iPhone 6S (R) and iPhone 6S Plus (L) (Photo : Reuters)
Apple's iPhone 6S and 6S Plus on iOS 9 are supposed to have battery life that is longer than their predecessors thanks to a new feature called Low Power Mode. When activated, the service turns off the normal smartphone features but the essential ones in order to save battery juice.
But even without Low Power Mode, iPhone users can enjoy longer operating hours in a single charge. Here are the easy steps to ensure that battery juice will keep flowing at an extended time:
Easy on display brightness and color
For all devices, the iPhone including, it is the screen that consumes most of the battery power. There are two ways to temper this power-hungry component - turn down the display brightness or using the grayscale option.
Dialing down the iPhone 6S screen brightness is easily done by swiping up the device screen to access the Control Center and moving the brightness slider a little bit to the left. Grayscale, when necessary, can be turned on by heading to the Settings, tapping on General then Accessibility.
Turn off Background App Refresh and Location Services
Most iOS apps, if not all, are designed to access the Internet to refresh and fetch new contents, which eat up significant amounts of power. Same case applies with location services. If the two features prove non-essential, users can either turn them off selectively or deactivate them altogether.
To tweak Background App Refresh, follow this route: Settings > General > Background App Refresh. For Location Services, head to: Settings > Privacy > Location Services.
Deactivate some features
A number of iOS 9 features are activated by default for convenience of users but these services not only bring down the battery meter but also consume data allowance. To optimize both battery and data usage, it is best in most cases to manually download updates so turn of automatic downloads by tapping on Settings and clicking on App and iTunes Stores.
Exclusively in iOS 9, Wi-Fi Assist was introduced to kick in the Cellular services as backup when Wi-Fi connection is weak. This can be turned off by entering Settings then heading to Cellular.
Go for Still wallpaper
Another new iOS 9 feature is the use of Live Photos as wallpaper. Now both Live Photos and Dynamic wallpapers are unfriendly to resources - drying up RAM and battery in no time. The better alternative and visually satisfying as well is to use Still images as phone backdrop.
To do that, take this easy route: Settings > Wallpaper > Choose New Wallpaper > Stills > Choose a wallpaper > Select Still > And tap on set.
Install a task killer
The iPhone 6S and older models pulls up apps in the background and keep them idle. These applications put pressure on RAM and battery and the best way to close them at once is to install and use a task killer. Battery Doctor is a good choice is available for free via the App Store.
When used, Battery Doctor can reduce RAM usage on the iPhone 6S for instance below 40% and save up on battery in the process.
