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Push and battery life

20% battery after 9 hour day with push

I have push turned on all day, every day. I receive 50 emails or so, maybe more. I make about 2 hours of phone calls, and surf the web for 20 minutes. My device will have about 20% life after that 9 hour day.

I keep wifi on, but I turn off 3g and location services. As others have noted, 3G and Location Services are huge battery drains.
 
jfox00 said:
I have push turned on all day, every day. I receive 50 emails or so, maybe more. I make about 2 hours of phone calls, and surf the web for 20 minutes. My device will have about 20% life after that 9 hour day.

I keep wifi on, but I turn off 3g and location services. As others have noted, 3G and Location Services are huge battery drains.
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Just to clarify, location services should only be a battery suck when you're using a program that relies on GPS. Also, just to give you a sense of the kind of difference push makes, I'm on my second day of use since charging with push turned off and fetch set to every 30 minutes. That's unusual (the result of really light usage yesterday) but I always make it through the day with battery to spare with location services, wifi, and 3G on, but push off.
 
bigmouth said:
Just to clarify, location services should only be a battery suck when you're using a program that relies on GPS. Also, just to give you a sense of the kind of difference push makes, I'm on my second day of use since charging with push turned off and fetch set to every 30 minutes. That's unusual (the result of really light usage yesterday) but I always make it through the day with battery to spare with location services, wifi, and 3G on, but push off.
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Just to clarify. If you leave Location Services on, the phone is keeping tabs on where you are wether you are using GPS or not.
 
andyblila said:
Just to clarify. If you leave Location Services on, the phone is keeping tabs on where you are wether you are using GPS or not.
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I've done some tests with my iPhone and battery life is EXACTLY the same with Location Services on or off. Quite a few people on these forums have done the same and got the same results.
 
anjinhamarota said:
I've done some tests with my iPhone and battery life is EXACTLY the same with Location Services on or off. Quite a few people on these forums have done the same and got the same results.
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Nice. I do not get that result. Many others do not as well. That being said, it's not enough of a drain that I can't make it throughout the day. Since you brought it up though....I too have done some tests and battery life is EXACTLY the same if not BETTER with Push on than with Push off. Quite a few people on these forums have done the same and got the same results as well. LOL
 
andyblila said:
Nice. I do not get that result. Many others do not as well. That being said, it's not enough of a drain that I can't make it throughout the day. Since you brought it up though....I too have done some tests and battery life is EXACTLY the same if not BETTER with Push on than with Push off. Quite a few people on these forums have done the same and got the same results as well. LOL
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What I mean by test is not real world usage. Test is just letting the battery drain and not using the phone with everything off except for location services and then the same with location services off. If you've done that and the battery drained faster with location services on then there's something wrong with your phone. That's not supposed to happen. The GPS should only be working if you use Maps or something like that.

The same for push. If you've let the battery drain in the same conditions but with push on and then off, the battery can't be exactly the same or better. In real world usage it might, because push is better for battery than fetching every 15 minutes or constantly checking your email.
I found out that in my case I needed to calibrate my battery, now it doesn't drain as fast as before with Push on. Now it's working as I thought push should work.

If you check the apple page about the iPhone battery you should notice that it says that for better battery push should be OFF and the USE of location services should be limited, meaning that locations services only drains the battery when they are actually being used (by maps or other app) and not just by being on.

Here's a thread about Location Services and battery life, with an actual test:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/567339/
 
anjinhamarota said:
I've done some tests with my iPhone and battery life is EXACTLY the same with Location Services on or off. Quite a few people on these forums have done the same and got the same results.
Click to expand...

Did you actually use any Location Services at the beginning of your battery life test?

Just flicking the switch in Settings may not really turn on the GPS radio, until an app actually asks for some data.

.
 
I don't have push, but my phone is set to update every hour, and when it does, it can consume a lot of battery as it downloads a bunch of messages.

I've have though been experiencing big-time battery drain every since the 2.1 update when they changed they disable being able to turn "Location Services" to "on" directly in the maps App. I use the maps App all the time to look up phone numbers of local businesses, and by having the GPS turned on all the time now, every time I open maps, the GPS is on, and it's been draining my battery big time. Before the 2.1 update, it was never a problem because I could leave Location Services to "off" and if I needed it, I could quickly turn it on directly in the Maps App. And GPS drains my battery FAST!!!
 
andyblila said:
Just to clarify. If you leave Location Services on, the phone is keeping tabs on where you are wether you are using GPS or not.
Click to expand...
Hmmm...if that's the case, it doesn't show up in my battery usage. You and Rybold are honestly the first people I've met running 2.1 who experience noticeably worse battery life with Location Services engaged. It sounds like some app (Maps?) that uses it is hanging in the background. I assume you've tried resets and restores?
andyblila said:
Nice. I do not get that result. Many others do not as well. That being said, it's not enough of a drain that I can't make it throughout the day. Since you brought it up though....I too have done some tests and battery life is EXACTLY the same if not BETTER with Push on than with Push off. Quite a few people on these forums have done the same and got the same results as well. LOL
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Interesting. Could you post some links to these tests and reports? I follow the forums pretty closely, and I think those who get BETTER battery life after turning on push are pretty clearly in the minority. Again, with numerical battery, I can actually watch my meter drop with push engaged. The same is not true when I fetch every 30 minutes. This is precisely the result predicted by Apple's own literature.

Also, when you say better, what is your point of comparison? Fetching every 15 minutes should be about as bad or worse than push, but fetching every 30 minutes should be better. There are exceptions, but once again, they're in the minority.
 
I just leave my phone on 24X7 and plug it up EVERY night NO MATTER how much battery I have left.

I have no problems.

(I also do a full drain once a month to the point that the phone is dead.)

And better battery life with Push turned on rather than off? That makes no sense and I just flat out don't believe it.
 
Rat-Boy said:
I just leave my phone on 24X7 and plug it up EVERY night NO MATTER how much battery I have left.

I have no problems.

(I also do a full drain once a month to the point that the phone is dead.)
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Same here. I plug it in when I get home every day and unplug it before I go to sleep. I've never had my battery run out on me during the day.
 
Well, just for reference, I plug mine in at bed time and let it charge over night.

I was told this is what is best for the iPhone, but at this point, with so many "studies" having been done, who knows.

I love the phone.

When the battery craps, I will get a new one.

Pretty simple. :D
 
Rat-Boy said:
When the battery craps, I will get a new one.

Pretty simple. :D
Click to expand...

Well said.

I'm amazed at how obsessed people are with battery life. Sure, it matters in certain situations. But it certainly doesn't for people that are sitting in their offices or homes obsessing about it with a power plug nearby.

I have a dock plugged into the wall at home, a dock plugged into the wall at my office, and a car charger in the glove box if needed. I use the heck out of my iPhone and never have to worry about running out of power.
 
Bryan Bowler said:
Well said.

I'm amazed at how obsessed people are with battery life. Sure, it matters in certain situations. But it certainly doesn't for people that are sitting in their offices or homes obsessing about it with a power plug nearby.

I have a dock plugged into the wall at home, a dock plugged into the wall at my office, and a car charger in the glove box if needed. I use the heck out of my iPhone and never have to worry about running out of power.
Click to expand...

Good point. I have the same setup. I have an iPod ready stereo that charges iPods or iPhones. I also have a charger at home and a sync cable at work.
 
Bryan Bowler said:
Well said.

I'm amazed at how obsessed people are with battery life. Sure, it matters in certain situations. But it certainly doesn't for people that are sitting in their offices or homes obsessing about it with a power plug nearby.

I have a dock plugged into the wall at home, a dock plugged into the wall at my office, and a car charger in the glove box if needed. I use the heck out of my iPhone and never have to worry about running out of power.
Click to expand...

The thing is, not everyone is sitting in an office all day or has a car to get around.

I'm a student and I'm always moving from classroom to classroom so I can't charge my iPhone there. I don't have a car so I can't charge the iPhone there either. I also work part time in promotions, where I'm usually always walking around and I have to have my phone with me, so I also can't charge my iPhone there. So for me, battery life really does matter, because some days I leave home at 9am and only get home aroung 10pm or 11pm.

Luckily for me the iPhone's battery lasts about a day and a half and I charge it every night when I come home, so that's enough for me. But you can't assume that everyone can charge their iPhone in the car or in the office. Not everyone has that option so for them battery life is a concern.
 
Calibrate the Battery

anjinhamarota said:
Ok, I decided to test the battery life again, so I did the exact same thing but before I calibrated the battery and rebooted the iPhone. Now the battery is lasting at least twice as before with push enabled. :D
Click to expand...

Sounds encouraging! What does it mean to "calibrate the battery"? And how is it done on the iPhone?
 
anjinhamarota said:
Luckily for me the iPhone's battery lasts about a day and a half and I charge it every night when I come home, so that's enough for me. But you can't assume that everyone can charge their iPhone in the car or in the office. Not everyone has that option so for them battery life is a concern.
Click to expand...

I totally agree -- not everyone is by a charger all of the time. (and just so you know, I don't think you're obsessed about battery life) It's just that some people act like they have no work-around. For example, your battery makes it through the day and you're able to charge it at night while you are sleeping. So generally, you're usually good to go. I'm certain that a few select people are away from power sources for more than a day at a time, but I'm willing to bet that number is very, very small. Most people have access to a power source at some point and time during a 24-hour period.

Quite frankly, I 'm impressed with the iPhone's battery life. Think about it: the iPhone is dealing with up to 5 different radios, a large and bright display, and it's also computing at levels equal to a computer. (not a powerful one, but nonetheless...) And all of this in a small form factor.

I'm thrilled with the capabilities and the life I get out the iPhone.
 
Bryan Bowler said:
I totally agree -- not everyone is by a charger all of the time. (and just so you know, I don't think you're obsessed about battery life) It's just that some people act like they have no work-around. For example, your battery makes it through the day and you're able to charge it at night while you are sleeping. So generally, you're usually good to go. I'm certain that a few select people are away from power sources for more than a day at a time, but I'm willing to bet that number is very, very small. Most people have access to a power source at some point and time during a 24-hour period.

Quite frankly, I 'm impressed with the iPhone's battery life. Think about it: the iPhone is dealing with up to 5 different radios, a large and bright display, and it's also computing at levels equal to a computer. (not a powerful one, but nonetheless...) And all of this in a small form factor.

I'm thrilled with the capabilities and the life I get out the iPhone.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm also impressed by the battery life. The only time I was worried about the battery was when I thought that Push was draining my battery way too fast. It's working fine now and I'm very happy with it. :D

But yes, I agree that a lot of people are way too obsessed about the battery life.
 
anjinhamarota said:
The thing is, not everyone is sitting in an office all day or has a car to get around.

I'm a student and I'm always moving from classroom to classroom so I can't charge my iPhone there. I don't have a car so I can't charge the iPhone there either. I also work part time in promotions, where I'm usually always walking around and I have to have my phone with me, so I also can't charge my iPhone there. So for me, battery life really does matter, because some days I leave home at 9am and only get home aroung 10pm or 11pm.

Luckily for me the iPhone's battery lasts about a day and a half and I charge it every night when I come home, so that's enough for me. But you can't assume that everyone can charge their iPhone in the car or in the office. Not everyone has that option so for them battery life is a concern.
Click to expand...

If you ever run into problems with not having enough charge, you could always carry a battery booster in your backpack: http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/kensingtonbattery.JPG
 
Just as an FYI..

I use my phone about the same every weekday.

Emails, maybe 10 minutes of calls and about an hour of iPod.

When I was using Push, I would be at a max of 30% at bed time. So I would charge it every night.

Last night, I went to plug in my phone like I do every night, and noticed I was at 80%.

The difference?

I have Push turned off.

So IMHO, it is a battery drain big time.

Note: I am not one of those that turns stuff off and on. Location, 3G and WIFI have been on the whole time.
 
Give me a break

I'm not targeting anyone in particular, but I am seeing a lot of people complaining about the battery power when they obviously don't know anything about electronic physics.

I have an 18 month old iPhone 2G. I never turn on the Wi-fi except for when I am in an area where Edge is not working. I have push on MobileMe Mail, calenders, contacts, and Yahoo e-mail. I lookup my POP mail every 15 minutes. I listen to my podcasts for roughly 2.5 hours per day and I am constantly looking up things online. I use the NetNewsWire app, Facebook app, and Bloomberg app constantly. I keep a charger at my work desk so I can keep it charged. On days I don't charge it, it will still last me all day. I charge it at night when I hook it up to my PC to sync. When I had a Razr, I had to charge it nightly, and it didn't do half the stuff the iPhone does.

The iPhone has a lot of things that use power and there is only so much energy these Li-on batteries can hold and not be the size of a cinder block. The phone transmitter stays on in order to receive calls, push e-mail, and texts. The touchscreen, display, and backlight use power every time the iPhone turns on. And the speaker uses power if you don't have the phone muted. As for push, you have to compromise. If you don't want your e-mails live, then you can save your battery. But if you do, you will have to use more battery. Nothing is free.

You have a small computer in your pocket that can go through your entire day on a single charge. Short of putting a nuclear reactor in the thing, there is little Apple can do to make the batteries last longer until battery technology improves. If you want the batteries to last longer, turn off features, remove the apps, and turn off your backlight. Otherwise, don't complain.
 
bobsentell said:
I have an 18 month old iPhone 2G. I never turn on the Wi-fi except for when I am in an area where Edge is not working. I have push on MobileMe Mail, calenders, contacts, and Yahoo e-mail. I lookup my POP mail every 15 minutes. I listen to my podcasts for roughly 2.5 hours per day and I am constantly looking up things online. I use the NetNewsWire app, Facebook app, and Bloomberg app constantly. I keep a charger at my work desk so I can keep it charged. On days I don't charge it, it will still last me all day.
Click to expand...

I would say that less than 20% of people experience that battery life on a 3G.

Of course, you have a 2G, so I have no clue about the batteries in those.

But on a 3G, with most things including Push turned on, and doing all those things you say, especially using the Browswer a lot, there are very few iPhone 3Gs that would make it a day.
 
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