Yesterday I was in London at the British Mummy Bloggers Christmas lunch. I'd planned to go straight back home afterwards but sometimes plans change. An amazing opportunity presented itself to me and off I went to join a truly inspirational group of women at TEDxLondon to share the success of our Blogladesh campaign with them.
One problem.....
I wasn't planning to be out all day / night - so I didn't have my iPhone charger with me. It riles me that I put up with the fact that my battery doesn't last all day. It's like I've been totally and utterly brainwashed by the God of Apple and I'm taken back about eighteen years to mobile phones of old. But this isn't 1992, it's 2010 and your phone battery should last all day. FACT.
So there I was - unable to tweet or text from this amazing event. My phone had been as dead as a Do Do for hours. But on the train on the way home I chanced upon a gentleman with an iphone charger (I'd seriously been asking everyone I spoke to all evening). He gave me my life line but also shared the best tip I've ever heard on how to make your battery last as long as possible. I've had an iPhone since launch - yet I'd never heard this - I guess that's one of the side effects of a product that comes without a user guide....
So here it is.....
Did you know that unless you manually close the apps on your phone they remain open and so draining your battery?
When I say close the app - I don't mean hitting the home button because that doesn't actually close the app. You'll know what I mean when you try it.
Dur... it all makes perfect sense now... this is why my phone pings, dings and vibrates with Facebook messages, ebay notifications and tweets all night long.
Try this and you'll totally get it too...
1. Double click the home button and it brings up a scrolling list of all the apps you have open on your phone.
2. Press one till it jiggles and you'll see a red minus icon appears.
3. Click it to close the app down.
Don't worry - you aren't deleting. Just closing down.
Every single app on my phone was open. This is just a few of them...Angry Birds, email, camera, Smack Talk, Twitter, Facebook, Tube Map, Super Yum Yum, Bejewelled, Camera Bag, hipstamatic, eBay, google and the Cat in the Hat. No wonder my battery life was having a hard time...
Today - my battery lasted till 10pm and I'm so happy I could squeal.
Small things.....
