New iPhone? Take a peek at its settings. So many categories, so many
options within those categories. It's enough to make your head swim.
And you might find yourself wondering, are Apple's factory settings
ideal? Right out of the box, is the iPhone really configured for optimal
performance, productivity and battery life?
Not so much. Here are the iPhone settings you should consider changing right away:
1. Crank down the brightness
Simple math: The brighter your screen, the faster it will consume your
battery. That's why you should lower the brightness setting, and not by
a little. Consider dropping it to 50 percent or even less.
Doing
so will provide a considerable bump in battery life, and I suspect
you'll barely notice a difference. (The change might seem off-putting
initially, but trust me when I say it won't bother you after a few
minutes.)
To adjust iPhone brightness level, swipe up from the
bottom (starting just below the screen), then drag the brightness slider
to around the midway mark.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
2. Disable push email
Do you need your phone to monitor your email accounts every second of
every day? That's the basic definition of "push" email, which is widely
regarded as a huge battery suck.
I'm not a big fan of "fetch,"
either, which checks for new mail at designated intervals. My thought:
When I want to check for new messages, I fire up the Mail app and check
for new messages. Anything else is not only a battery drain, but also a
distraction.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
Try turning both of these options off. To do so, tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, then tap Fetch New Data. Turn off Push, then scroll down to the Fetch section and choose Manually.
Remember: If someone needs to reach you in a hurry, they can still call or send a text message.
3. Turn on Do Not Disturb
If your iPhone routinely spends the night on your nightstand, you
probably don't want it beeping or buzzing every time there's a call,
message or alert -- especially when you're trying to sleep.
Thankfully, there's a one-tap Do Not Disturb mode that will keep the
phone more or less silent. To use it, swipe up from the bottom (starting
just below the screen), then tap the moon icon.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
Even better, venture into Settings for more granular control over this
feature. Here you can set up scheduled times for Do Not Disturb to
switch on and off. More importantly, you can set up exceptions in the
form of Allow Calls From. For example, if you add important friends and
family members to the Favorites group in the Phone app, you can allow
calls from these people to get through even when your iPhone's set to Do
Not Disturb.
Likewise, if you turn on the Repeated Calls
option, your phone will ring if the same number dials twice in three
minutes. So persistent callers can still get through in an emergency.
4. Use the numeric battery gauge
Want to know exactly how much battery life is left? By default, your
iPhone shows you only a small gauge -- not super informative.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
Here's the fix: Tap Settings > Battery, then turn on Battery Percentage. Presto! Now you've got a numeric reading alongside your battery icon.
5. Tweak the size of text
The size of your iPhone's screen doesn't necessarily dictate the size
of the text you'll be reading. Although iOS has a default font size, you
can adjust it by tapping Settings > Display & Brightness > Text Size. Then drag the slider a few ticks in either direction until it seems more comfortable.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
As noted on that settings page, this will only affect apps that
support Dynamic Type (meaning stock iOS apps and a smattering of
others). You can also improve readability by tapping Settings > General > Accessibility and enabling the Bold Text option.
6. Configure auto-lock
Can't be bothered to hit the power (aka standby) button every time you
put down your phone or stick it in your pocket or purse? I'm always
amazed when I see people leave their screens on and active, which is not
only a security risk and battery killer, but also a great way to
butt-dial (or butt-text) people.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
Fortunately, your iPhone can automatically lock (meaning turn off the screen) after a designated interval. To change it, tap Settings > General > Auto-Lock, then set it to 30 Seconds.
7. Add more fingers to Touch ID
All newer iPhones incorporate Touch ID, the fingerprint sensor that
makes for fast and easy lock-screen security. And when you first set up
your phone, you probably trained Touch ID to recognize one of your
fingers.
Just one problem: Sometimes you want to use other
fingers. Like, say, the thumb on your other hand, or an index finger
when the phone is laying on a table.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
Fortunately, iOS can accommodate up to five fingers. All you have to do is train it to recognize more. To do so, tap Settings > Touch ID & Passcode, then enter your numeric passcode. Now tap Add a Fingerprint and follow the prompts. Repeat the process for any additional fingers you want to add.
8. Turn off location services for non-essentials
When you agree to share your location with apps like Waze, Uber and
Starbucks, there's a tangible benefit. But what about apps like
Fooducate? GroupMe? OneDrive? I don't see any advantage to letting them
collect or report my whereabouts, especially considering the hit it puts
on battery life.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
To see which apps have this feature enabled, tap Settings > Privacy > Location Services.
Then scroll down through the list. When you see an app set to Always or
While Using, decide if you want that app to know your location. If not,
you can change it to Never.
9. Customize the Today display
When you swipe down from the top of the screen (starting just above
the top), you gain immediate access to the iOS Notification Center,
where you can read, review and dismiss notifications you've received.
You can also tap Today for quick access to information from a wide
assortment of apps. Here's how to customize what information is
presented -- and in what order:
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
Swipe down, tap Today, scroll down to the bottom and tap Edit.
The items at the top are already selected for the Today screen. All the
items below that are available to add. Just tap the green plus sign
next to the ones you want.
To change the order in which they
appear, tap and drag one of the "handles" (represented by three
horizontal lines) and drop it in the desired spot. Then tap Done. Now you'll see the Today screen with all the items you enabled and in the order you put them. Tap Edit again if you want to make further changes.
If you've made any iPhone settings changes you consider essential, hit the comments and name them!
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