Apple iPhone 5 Battery Usage Tips and Guide (iOS 6 unlock and repair by Dr Mobiles Limited, Takapuna, North Shore, Auckland)

The iPhone 5 features a new 4-inch display, 4G LTE data speeds, and a new battery that Apple claims lasts longer than the iPhone 4S despite the larger display and the 4G LTE capabilities. And while iPhone 5 battery life reviews have been mostly positive, there are always ways to improve battery life with the iPhone and we wanted to share some tips about how to get better battery life with the iPhone 5.

The company claimed that the iPhone 5 gets better battery life than the iPhone 4S in its iPhone 5 announcement and initial tests reveal that it gets about the same, if not a little better mileage than the iPhone 4S.

Users are seeing anywhere from 8 to 12 hours of usage with the iPhone 5 and that’s downright impressive for Apple’s first attempt at an 4G LTE smartphone.

And while impressive, there are some things that users can do to help improve the battery life on the iPhone 5. They might not add an extra five hours, but they should help to add some extra minutes, something that is often crucial while on-the-go.

Here are a few tips for improving the battery life on the iPhone 5.

Turn Off Wi-Fi/4G LTE

One of the ways I used to conserve battery life on my iPhone 3GS was by turning off the Wi-FI when I was out and about. This way, the phone wasn’t trying to connect to Wi-Fi networks I wasn’t going to use. With the iPhone 5, users will not only want to turn off Wi-Fi when not using it, but 4G LTE as well.

By turning both of these off when you need them, you’ll be saving yourself some extra battery life.

Fortunately, turning both of these off is quick and easy. For Wi-Fi, head into Settings and at top, you’ll want to click your Wi-Fi network. You’ll be taken to a new menu where you can toggled Wi-Fi On or Off. Switch it to Off.

To turn off 4G LTE data speeds, head into Settings, then General. Once there, tap Cellular. There, you will see an option for Enable 4G LTE which has a toggle. Toggle it to Off.

Turn Down Screen Brightness

One simple trick that could save you quite a bit of iPhone 5 battery life is turning down the screen brightness. The screen eats up a lot of juice and by toning it down a bit, the strain on the iPhone 5′s battery will ease a bit.

This is simple as well. Go into the Settings on your iPhone 5. From there, you’ll see an option that reads Brightness & Wallpaper. Tap that option and you’ll be taken to a screen that looks like the one below.

By default, it should be around 50% but you have the option to turn it lower or even toggle off Auto-Brightness which will keep your iPhone 5 at a constant level, perfect when you’re in an environment where there is consistent lighting.

Turn Off Location Services/Notifications

While many of the services offered in iOS are extremely useful, they can also eat up battery life when turned on. We recommend shutting down twoof these in particular if you wish to conserve battery life on your iPhone 5.

1. The first, Location Services. Location Services is the feature in iOS that uses GPS and crowd-sourced Wi-Fi to constantly determine your location. This is a particularly useful feature in the Maps application but it also is used by an assortment of other third-party apps. Turning this off could help save battery life.

To do this, first go into Settings. From there, scroll down to Privacy. Tap that and then tap Location Services at the top. At the top of the next page is a toggle where you can flip Location Services to Off.

2. And second, it’s time to turn off Push Notifications which are the notifications that pop up on your home screen when something happens in one of your apps. For instance, when someone posts something on Facebook.

Go to Settings, then Notifications. You’ll then see a long list of applications to choose from. From here, you can either turn of Do Not Disturb which will disable all Notifications or you can manually turn the ones you don’t care about off when tapping on their name. Personally, I disable just about every single one.

You also might want to think about taking the Stocks and Weather widgets out of Notification Center. To do that, simply click on the appropriate one and toggle Notification Center to Off.

Switch Email to Manual

Another trick I have used in the past is to switch my Mail to manual. What I mean by that is, by default, your iPhone 5 will be fetching new data aka checking for new email automatically. This used to eat up battery on my iPhone so I turned it off, set it to manual and got great results.

To do this, go to Settings. Then, head to Mail, Contacts, Calenders. Scroll down and tap on Fetch New Data. There, you have the option of turning off Push completely if you want but I recommend scrolling down and tapping on Manually.

What this means is that you’ll now have to manually check for email. Fortunately, Apple just made this simple. In iOS 6, you no longer have to tap to refresh email. You just have to pull down and it will check for new mail. A fantastic trade-off for a little more juice.

Restart the iPhone 5

A simple trick to get better battery life is just to restart your iPhone 5 once in awhile to flush its system. If you’re like me, you’ll often leave your device on for weeks maybe even months at a time without restarting it. Just by holding down the power button and turning it off, you may be able to gain back some precious battery life.

Simply hold the power button and Slide to Power Off when it asks you to.

Reset All Settings

Something else to try in order to improve iPhone 5 battery life is resetting all of your settings. This will turn back the clock on your settings without deleting the apps and data found on the iPhone 5.

To do this, head to Settings. Then, tap on General. Next, scroll to the bottom and tap on Reset. Tap on Reset All Settings. If you’re prompted, enter your Passcode. Wait for the reset to finish then use your phone until it gets down to 0% then shuts off.

Then, plug in your iPhone 5 until it charges to 100%. This should help to solve any battery life issues you’ve been having.

Airplane Mode

Airplane Mode isn’t just useful for when you’re on a flight. It can also be used to save precious battery. By putting your iPhone 5 into Airplane Mode, it will disable all data/cellular related services. That means no data, no phone calls, no texts. This makes it perfect for battery life emergencies.

To turn on Airplane Mode, head into Settings and toggle Airplane Mode to On.

Last Ditch Effort – Restore

If none of these work, there is a last ditch effort that iPhone 5 owners can perform in order to try and resolve battery life issues. Again, this should only be attempted if nothing else has improved your battery life and you’re not getting what you want.

First, you’ll want to make a backup of your iPhone 5 so you don’t have to reinstall all of your applications or move all of your files.

The backup process begins after you plug your device into a computer. If it doesn’t happen automatically, you can force a backup to occur.

Simply go into iTunes, right click on your device, and select Back Up. I recently did this with my iPhone and while it takes a bit of time, it’s going to be necessary for what you do next.

Make sure your device is still plugged in. Then, through iTunes, click your device on the left-hand menu which should being up a screen that looks like the one below.

Click Restore. This will transform your phone into the iPhone 5 it was when it first arrived. No files, no apps, nothing.

Once that is done, you will again want to right click your device in iTunes and you’ll want to select Restore from Back Up. This should restore your iPhone 5 to the way it was before, apps and all, but with better battery life.

This post is sponsored by:

Dr Mobiles Limited (Map)
1, Huron Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622
Tel: (09) 551-5344, Mob: (021) 264-0000
info(a)drmobiles.co.nz
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New Lynn Branch (Map):
3069, Great North Road, New Lynn, 0622
Tel: (09) 5555-344, Mob: (021) 374-007
sales(a)drmobiles.co.nz  

Mt Albert Branch: (Map)
980, New North Road
Mt Albert, Auckland 1025
Tel: (09) 550-8422
Mob: (027) 675-3600

 

Power User Tips: 30 Tips for your Apple iPad Mini (Repair by Dr Mobiles Limited, Auckland)

The iPad mini is a great tablet that's easy to pick up and use, but with these 30 tips and tricks, you'll be able to take full control over your Apple device. These range from very basic to advanced, so let's get started. 

General

1. Take a screen shot: Taking a screen shot can be useful even if you're not a blogger. To do this on the iPad mini, simply hold the power button and home button and a screen shot will be saved to your camera gallery. 

2. Use Siri: Your iPad mini can take advantage of the Siri voice-controlled personal assistant. To use it, simply hold down the home button for about two seconds and the Siri microphone will appear and you can then use it to launch other apps, find sports scores, set reminders and more. 

3. Quickly find content: If you're looking for an app, email or contact, you can do it very quickly on the iPad mini. From your initial home screen, swipe to the left and the Search iPad bar will come up. If your query doesn't match anything on your tablet, you'll be able to search the web from here.  

4. Lock your orientation: Tired of your iPad mini orientation flipping around? You can lock the orientation by tapping the home button twice, the app screen will pop up at the bottom, swipe to the left-most screen and there will be a landscape lock button on the left corner. Tap that to lock and unlock the orientation of your iPad mini.  

5. Quick access to music, brightness: You can also use that method to get quick access to things like brightness, sofware volume and you can even get access to whatever music player or app you have running. 

6. Set up Facebook, Twitter to your system: The iPad mini is powered by iOS 6 and one of the cool new features about it is built-in Facebook access. Along with built-in Twitter, you can easily share pictures, links and other things with your favorite social network. To set this up, go into your Settings, click on the Twitter or Facebook icons and then input your log-in information.

7. Share content via Twitter, Facebook: Ok, you've set up your social networking accounts, now what? To share content with Twitter and Facebook, simply tap the Share button on your photos, web pages or other content. Twitter and Facebook will pop up as options. You can also update those social networks quickly by bringing down your notification bar and hitting the Tap to Tweet or Tap to Post icons. 

8. Change your wallpaper: Want to make the iPad mini your own? Setting a custom lock screen and home screen wallpaper is a great way to do that. To change it, go into your Settings, tap on the Brightness & Wallpaper icon, tap on Wallpaper and then choose a photo. You can choose from photos on your device or from photos on your Photo Stream. 

9. Let Siri do your typing: Want to use your voice to dictate your text? Whenever you see the keyboard, simply tap the microphone button near the space bar and gab away. Be sure to double-check the results, though. 

9. Manage your notifications: The Notification Center is a great way to keep up to date with your apps but some can get annoying. To remove or mute which apps can get in your Notification Center, go into Settings, tap on the Notificatiions button and then tap on each app to determine if it can go in Notification Center, how many notifications it can send, the Alert Style it can use, if it can use a Badge App Icon, if it can make sounds and if it will be present in your Lock Screen. 

10. Tap to scroll to the top: As Marc pointed out, most apps will let you scroll to the top by simply tapping on the Notification Center once. This is especially useful if you're using something like Twitter, Facebook, 9Gag or something with a long news stream.  

Security

11. Set up a passcode: You may have some sensitive data on your iPad mini, so go ahead and put a passcode on it. To do this, go into Settings, tap Passcode Lock and then Turn Passcode On. You'll be able to toggle Siri access when locked and even have the option to erase all data on the iPad mini after 10 unsuccessful attemps. 

12. Find your iPad mini: Like with other iOS devices, a lost or stolen iPad mini can be tracked down. When you're first setting up the iPad mini, enable Find My iPad. This doesn't guarantee that you'll get it back because your device will have to be on WiFi but if you do lose your iPad mini, go to your iCloud account online and you may be able to find it.  

13. Set restrictions: The iPad mini lets you set restrictions on your apps and Siri and this could come in handy if you hand your device to kids or other people often. This will let you do things like require a password to install new apps or accessing the camera. Go into Settings, tap General and then tap Restrictions. Turn this on, input a passcode and then set which apps you want to restrict. 

14. Control location services: Using location services can be great for things like Maps and other apps but not all of us want to broadcast where we are. Luckily, you can control this on your iPad mini. Go into Settings, tap on Privacy and then hit Location Services. You can turn Location Services off entirely or just toggle which apps can access your location. Additionally, the arrow icons will give you a better idea of how apps are using your location. 

15. Do Not Disturb: One cool new feature of iOS 6 is the option to set up a Do Not Disturb function on your iPad mini. Sometimes, you just want to play Angry Birds Space without being annoyed by email notifications or messages. To turn this on, go into your Settings and tap the Do Not Disturb icon. 

16. Syncing your iPad mini: The iPad mini is pretty simple to sync with iTunes, as you simply plug in the tablet to your computer and then launch iTunes. Once you're in the iTunes interface, you can even enable WiFi Syncing with your iPad mini and you won't have to plug it in again. 

17. Reset your iPad mini: If you're selling your iPad mini already or giving it to someone for a while, make sure you delete all the data on there. You can do this by going into Settings, tapping General, and then scrolling down to Reset. From here you have these options: Reset All Settings, Erase All Content and Settings, Reset Network Settings, Reset Keyboard Dictionary, Reset Home Screen Layout, Reset Location & Privacy.

Apps

18. Bring up recent apps, kill apps: You don't have to go to the home screen every time you want to switch apps, just simply double tap the home button and the apps will pop up from the bottom. Tap on the app you want to run next.

You don't really have to stop apps from running in iOS but if you want to, bring up the app-switching tray, long press on an app and then hit the red minus sign which appears. 

19. Download and update apps: This one's pretty simple: Use the App Store. Go into the App Store icon to discover some new apps. If you have an app which needs updating, you'll see a badge on the bottom right on the Updates tab. You can update the apps individually or you can hit the Update All button at the upper left corner. 

20. Pause app downloads: Your apps will start to download on the home screen and you'll get a progress bar underneath it. Sometimes, you may want to pause one app from downloading to let another download first (a large game may be a good example of this). To pause an app download, simply tap on the app icon and it will pause. To resume the download, tap on it again. 

21. Create app folders: You can organize your apps into groups fairly easily on the iPad mini. Grab an app with your finger and drag it on another app and a folder will be created. You can rename it too. 

Protip: If you're like me, you change your home screen a lot from the default and it's tough to do it one app at a time. Figure out which apps you want on your main home screen, put them in a folder, drag that folder into the status bar at the bottom and then move that app folder onto your main home screen. 

23. Change your main app tray apps: The iPad mini lets you put six apps on the bottom tray and you don't have to stick with the default ones. To change these apps, long press on the app you want in the tray, the apps will start jiggling and you can then drag that app into the main bar. 

Camera

24. Get more camera shooting options: The iPad mini packs a respectable 5-megapixel iSight camera and the portable size means it's not that ridiculous to take shots with it. Launch your camera app and then click on Options for the ability to shoot with Grids.

25. Edit your photos: Once you've taken your photos, you can edit them on the device. Go into your Camera Roll, tap on a photo and then hit Edit. From here, you'll be able to Rotate, Enhance, Red-Eye and Crop. You can always use apps like iPhoto, BeFunky, Instagram, Camera+ and more to enhance your photos. 

26. Be a better photographer: Of course, this one's easier said than done but we got your back. Marc has been writing a series on Smartphone Photography and many of these can be used with the iPad mini camera. Go ahead and read composition tricks, an exposure intro and more.

Advanced 

27. Jailbreak your iPad mini: The iPad mini is pretty great but I know some of you just want more out of it. For example, you can't put widgets on it. If you jailbreak your iPad mini, you'll get a host of new features. Be aware that this comes with a lot of risks though. For more details on jailbreaking your device, please read this post. 

28. Update your software: Apple is never done improving its iOS software and it will be pushing out software update for the iPad mini for years to come. To check for updates, go into Settings, tap on Software Update and it will see if there's something new to download. You can download over the air or you can download to your computer and then transfer via a Lightning cable. 

29. Use four and five finger gestures: One trick about the iPad mini is that it can use four and five finger gestures. Pinch with your whole hand and you'll go back to the home screen. Swipe with four or more finger upward and the app tray will pop up. You can also swipe between apps by going left and right with four or five fingers. 

If you dont' want these available, go into Settings, tap General and then slide Multitasking Gestures to Off. 

30. Get the best mobile news on your iPad mini: This one's simple. Just keep reading Know Your Cell. Folow us on Twitter @drmobilesnz

This post is sponsored by:

Dr Mobiles Limited (Map)
1, Huron Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622
Tel: (09) 551-5344, Mob: (021) 264-0000
info(a)drmobiles.co.nz
Facebook - Blogger - Twitter - Tumblr - Google+

New Lynn Branch (Map):
3069, Great North Road, New Lynn, 0622
Tel: (09) 5555-344, Mob: (021) 374-007
sales(a)drmobiles.co.nz  

Mt Albert Branch: (Map)
980, New North Road
Mt Albert, Auckland 1025
Tel: (09) 550-8422
Mob: (027) 675-3600 

Apple iPhone 5 Repair: Live chat support via ZopIM available now at www.drmobiles.co.nz

25-November-2012:

We are glad to inform you that with immediate effect Dr Mobiles Limited now supports live chat during office hours, 9AM-6PM, Monday through Saturday.

Mobile phone users and Apple iPhone 5 lovers can now ask us technical questions via our website or our blog and get answer rather quickly.

We are able to provide answers (Hint: sometimes even after hours) via ZopIn app running on our Apple iPhones even after office hours.

Now we can get your IMEI number tod check if your iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 for full factory unlock. Besides that we can provide you quick answer to some of the technical questions.

This post is sponsored by:

Dr Mobiles Limited (Map)
1, Huron Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622
Tel: (09) 551-5344, Mob: (021) 264-0000
info(a)drmobiles.co.nz
Facebook - Blogger - Twitter - Tumblr - Google+

New Lynn Branch (Map):
3069, Great North Road, New Lynn, 0622
Tel: (09) 5555-344, Mob: (021) 374-007
sales(a)drmobiles.co.nz  

Apple iOS 6 tethered jailbreak updated with official Cydia, quicker installation for your A4-packing device (Auckland Repair)

The iPhone Dev-Team has just outed a new version of Redsnow that opens up iOS 6 to an official version of the sinful, definitely-not-Apple Cydia store, but you'll still have to be tethered to use it. The process is now simpler, as the latest version recognizes your already-installed iOS 6 OS and installs only the necessary jailbreak files, and Cydia is now installed automatically as well -- rather than needing a complex workaround like the last version. If you're willing to put up with the tethering and have an A4-powered iPhone 4, 3GS or gen-4 iPod touch device, the laundry list of how to do it is at the source below -- but there's always the risk of bricking, so caveat emptor, of course.

This post is sponsored by:

Dr Mobiles Limited (Map)
1, Huron Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622
Tel: (09) 551-5344, Mob: (021) 264-0000
info(a)drmobiles.co.nz
Facebook - Blogger - Twitter - Tumblr - Google+

New Lynn Branch (Map):
3069, Great North Road, New Lynn, 0622
Tel: (09) 5555-344, Mob: (021) 374-007
sales(a)drmobiles.co.nz