iPhone Tips and Tricks
Is “Planned Obsolescence” Real?
Have you ever suspected that your older iPhone or iPad’s performance suffers when newer models or software updates are released? This article may bring us one step closer to proving that “planned obsolescence” is real. If your battery has degraded, Apple’s built-in code actually slows your device down. Your older iPhone could be made practically new again with a replacement battery instead of paying a premium to upgrade, but unfortunately there’s no guarantee that this will work in every case. (***Update: Apple has apologized and will be offering a battery replacement on older iPhone’s for $29 starting in January).
iPhone Accessibility Features
Did you know there are some great features hidden in iPhone’s accessibility settings? Change your settings to let Siri read text aloud to you, enable LED flashing for notifications and create new gestures by adding your own assistive touch features for some cool tricks. Check out these articles from Lifehacker, Gadget Hacks and iMore for even more tips.
Closing Apps in the Background to Speed up iPhone?
Many users resort to closing apps running in the background to attempt to speed up their iPhone’s performance, but this “tip” is a misconception. In reality, apps running in the background require little data or power, but restarting those apps requires a lot more.
If your iPhone is running slowly, here’s a few things you can try:
- clear the browsing data in Settings – Safari
- go to Settings – General – Storage and delete unused photos, music, messages and apps
- go to Settings – General – Background App Refresh and leave only essential apps selected. This includes apps you want to refresh in the background to provide you with up-to-date information, like your email, messaging and news apps.
Simplify Conference Call Dialing from your iPhone
If you need to dial into a conference call while you’re on the go, our previous tech tip will help streamline the process so you can join your call quickly.
iPhone Carrier Settings Updates
It’s a good idea to check for carrier settings updates from time to time to keep your phone properly connected to your cellular network. If you don’t update your carrier settings when prompted, you could start to experience problems, as these updates can fix software bugs and give you access to new calling features. The easiest way to do this is to just tap “update” when prompted to update your carrier settings. If you want to manually check for an update, go to Settings – General – About, and if there is one available you’ll see a pop-up notification prompting you to update.
December 2017 Edition