1. Adjust brightness: Managing the screen brightness is the best way to extend iPad 2 battery life. By default, your iPad 2 has Auto-Brightness turned On. Auto-Brightness adjusts iPad screen brightness based on ambient lighting conditions; lowering brightness in low light conditions helps to extend battery life. You can adjust brightness yourself; go to Settings > Brightness & Wallpaper and drag the slider to the left to lower the default screen brightness.
2. Manage the use of downloaded applications: Use of certain applications, such as games that prevent the screen from dimming or shutting off or applications that use location services, can reduce battery life.
3. Turn off Wi-Fi: Keeping your WiFi connection enabled drains battery, whether you’re connected to the Internet or not. So, if you’re not connected – and don’t plan to be for a while – you can conserve the iPad’s battery by turning off WiFi. Do this by tapping Settings -> Network -> WiFi -> and moving the slider to “off”.
4. Turn off 3G (Wi-Fi + 3G model): Only some iPad 2 models have a 3G data connection built in, but those that do run down their batteries when using the always-on Internet connection 3G provides. If you don’t need to connect to the web, or need to conserve battery more than you need to connect, turn off 3G. Do this by tapping the Settings app -> General -> Network and then sliding 3G to “off”.
5. Use Airplane Mode (Wi-Fi + 3G model) in low- or no-coverage areas: Because your iPad always tries to maintain a connection with a Wi-Fi network or 3G data network (Wi-Fi + 3G model), it may use more power in low- or no-coverage areas. Turning on Airplane Mode can increase battery life in these situations. To turn on Airplane Mode, go to Settings and set Airplane Mode to On.
6. Minimize use of location services: Another form of wireless communication the iPad employs is location services. This is what powers the GPS functionality of the device. If you don’t need to use that (don’t need to get directions, use a location-aware app like Foursquare, etc.), turn off locations services via Settings -> Location Services and move the slider to “off”.
7. Turn off push notifications: Some applications from the App Store use the Apple Push Notification service to alert you of new data. Applications that rely extensively on push notifications (such as instant messaging applications) may decrease battery life. To disable push notifications, go to Settings > Notifications and set Notifications to Off. Note that this does not prevent new data from being received when the application is opened. Also, the Notifications setting will not be visible if you do not have any applications installed that support push notifications.
8. Fetch new data less frequently: AIf you’re not using data push and want to get email, you’ll need to tell the iPad how often it should check your email accounts. The less frequently you check, the battery it will be for your battery. Update these settings at Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars -> Fetch New Data, and change the settings just below the Push menu.
9. Turn off push mail: If you have a push mail account such as Yahoo!, MobileMe, or Microsoft Exchange, turn off push when you don’t need it. Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and set Push to Off. Messages sent to your push email accounts will now be received on your phone based on the global Fetch setting rather than as they arrive. If the global Fetch setting is set to Manually, you will not be able to locate your iPad using the MobileMe Find My iPad feature.
10. Auto-check fewer email accounts: You can save power by checking fewer email accounts. This can be accomplished by turning off an email account or by deleting it. To turn off an account, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, choose an email account, and set Account to Off. To remove an account, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, choose an email account, and tap Delete Account.
11. Auto-Lock Sooner: You can determine how quickly the iPad’s screen should lock when it hasn’t been in use. The shorter the time before it locks, the less battery you’ll use. To change this setting, go to Settings -> General -> Auto-Lock and choose your interval.
1 Comments
Great tips, but frequent travelers may have the need for extra power on the road and an external battery sometimes is a must.
ReplyDeleteThere's an article at squidoo with a huge review of external batteries for ipad. Here is the link in case someone needs it --> http://www.squidoo.com/must-have-ipad-accessories-external-batteries