• Setting Time Zone Feature Claimed To Be Culprit For iPhone 4S Battery Draining Issues

    by
    Akshay Masand
    Published on 2011-10-31 04:35 AM
    41 Comments Comments


    If you are one of the many people that have upgraded to the iPhone 4S, you may have been experiencing some issues with your battery. Since the release of the iPhone 4S, many users have been complaining and trying to look for a way to resolve the issue while others have contemplated switching back to an older iOS device until Apple resolves the issue. It appears that a fix has been found though, all you have to do is: turn your “Setting Time Zone” switch to OFF in the Settings > Location Services > System Services (at the bottom of the page).

    What has been noticed by many is that when you switch this feature OFF, the standby time has gone up significantly. After testing this on an iPhone 4S, the new iPhone only lost 5% of its total battery life. The tip originally stems from Oliver Haslam, who noted that the bug likely lives inside iOS 5 and not necessarily within the iPhone 4S hardware. The “Setting Time Zone” ends up tracking constantly instead of periodically, causing the battery time to be severely cut down. According to Haslam, the folks over at iDownloadblog ran some tests as well and saw the same result:

    We have tested this method on 4 different iPhone 4s handsets, including an iPhone 4 and an iPhone 3GS. All have reported drastically improved battery life after switching ‘Setting Time Zone’ off.
    The only downside to switching the Setting Time Zone function off is the automatic resetting of your time if you end up crossing the barrier into a different time zone. Changing the setting is a small sacrifice to make for convenience in terms of battery life.

    If you have tried it already, what has your experience been with it so far? If you haven’t give it a shot, come back, and let us know afterward!

    Source: The Guardian via iDownloadBlog
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Setting Time Zone Feature Claimed To Be Culprit For iPhone 4S Battery Draining Issues started by Akshay Masand View original post
    1. Categories:
    2. iPhone,
    3. iOS,
    4. Apple
    Comments 41 Comments
    1. BenderRodriguez's Avatar
      BenderRodriguez - 2011-10-31, 04:38 AM
      Awesome thanks also turn off Location-Based iAds in the same location
    1. meaintsmart's Avatar
      meaintsmart - 2011-10-31, 04:52 AM
      Is it random? Or does it affect everyone? I just now turned it off, but my battery lasts at least one day, sometimes two if I don't use it much. I would be so happy if it did increase my battery.
    1. Anthony Bouchard's Avatar
      Anthony Bouchard - 2011-10-31, 05:08 AM
      This will increase battery life on all iDevices running iOS 5.
    1. wdpower's Avatar
      wdpower - 2011-10-31, 05:09 AM
      I'm trying this now, I had been told to kill location services all together and it would help. Hopefully this does it. I have a iPhone 4 with iOS 5. When I upgraded the battery started dying faster.
    1. Channan's Avatar
      Channan - 2011-10-31, 05:43 AM
      Mine doesn't even have a gray or purple arrow next to it, meaning it hasn't used my location in over 24 hours. This won't help my battery.
    1. Stumbows's Avatar
      Stumbows - 2011-10-31, 05:49 AM
      I found my battery was draining hard one day and then I opened my reminders and found I had left it on a new reminder where I was setting the location so it was constantly scanning for "current location". I think turning off location settings for each app when ever possible will be a huge help, as using my TomTom app smashes my battery.
    1. Cellular's Avatar
      Cellular - 2011-10-31, 05:51 AM
      Thanks for the info
    1. NetMage's Avatar
      NetMage - 2011-10-31, 05:52 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by Anthony Bouchard View Post
      This will increase battery life on all iDevices running iOS 5.
      My iPhone 4 had a gray arrow and it's life seems normal (similar to ios 4) but my iPad 2 had a purple arrow and when I cycled it on then off, the arrow went gray then purple. I left it off and I bet it will help my iPad 2s battery life - it has been shorter than normal.
    1. Striknine's Avatar
      Striknine - 2011-10-31, 06:24 AM
      I was on the phone today with apple tech support about this issue, and they couldn't give me any answers as to why this might be happening. They said if I disable the following services / features it will help;

      - push email (fetch manually)
      - location service for apps
      - passcode lock
      - wifi (when not at a hotspot)
      - brightness (keep it low as possible)
      - photo stream
      - Bluetooth
      - Equalizer

      I told them I bought the new iPhone 4s to use these features and that I didn't have this issue on my other devices running 4.3.3.
      I'm happy to learn a solution has been found, hopefully this will be fixed with an update. Funny how Apple couldn't figure this out given they created iOS 5.
      Oddly enough my clock was 3 hours fast as of yesterday on my devices.
    1. purplemonkeyspank's Avatar
      purplemonkeyspank - 2011-10-31, 06:25 AM
      You iPhone users have no idea how good you've got it. Samsung galaxy s2: 2-3 charges a DAY! Man i miss my iPhone 4! Do not, i repeat DO NOT jump ship for android! Not if you value battery life and overall usability! For the love of god!...Don't do it! You have a sweet thing going with the iPhone.
    1. R.Mortera's Avatar
      R.Mortera - 2011-10-31, 06:28 AM
      I don't see a difference yet. O.o
    1. moon#pie's Avatar
      moon#pie - 2011-10-31, 06:35 AM
      Damn it! I could have been famous for discovering this bug! I found it the day after I got my 4[S]!
    1. MrNewbdude's Avatar
      MrNewbdude - 2011-10-31, 06:47 AM
      Just checked and also noticed that "compass calibration" had a grey arrow along with "location based I-ads" and "setting time zone". I have had my 4S for about a week and have yet to use the compass in maps or by itself. I turned that off as well. I'll update tomorrow how much it helps, thanks.
    1. Amillio's Avatar
      Amillio - 2011-10-31, 07:49 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by moon#pie View Post
      Damn it! I could have been famous for discovering this bug! I found it the day after I got my 4[S]!
      Yea you could have you an me both.
    1. davesnothere11's Avatar
      davesnothere11 - 2011-10-31, 08:25 AM
      Thanks for the info.
      Just below setting time zones is one called "Traffic". Anybody know what "Traffic" is?
    1. Sevael's Avatar
      Sevael - 2011-10-31, 08:28 AM
      Already had this option turned off (from day 1) and my 4S's battery life is still terrible. My iPhone 4 with push email, iMessage, Bluetooth, Wi-fi, notifications, reminders and just about everything else turned on fairs very well on the battery, but the 4S's battery life goes down more than twice as quickly with all the same settings. Perhaps the time zone setting did cause some battery drain, but there's still an issue elsewhere. I can only imagine that it's related to Siri or another difference in the iOS 5 software for the 4S versus the 4, because my 4 has a super battery in comparison. I'd normally suspect that I just got a dud 4S, but a lot of people seem to be having battery issues with it so I'm betting that's not the case.
    1. scottw03's Avatar
      scottw03 - 2011-10-31, 11:25 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by davesnothere11 View Post
      Thanks for the info.
      Just below setting time zones is one called "Traffic". Anybody know what "Traffic" is?
      I believe traffic is for the Google maps app. You can toggle it on or off. When use use traffic you can see a different color line on the maps app showing where there is heavy traffic. Helps to avoid but without turn by turn navigation yet, I tend to use the navigon app I have on my iPhone 4 instead. Or the Tom Tom in the car.
    1. nicholaschum's Avatar
      nicholaschum - 2011-10-31, 11:31 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by purplemonkeyspank View Post
      You iPhone users have no idea how good you've got it. Samsung galaxy s2: 2-3 charges a DAY! Man i miss my iPhone 4! Do not, i repeat DO NOT jump ship for android! Not if you value battery life and overall usability! For the love of god!...Don't do it! You have a sweet thing going with the iPhone.
      Hey dude, I too have switched from the iPhone 4 to the Galaxy S2. But I entirely disagree with your statement. The iPhone 4 no matter what uses more battery when I use it, so the upgrade was a plus, especially with the amazing specs. I have experienced your issue where you see the battery constantly dropping quickly. You have to disable Data Networking so that it wouldn't constantly connect online. Yes, this is annoying, but after this, I can keep the phone alive for 2 days using the official Samsung Galaxy S2 2000mAh battery. Maybe you're not a android power user yet, but maybe you should try Juice Defender from the market and that saves your battery by disabling your 3G/H+ network automatically when you sleep your phone.

      Hahaha, too much android data here, let's move on to other comments ^_^
    1. kokowawa's Avatar
      kokowawa - 2011-10-31, 12:07 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by R.Mortera View Post
      You iPhone users have no idea how good you've got it. Samsung galaxy s2: 2-3 charges a DAY! Man i miss my iPhone 4! Do not, i repeat DO NOT jump ship for android! Not if you value battery life and overall usability! For the love of god!...Don't do it! You have a sweet thing going with the iPhone.
      I agree, I switched to Samsung Galaxy S2 for Just 2 days, and that was enough to hate my life after using iPhone from the first generation. I returned the Galaxy for iPhone 4S

      BTW, my old iPhone 4 shoots photos better than the new Galaxy S2
    1. davidmaiden18183's Avatar
      davidmaiden18183 - 2011-10-31, 12:20 PM
      I heard about this issue on day one of iphone 4s ownership, I have switched it off and still notice poor battery life compared to my iphone 4.

      I also heard and there is a youtube video claiming that you need to turn of the calendar widget in notification centre, and this has apparently worked for a lot of people. Allegedly the calendar widget polls for new calendar events 1000+ times and hour and this kills battery life.

      I have switched this off as well and can not fully comment on if there has been any improvement but it still looks like battery life is poor.
    Page 1 of 3 123

  • Connect With Us

  • Discord

    Join our Discord

  • Twitter Box

  • Facebook