iPhone 4 is running hot and battery draining faster than normal

[Shadrack]

All last week everything seemed fine. I checked my cell usage on my phone regularly and was averaging about 2MB a day which I consider nominal.

Today I get to work, check my usage (because I didn't check it all weekend) to find this:

:( :( :(

What the heck is going on? I didn't notice any abnormal battery draining issues like before. According to myAT&T they only have 20MB of usage for me so far. I called support and they said they only show 20MB of usage as well but they have seen delays in reporting of this before. They told me I should go to the Apple Store which I intend to do as soon as I get a chance. AT&T told me that worst case scenario I'd be charged the 5GB plan fee, but I will probably still kick and scream if it comes to that...

The AT&T support guy asked if I did a lot of video streaming or something. I told him, no, and even if I did that would not account for the 4GB uploaded (that is indicated). I hope that this is just a fluke in the OS, but I went all last year without ever resetting the statistics and I only had about 1.5GB down and 600MB up (for the whole year, which seems about right).

Grrrrr....

[gq2012]

dude, im having the EXACT same problem as you (still have no idea how it happened). And seeing as you didnt subsequently provide updates on this post, im assuming that you've got the problem fixed??

SOS. my data usage's gonna kill my phone bill....

ANY help would be great!

[Shadrack]

gq2012: to this day I'm not 100% sure WHAT the issue was. AT&T never registered a 4GB up/down like my iPhone was reporting (thank God) so I was never billed for it.

My phone is fine now after trying a bunch of things but I am not sure what the issue was and I'm not confident that it won't come back. I still suspect my work's exchange server for some reason, but I don't know. Reinstallation of the entire OS and not restoring from a backup but rather reinstalling each application manually might have been the solution. I really don't know. Sorry :(.

[bjoswald]

Not sure how many of this stuff applies to an iPhone, but they're typically the culprit of ****ty battery life on Android.

Disable GPS,

Adjust sync settings,

Reduce brightness,

Disable vibrate/LED notifications,

Reduce screen off delay

[TuesdayLisa]

The same thing is happening to my iPhone 4. I took it into Apple and the "genius" said that it had something to do with the latest update turning all the apps to default on for location services. He also said I had my display on too bright (oh ya "genius?" Why would it make my phone hot NOW when it's been fine for over a year?) So we turned off a lot of the location services but it's still getting too hot. I'm going to have to go back to Apple and if I get another guy like that last one, I'm going to lose it on him. I'm SO frustrated!!!

[Davo]

OMG Lisa, like I tooooooooootally understand :rolleyes:

Like Shadrack eventually found out, anything that is straining the mobile network will cause the phone to get warm and overheat. As a phone technician, the only other reason I've seen it do that is if something is shorted out, in which case the phone turns off as a safety measure like a computer would.

People are generally luddites when it comes to cell phones unless they have experience selling/working with them, so the explanation sounds reasonable given that Bluetooth, GPS, Display, Exchange and/or Network Connections are the main culprits of battery drain. ESPECIALLY, in Shadrack's case where he was roaming internationally.

[CloudEngineer]

i noticed my iphone 4 heats up a lot while at work (multi story building, crap reception on lower floors) i think it may be the fact that its constantly searching for a 3g connection hence why it heats up while down at my desk, but quickly cools when on the top floor of the building.

[Tech Star]

Same thing happened with my 4S this past week. Battery dying quick, but only gets hot when in use.

The battery is the main issue for me because it drains 12% in an hour with minimal amount of use, e.g. texting.

[Shadrack]

For people having these issues and still haven't been able to resolve them, I recommend doing a complete reinstall of iOS and DO NOT RESTORE FROM YOUR PREVIOUS BACKUP. I know, it sucks to have to manually reinstall/reset everything, but I suspect that with my issue the actual problem existed somewhere in my backup so restoring that backup was just restoring my problem (whatever it was).

[CPressland]

Why not simply keep an eye on the Console Logs for a recurring error / process and nuke that from the Backup? This way surely you're not going to lose everything.

I'm running the same 'Backup' I had on my iPhone 1st gen. I have text messages still sitting on my iPhone 4S from way back then.

[Denis W. Veteran]

It's too bad important things such as your Messages database aren't stored in the user-accessible area of iOS. User-accessible as in you can use tools to read and restore files from your device without jailbreaking them - so your photos, music, applications and their data, voice clips, etc. If it were, it would be a no-brainer to recommend a clean reinstall of iOS when problems arise, so that you can selectively copy back important data to your phone.

[CPressland]

It's too bad important things such as your Messages database aren't stored in the user-accessible area of iOS. User-accessible as in you can use tools to read and restore files from your device without jailbreaking them - so your photos, music, applications and their data, voice clips, etc. If it were, it would be a no-brainer to recommend a clean reinstall of iOS when problems arise, so that you can selectively copy back important data to your phone.

Arguably you can via my method as above, still, I'd rather a non-restorable SQL DB than Androids saving of Text Messages as single txt files throughout the FileSystem.

[Shadrack]

It's too bad important things such as your Messages database aren't stored in the user-accessible area of iOS. User-accessible as in you can use tools to read and restore files from your device without jailbreaking them - so your photos, music, applications and their data, voice clips, etc. If it were, it would be a no-brainer to recommend a clean reinstall of iOS when problems arise, so that you can selectively copy back important data to your phone.

Yeah...it sucks, but in all reality do most folks need every last txt they have ever sent or received? Before iPhone, my Samsung flip phone would only hold a TOTAL 100 messages (sent+received) so I was constantly deleting messages.

[Denis W. Veteran]

Yeah...it sucks, but in all reality do most folks need every last txt they have ever sent or received? Before iPhone, my Samsung flip phone would only hold a TOTAL 100 messages (sent+received) so I was constantly deleting messages.

Sentimental value. :p

Though officially there isn't a tool to view the oldest messages on your iPhone (Messages app cuts off after the most recent 300 or so messages, if I recall correctly) even though they exist in the SQLite file.

[Josh_LosAltosHills]

Ive been seeing alot of people complaining that instagram has been draining their battery lately. Who knows but it doesnt seem impossible. I have 2 games, a drag racing game and a baseball game. If I dont totally kill both I do notice a drain on my battery.

[texanthony17]

I had the same prob. Then I found an article that recommended the following, and it actually worked!

 

Disable the Push feature used by your email accounts. Tap the "Settings" icon on your iPhone's home screen. Tap into "Mail, Contacts, Calenders" and then tap into "Fetch New Data." Disable the Push feature, then reboot your iPhone. If the battery issue is resolved, return to the "Fetch New Data" area and set up the Fetch feature to fetch your mail, while leaving Push disabled

 

I hope this help you, cause it certainly was eating up my data plan, and draining my battery. I was constantly switching on and off the Cellular data. I thought the problem would get fixed after I updated my 4S to OS7, but it still kept draining. But now its all good. Good luck!

[Draconian Guppy]

 

I had the same prob. Then I found an article that recommended the following, and it actually worked!

 

Disable the Push feature used by your email accounts. Tap the "Settings" icon on your iPhone's home screen. Tap into "Mail, Contacts, Calenders" and then tap into "Fetch New Data." Disable the Push feature, then reboot your iPhone. If the battery issue is resolved, return to the "Fetch New Data" area and set up the Fetch feature to fetch your mail, while leaving Push disabled

 

I hope this help you, cause it certainly was eating up my data plan, and draining my battery. I was constantly switching on and off the Cellular data. I thought the problem would get fixed after I updated my 4S to OS7, but it still kept draining. But now its all good. Good luck!

 

Holy thread resurrection batman, welcome to neowin! I was expecting  spam on that link!

[Hum]

The NSA is tracking you.