to detect a battery draining app?

It seems to go down a % every 5 to 7 minutes.

Yesterday I used the iPhone until I had 10% left. The usage was at 7 hrs 50 minutes.
When Apple posts their performance estimates are they using total battery life to 0% or just down to 10% remaining battery life?

 

[Ceworld1958]

If you know the Apps you want to delete, just touch an Icon till all of them begins to jiggle. You will now see an X in the top left corner just touch it an it will ask you if you want to delete. If you do not know the problem App or Apps holla there is more help.

 

[Nexxus]

Hi thanks but I know how to delete an app what I want to know is how I detect if an app is draining my battery.
Right now I'm at 2 hrs 5 minutes usage at 76% remaining.
If it continues to drain at the same rate I can expect about 8 hrs usage if I let it drain to 1 %.

Is this good?

 

[Ceworld1958]

Try this download the App sys info then kill all running apps. Now hit the home button and the power on/ off at the same time. You resetting the the phone then power on and open sys info swipe from right to left which will be the second screen. Scroll down to the processes section where you will see system task and any app that says they are still processing. When you see an app you know is opened you may want to log out of that or delete it. Try this and holla back.

 

[Nexxus]

Hi. Thanks. I will have to try that tomorrow night. I will look for that sys info app.
I'll post after i try it.

 

[MrMike6by9]

You might also have a problem of looking at & using new phone so much that the screen is nearly always on. Try lowering the brightness some to see if your times improves. I have an app called iPeng that controls my Squeezebox player. If I leave it running in the background, my battery usage also goes up. The app is continually monitoring the player so it's running in the background. Just a thought for things to look at.

 

[iNinja]

You might also have a problem of looking at & using new phone so much that the screen is nearly always on.

I think this plays a major part. Not just because its a new phone, but if your checking the battery % every few mins then you will notice it drop a lot more.

My advice? The odds of you having 3 dud batteries in a row is slim - turn off the battery % and chill

 

[Ozzie5374]

My battery in iPhone 4 is MUCH better than 3Gs (4.2.1). Turn of wifi, Bluetooth, location services unless needed.


Sent from my iPhone using iCafe app

 

[kyleplusitunes]

During usage I usually get about 10% per hour medium use

 

[Napoleon PhoneApart]

During usage I usually get about 10GB per hour medium use

Fixed your post.

 

[kyleplusitunes]

Fixed your post.

Lol. If I got 10gb per hour I think I'd die in data usage heaven, but then people would be really mad that my 30 dollars goes farther than theirs.

 

[rmfnla]

My battery in iPhone 4 is MUCH better than 3Gs (4.2.1). Turn of wifi, Bluetooth, location services unless needed.


Sent from my iPhone using iCafe app

+1, except I believe Bluetooth only consumes power when it is actively connected to another device, so leaving it on is not that big a deal.

 

[furndaddy]

Hi thanks but I know how to delete an app what I want to know is how I detect if an app is draining my battery.
Right now I'm at 2 hrs 5 minutes usage at 76% remaining.
If it continues to drain at the same rate I can expect about 8 hrs usage if I let it drain to 1 %.

Is this good?

Depending on what apps are active, that sounds fairly normal. However, I do suspect that some apps are a huge drain. The battery life that I get on a daily basis can GREATLY vary.

 

[offroadhunter]

There are days I swear my battery mysteriously drains and other days it seems to last forever, I generally find rebooting a few times fixes that issue, naturally streaming data and running multiple apps burns through the battery much faster.

 

[iP5]

Maybe establish a baseline by manually shutting both mobile and wifi data unless in actual usage.

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk

 

[norik55]

Turn off 3G unless you really need it - it drains batteries at an alarming rate. With 3G on your iPhone searches for 3G networks all the time even if there's not one for miles.

 

[Hawk]

To the op, run your battery till the phone dies and then charge to 100%.
before you disconnect the charger, go into settings, general, and usage. Scroll to the bottom and rest usage info and unplug the charger.
Use the phone as you normally would. don't look at your percentage, and don't connect to a charger or anything till you get the 20% warning. At 20% you should be at least 5 hours of actual usage. More is great. Less not so much.
I always have 3G on, notifications on, and wifi. No exceptions. Lately I've been also using locations and BT as well. I still average better than 5 hours usage- but I've also conditioned my battery too, and I keep my task manager clean, with 4 or less apps in the background.
I charge every night when I go to bed. And every month or so I drain till it shuts off and fully charge it back up.
Also, and I think this is crucial, top off your battery when you can. Lithium polymer batteries perform better when they are constantly topped off. That means charge when it's available and convenient.

But test first to see where you stand.
If you believe something is draining your battery, start testing without one thing you normally use and see if things get better.
I don't use push. Instead, I have a notification app called push gmail that sends notifications. It's definitely a lighter pull on the battery than native push.