Having an iPhone is like having a small computer that goes with you everywhere you go. With computing power better than some computers, the sky really is the limit with these devices. But iPhones are expensive and you don’t want to buy another any time soon, so are there habits you should be avoiding?
When it comes to prolonging the life of your iPhone you should avoid running the battery down to 0%, leaving it on the charger after it is fully charged, and not updating it. You can remedy these issues by turning on optimized battery charging as well as cleaning your phone storage regularly.
Wondering what else you can do to prolong the life of your iPhone? Let’s look at a break down of the iPhone habits you should be avoiding as well as what you should be doing instead.
What are the Worst iPhone Habits? (And What to Do About Them!)
There are several habits that iPhone users may fall into that will result in their iPhone deteriorating in one way or another: the battery not holding a charge as well for as long, the storage capacity filling up and causing the phone to become non-functional, etc. There are also some concerns about managing your phone and making mistakes around privacy and security.
So now, let’s take these one by one in the order of how likely they are to actually effect you personally (though anyone can benefit from considering these simple recommendations).
The Battery
The battery in your iPhone is designed to charge and recharge in a specific way. The designers basically expect you to plug it in every night, and then use it throughout the next day as needed. But what does “as needed” mean here? You should never run your phone down all the way to zero. Instead, take note when it warns you of 20 or 10% battery and put it on the charger. IF you aren’t near a charger, be sure to turn on low power mode to preserve battery life.
But can it be on the charger too long? That should be your next question, and the answer used the be ‘Yes.’ However, Apple has introduced some new software features to make the phone top itself off just before you wake up, instead of charging to 100% and sitting there trickle charging for hours.
So, you want to make sure this setting is turned on at Settings–>Battery–>Battery Health & Charging–>Optimized Battery Charging.
Lastly, to better manage the use of power, you should review the apps on your phone that use the most power and manage them directly. To do this, go into the battery settings as directed above, then scroll down and just visually look at the apps using the most power. If they don’t make sense to you, go manage their settings directly in the app or, better yet, delete them!
And remember – the battery is meant to be used, and it’s going to wear down. If you’re a heavy user and your phone is more than a year and a half old, battery performance dropping off is normal regardless of your habits (though poor habits can accelerate things dramatically!)
In this more in-depth article on iPhone lifespan, it’s discussed that the typical lifetime of a well-maintained phone is 2-3 years, while a person who doesn’t use the phone much at all may get away with 5-7 years of use.
Storage Capacity
All the apps you’re using generate system data that’s stored on the device, either in temporary storage or the actual internal storage used for the things you want. “Clearing the cache” of an app or going to Settings–>Storage and managing the storage space yourself is one way to approach this, because if you do run out of storage, it’s going to lead to unexpected crashes and slowness across the entire device.
For someone struggling with this, you can have a look at some more in-depth articles on how to free up storage on your phone (without deleting everything), and how to clear up “system data” and other data that’s low value to you and can be swept into the dustbin.
Privacy and Security
Because these ideas are closely related, we can discuss them both at once. First, a bad habit of not updating your phone is going to result in it being continuously vulnerable to the latest security threats. This one is pretty cut and dry: update your phone, and make sure auto-updates are turned on.
As far as privacy and security, making sure the software is up to date is the biggest first step. Next, you want to make sure you’re using a passcode or biometric authentication (face-scan/fingerprint) on your device to protect your private information, pictures, and other info.
For those who need more privacy for some content (cough…private pictures…cough), using a photo-vault app is a new habit you can try to get into to increase your level of privacy and security.