iPhone question

So I've got an iPhone 4, about 6 weeks old or so. The battery seems to go down quite a bit, just sitting in my pocket, like there's an app running in the background or something.
Is there a way to see if there's an app running in the background?

Yes. Hit the home button twice.

Most apps should automatically suspend when running in the background, though. Is your location services arrow always illuminated?

Also if you have it set to check for email and other updates regularly, it can help drain the battery a little faster.

If you are always out of service my phone will go down very quick searching for service. It's a 4 and 2 years old. I'm lucky to get start out with a full charge and get it past noon the following day with %10 and no charging.

Location services might be a source of drain. Check your settings / location services or settings / Privacy (depending on what os you have).

Also check under Wi-Fi and turn off Ask to Join Networks (so it doesn't scan for them).

A big drain for any phone is being in a marginal reception area. The searching for towers will suck down the battery. The only way to avoid this as far as I know is to turn off the phone when in those areas.

The location services arrow? Is that the arrow by the battery? It's on. I'll turn it off.
I hit the home button twice and every app shows up. What is the loc services used for?

When you see the list of apps after hitting the home button twice, hold down on one of the apps until it starts shaking. You can then hit the little red X to kill each app.

It's a bit unclear exactly what this does (those app are not really running), but I suspect it clears out a bit of memory and may stop them from using some location services.

Location services is what apps uses to know where you are. Pretty useful for maps of course, not so much for some other services. Even if you turn it off, the apps normally ask you if you want to turn it back on when you use them for something that wants your location.

Datsun1500 wrote:

DrBoost wrote: I hit the home button twice and every app shows up.

Hit it twice and see what opens on the bottom. Those are running. Hold 1 down until they shake and show an X. Hit that X to close them.

Yeah, they all showed up, or the vast majority. I'll hit the X's and turn the location thing off.
Once again, GRM is a vast store or knowledge.

turning the screen brightness down will make a big improvement on battery life too.

Unless you've added Quasar to your iPhone, the items that come up when you double click the home button (the multitasking bar) are "recently used apps" and are not currently open nor consuming battery. Be sure to drain the battery (completely, so that it shuts down) once per month to reset the battery charge sensor.

Mmadness wrote: Unless you've added Quasar to your iPhone, the items that come up when you double click the home button (the multitasking bar) are "recently used apps" and are not currently open nor consuming battery. Be sure to drain the battery (completely, so that it shuts down) once per month to reset the battery charge sensor.

This, though the recently used apps can be open and consuming battery. I use it to check and see "oh yeah, I just used maps, it is still using location services for guidance in the background."

This, though the recently used apps can be open and consuming battery. I use it to check and see "oh yeah, I just used maps, it is still using location services for guidance in the background."

Yes, you are correct. Certain (few) apps do run in the background.

Make sure to turn off bluetooth whenever you aren't using it.

I've had my camera stay open and loaded waiting for a picture even though I snoozed the phone and put it away. About 40 minutes of that put a dent in the battery. I mostly noticed because the phone got warm in my pocket.