Battery life: the final frontier. There is little question that battery life is the one area of mobile technology where developments haven’t been able to keep pace with progress in other areas. Processors are getting faster and more efficient, displays pack a ridiculous number of pixels into incredibly tight spaces, and mobile operating systems have gained great new features that users love. All of this comes at a cost, however, and the impact on battery life is often significant.
Thankfully, there are plenty of tips and tricks that help smartphone users extend their battery life as much as possible. And now, we have a simple new one to share with iPhone users that could ultimately have a pretty big impact on battery life.
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Because battery life is such a big issue that affects all users, we’re constantly on the lookout for new ways to help people extend the amount of time they can go between charges. We often share guides, like this one that offers 15 tips for squeezing as much battery life as possible out of your iPhone, and this one that focuses on one specific trick that can extend your battery life when you’re in a pinch.
Now, one such tip has been posted by ZDNet, and it’s definitely worth bringing to your attention.
In more recent versions of iOS, Apple has started to give users a bit more control over how apps use location services. Location features have a clear impact on battery life, of course, so this new control stands to benefit people looking to conserve power.
In the past, iOS device users had two choices when it came to granting apps access to location — yes (“always”) or no (“never”). Now, however, apps that have been updated by third-party developers as necessary have a third option that can be configured: “While Using the App.”
With this setting configured, apps will only have access to location data while they’re being used, so they can’t constantly grab your location in the background and drain your battery. As such, it’s a good idea to flip through all of the apps on your phone that can access location information and ensure that this newer option is configured for any apps that don’t need constant access to your location.
To look through all of your apps and reconfigure them as necessary, simply open Settings and go to Privacy > Location Services. Then tap on each app individually to check its settings.
For more tips that will help you extend your iPhone’s battery, be sure to check out our post on how to get as much battery life as possible on your iPhone or Android phone.
