If you’ve just updated your iPhone or iPad to iOS 4.3, and noticed your battery life draining away faster. Apple technical support will tell you that this is an isolated case and will ask you to restore your device through iTunes. And if the issues continue, they will tell you to just restore again and set it as new device.
If that did nothing for you or you simply don’t want to risk losing your data through restore, then read on.
Note that some iPad 2 owners also found that the new iPad 2 have significantly shorter battery life than the first-generation iPad. iPad 2 came pre-installed with iOS 4.3.
You’re not Alone
A lot of iPhone and iPad users have reported issues of iOS 4.3 battery life draining fast, even with no background apps running and push notifications turned off.
It’s not a Bug. It’s a Feature!
Turns out that the iOS 4.3 has new features aimed at promoting Apple’s social network called Ping. iOS 4.3 came out with Ping notifications enabled by default.
What is Apple Ping?
Steve Jobs says “It’s for social music discovery. You can follow people and be followed on Ping.”
How is this feature connected to your quick battery life draining experience?
No one knows for sure. And, as usual, Apple is not admitting any battery life issue with iOS 4.3. So there are no in-depth details nor official confirmation of bugs related to Ping feature.
However, by turning off the Ping service on iOS 4.3, users reported that their battery life went back to normal.
Solution for iOS 4.3 Battery Life Draining Issues
If you don’t use Ping social network feature, then it is best to turn Ping service off. And, to save you from other hidden pitfalls, best to turn off other services/features you don’t use as well.
If you don’t buy songs from iTunes, you should also turn off Ping service as you won’t get any benefits with it enabled. As of this writing, the Ping features on iOS4.3 only appears for songs purchased from iTunes.
Go to Settings > General > Restrictions > Enable Restrictions, and then turn off Ping.
If this is your first time to Enable Restrictions, you’ll be asked to enter a 4-digit passcode. You’ll need that 4-digit passcode if you decide to turn these features back on.
Keep in mind some services and features turn themselves back on after iOS updates. One such feature that automatically turns back on is the In-App purchasing setting. So you have to inspect your Restriction settings after every iOS updates.
But Wait. There’s More!
There’s another old recurring bug that could possibly give a few unlucky users the fast battery draining effect right after updating their iOS.
This bug has been observed and reported to exist since Apple added push notifications service to iOS 3.0. But it seems like Apple did not bother to fix this minor issue since they claim it only affects a few people.
However, as Apple iPhone user-base grew and iOS updates keep coming, it is no longer a surprise to find users in Apple discussion forums complaining about battery life issue with every iOS update.
Common symptoms of this bug is that after updating your iOS, you’ll notice your battery life meter decreasing faster even without much activity. Restoring your device to factory settings will fix the battery draining issue. But right after you restore your backup data, you’ll notice the battery life draining effect comes back as well.
To fix this issue, see Fix for iPhone Exchange Email Push Notification Issues
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