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It may seems like your iPhone battery is a mystic thing that decides to lose power at random, but the actions we take with our devices can make a world of difference when it comes to battery health. Remembering to turn certain settings off may be all that stands between your iPhone and a battery that refuses to continue holding its charge.
Sounds like an easy enough fix, right? Kristen Bolig, founder of SecurityNerd, spoke with SHEFinds.com about the one setting you need to change on your iPhone for a better battery life.
Bolig says one of the biggest battery mistakes — and privacy mistakes, coincidentally — that iPhone users make is keeping their Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled at all times. “Although it's a convenient way to easily connect with other devices and networks, constantly enabling Wi-Fi and Bluetooth access can be extremely damaging to your iPhone,” Bolig says. “Not only is it an easy way to drain your battery, but it can also open you up to a laundry list of security concerns.”
When you’ve left Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled, you’re basically allowing any interested party into your iPhone, Bolig says. “iPhones send out requests to access enabled Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth devices at all times,” Bolig says. “When you leave them on, you’re inviting hackers to easily connect to your phone.”
Hackers can mimic saved network settings to infiltrate iPhones, according to Bolig. “From there, they can access your data, research your history, and track your location,” Bolig says. In addition to leaving yourself wide open to an invasion of your privacy, forgetting to turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips away at battery power.
Th good new here is you don’t need to avoid these convenient features to keep your iPhone safe.
“Your best bet is to turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when you’re not using them,” Bolig says. “An easy way to do this is to disable automatic connections in your settings. This will ensure your phone does not broadcast out to other profiles when not in use.”
It will also ensure you’re saving up every bit of battery power possible so that your phone stays powered up for longer.
