Whilst battery capacity is being increased all the time and the amount of time you can use smartphones is gradually getting better, they are still very power hungry compared to feature phones, especially if you use your iPhone to watch videos, play games or listen to music. Here are some simple tips to help you get the most from each charge. None of these tips should impact your enjoyment of the phone very much, and all of them take just a few moments to implement.

Location Services
Certain apps and programmes use GPS to gather periodic location information, which uses battery power every time it is updated on your phone. Turning off the location services used by googlemaps, etc, when you aren’t using them can save a lot of battery life. If you need to find your location, simply turn location services back on as and when you need them.

WiFi
If you are not using the WiFi connection or if you are away from any available networks, turn WiFi off in the settings. WiFi uses battery power even when not browsing the internet or checking email so turn it off and save battery life.

Airplane Mode
The worse the network coverage is, the harder the iPhone has to work to pick up a signal. if you are in an area with a very low or no signal at all, switching to Airplane Mode will instantly reduce the amount of power being used by turning off all wieless and network connections. You will not be able to make or receive calls in this mode, so make sure you turn it back on when you return to civilisation…

Push Notifications
Certain applications use push notifications to alert you to new emails or updates. Turning off push notifications (settings > notifications) will not stop new information being delivered when you open a particular app, but it will save battery life.

Bluetooth
If you are not using a bluetooth headset or using it to transfer data, turn it off. Just having bluetooth running in the background takes battery power which could be saved for something more exciting.

Screen Brightness
Although the screen looks better at close to full brightness, this will sap the battery life fairly quickly if using the phone for long periods. Use the slider in the settings menu to reduce the brightness, or set the iPhone to automatically set the brightness depending on the ambient light.

Full Charge
Most people who have ever owned a mobile phone will know this, but I will say it anyway. When you first get your iphone, give it a full charge before using it. Sometimes it is worth waiting for a full battery bar, turning the phone off and back on and plugging the charger back in. This will reset the battery level indicator and show you the true battery level (often quite a bit less than the 100% it previously showed).

Also, let your phone battery get down to under 10% before charging and always try to give it a full charge rather than just plugging it in for 30 minutes to give you enough power to have a few more goes at Doodle Jump before you go to bed. Try not to let your battery fully discharge too often.

There are several other things you can do to save battery life on your iPhone 3GS (or indeed, iPhone 4). Have a look at what you have turned on on your phone, and think about what you NEED to have turned on.