By IBTimes Reporter: Subscribe to IBTimes's RSS feed
October 30, 2011 3:52 PM EDT
Apple users have been complaining about battery problems on the new iPhone 4S, noting rapid battery drain and other glitches in the new iOS 5 software.
A flaw in Apple's location services system seems to be the main source of blame. The "Setting Time Zone" option of "Systems Services," which is found under the "Location Services" menu option, seems to be on and running all the time, even when there's no chance that users have moved to a different time zone or even a new location.
Constantly seeking the iPhone 4S's location is a huge drain on the smartphone's battery, because the software performing that function uses a combination of technologies -- Wi-Fi, mobile mass data (which compares the strength of signals from the three nearest phone masts and then triangulates them), and GPS sensor input -- to determine the user's correct time zone, according to The Guardian.
Oliver Haslam of iDownloadBlog suggests that the iOS 5's GM release introduced a bug into the system. "Switching [the 'Setting Time Zone' function] off may mean that your iPhone will no longer set its own time zone when you travel," Haslam said, "but that's a small price to pay for having your iPhone last more than 12 hours on a full charge."
Haslam believes the time zone issue is the primary reason for the iPhone 4S's battery problems. "We have tested this method on four different iPhone 4S handsets, including an iPhone 4 and an iPhone 3GS," Haslam said. "All have reported drastically improved battery life after switching 'Setting Time Zone' off."
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Some other commenters, however, say that switching off location and time zone settings make little difference, and that the iPhone 4S battery problems cannot be solved with this measure alone. Discussions on Apple's support boards offer many tips to improve battery life, including multiple tested theories on what could be draining the iOS 5 battery so rapidly. Users are reporting iPhone 4S and iOS 5 devices getting very warm, while others report half the previous run-time on their phones even with the device on standby.
Apple has not made any official comment on the iPhone 4S battery problems. In the meantime however, here are the top ten tips from the Apple support boards on how to improve battery life and stop so many system bugs in the new iOS 5 software. Hopefully, these tips will help stop batteries from draining so rapidly as Apple works to solve problem with the bugs in its new mobile OS.
Top Ten Tips to Reduce iPhone 4S Battery Problems:
1. Turn Off "Setting Time Zone"
Go to Settings -> Location Services -> System Services. Click the option to turn off "Time Zone Settings." Once you've turned it off, your battery life may improve by as much as 40%.
2. Turn Off Wi-Fi
Another big drain on iPhone 4S batteries is wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) technology. With Wi-Fi on constantly, battery life is always being drained. Go to Settings and turn off the Wi-Fi option, and battery life should improve by up to 25%.
3. Turn Off All The Location Services
Things like "Find My Friends," "Find My iPhone," and the battery-sucking Siri app all use location-based services. Head over to Settings -> Location Services and turn off anything you don't regularly use.
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