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You may also want to set Auto-Lock to Never (Settings > General > Auto-Lock) when using AirPlay. If not, when the lock screen activates, it could stop your video, especially if you pause it with your Apple Remote. This isn’t a battery tip, but just some good advice. Indeed, setting Auto-Lock to Never could drain your battery fast, if you forget to lock the screen when not in use. Remember to set Auto-Lock back when you’re done. Lower time intervals will save more battery life.
Turn Off the Parallax Effect
iOS 7 introduces a new design — one that is paradoxically flat and three-dimensional. I happen to like the design, although some of the icons are a bit goofy. Many people don’t like the new design. Some claim the zooming and motion make them sick. Whatever you feel about the iOS 7 UI, it does drain battery life more than its predecessor. The parallax effect on the home screen, in particular, is quite battery intensive. It uses the motion sensor on your iPhone to give the illusion of motion over a three-dimensional background. Turning this off (Settings > General > Accessibility > Reduce Motion > ON) will improve battery life. I have left this feature on, because I think it’s cool and well worth the electricity it consumes.
Turn Off AirDrop
AirDrop is the new feature in iOS 7 that Apple copied from, uh, Apple. AirDrop was released in OS X Mountain Lion a few years back. The new feature allows users to share content without the need to tap devices together. Turning AirDrop off (from the Control Center) will prolong battery life.
Turn Off “Raise to Speak” for Siri
If you hold your iPhone close to your face, it will activate Siri as if you are having a face-to-face conversation. This feature is amazing, but it drains battery life. The proximity sensor is continuously active in order to detect your face. If you don’t use Siri often, turn this feature off (Settings > General > Siri > Raise to Speak > OFF). You can still launch Siri by holding down the home button.
Turn Off Data Fetching
Push mail may be essential for the corporate user, however, most people don’t have urgent emails. Many people can make do by checking email manually. Turning off data fetching will save battery life, as iOS doesn’t need to constantly poll the mail server in the background. In fact, turning this off has a dramatic effect on battery life. You can turn off push mail from Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data. You may also want to turn off pushing data from iCloud. The more you do manually, the longer your battery will last. If you choose to get data manually, the email or iCloud data will appear when you open the corresponding app. This works well for me, but may not be ideal for many corporate users. These settings have a huge impact on battery life.
Turn Off Background App Refresh
Introduced in iOS 7, Background App Refresh allows apps that aren’t even open to update themselves. For example, your Facebook app can update content even when it isn’t running. Of course, this uses up the battery and network bandwidth. Turning off Background App Refresh (Settings > General > Background App Refresh) can be done globally or for specific apps. I turned it off completely. Battery life is only part of the issue. I don’t want my network bandwidth to be choked by app refreshes. I’m fine with having the app update its content when I open it. (continue…)