Why the iPhone 5 is Discharging Fast and Can Not Connect to Mobile Internet

My wife's iPhone 5 is almost two years old. I could say it is still in top condition and could deliver it's service the way as it was when it was new. But yesterday, it was a different story. My wife found out that she could not use the internet when at work and the battery is almost flat dead after her 12 hours duty despite being fully charged  when she started work.

Knowing her, I suspected  a user's fault rather than a hardware's fault. And here's what I found out.

Can't connect to data mobile whilst at work.

It is not unusual that there are dead spots inside a building. Initially I suspect that this is causing her internet problem.  Or she might over looked that the mobile data button is not activated.

Fortunately her mobile data and 4G network buttons are on, and  the settings are correct. So no issue with non-active data connection. Testing it from home provides positive conclusion that there's no conflict with the configuration and network's availability.  If she can not access internet from  work then  her location when she is accessing it is the culprit.

I was about to believe this but when she insisted that she can't access the internet anywhere from the hospital, I became suspicious to a non-obvious reason why she can not connect, an open wi-fi connection! At work, there are open connections but need to be authenticated  before it gives you internet access. Although the phone says it is connected, it does not log you in without the proper credentials. But even when you are not logged on,  it somehow locks your wi-fi and tricks your phone into being connected to an internet access. This means the data connection is disabled as wi-fi supersedes mobile connections when available.

The solution is simple for this, just disable the wi-fi button!

Battery discharges quickly.

The problem above is also a clue why the battery is not performing very well. The desperation on getting online might made her press buttons and activate functions that does not need to be active.

Turn off wi-fi and personal hotspot when not in use.

Obvious cause is the wi-fi being on, and investigating further, the personal hotspot button(settings>Personal hotspot) is also on! Turning them off when not in use saves battery. The personal hotspot has nothing to do with going online unless you want your device to become a gateway for other devices to access the internet. Using this could rake up mobile data bills specially when tethering is not included with your contract or you have a limited band width.

Turn off background App Refresh

Another culprit which is usually overlooked is the background app refreshing their contents. once they are connected to any internet access, either wi-fi or data.  Specially those applications that tracks the user's location like Facebook, Maps (see screenshot with arrows) and other's identified by the active location logo.  The best way to control this is to just turn the slider to the left(off).

Mind the FB videos.

By default, video feeds playback from facebook is set to automatic. It may appear harmless, but this  really drains the battery specially when your friends has too much videos to share. Automatic playing does not only shortens battery power but also your data bundle. To turn this feature off, open facebook, tap more at the bottom right corner, account settings, videos and photos, then slide smart auto-play to the left. This make the device not to play  video contents automatically.

Last Words.

These are not just the factors in having problems with mobile connectivity and short battery life. This are the problems I discovered in my wife's phone. Screen brightness could be blamed by majority of users, but for me, it is crucial to have enough clarity and I value this more than conserving the battery as it can be saved by other sensible measures.

The Controversial iPhone 5 Keyboard Case

The Typo apple keyboard is a dual purpose product. It serves as a case and as an attached keyboard for the apple mobile product. This makes your iPhone5 very similar to a blackberry phone, which is well known for an integrated QWERTY keyboard. Whether the iPhone will benefit with this comparison or not, it is obvious that users who usually use email or text messaging application will like this new product.

Physical keyboards are ideal when speed and accuracy is demanded. I myself is deterred to use  touch screens when doing some lengthy notes. Therefore I use laptops instead of tablets in emailing and other writing tasks.

Typo The Keyboard Case

Reserve here!

Compatibility

The device is compatible to the iPhone 5 series but unfortunately do not support the earlier versions. It is composed of two separate top and bottom plastic parts. The Typo is connected to the iPhone via bluetooth, and this means the phone should be on bluetooth mode to use the device. It has a separate power supply. And not like the iPhone 5 that has a lightning connector, the Typo uses a micro USB type charger.

The Feel

When in place, the home button is obscured with the physical keyboard but to compensate for that, there is a home button key in place at the bottom-right corner of the device. As typo keyboard is positioned just at the lower screen's opening of the phone, it could be impossible to swipe up from the bottom of the phone. This means the shortcut screen for airplane mode, wi-fi, bluetooth, screen rotation and so on is not accessible with the Typo on. Nevertheless these can still be accessed via settings.

The separate power pack of the device could last up to 14 days on one charging cycle. The backlit for the keys is also avaailable and it can be switched on and off to save even more battery. Unfortunately, the device can not be a source of secondary power to the iPhone.

Performance

Those who have tested the device noticed the responsiveness and lack of latency in terms of touch input. The overall built is of high quality. They even compare it as the same or better than other full sized bluetooth around. There is just a slight displease in the QWERTY first row level as it is slightly more flexible than the rest of the material. This makes the device less sturdy whilst typing specially from the top row letters.

Controversy

This became controversial when star like Ryan Seacrest is up in backing up for it's development. This is because he feel it's practical use as he usually carry two phones, one for calling and the other, with QWERTY, for messaging. And I am guessing he has his iPhone and blackberry together at the same time. 

This became more controversial when Blackberry filed a case against it over the design. As blackberry argued there is a copyright violation involved. 

Where to buy it?

At the moment, it is only available to pre-order by going to their site. And I would say that at this moment, it is pricey at $99 per piece. However, if there would be a restriction of it's sale because of the law case, then this is the best time to get one.

There are other bluetooth keyboard solutions, like the onebelow, that cost fraction of the price. But if you are desperate to turn your iPhone 5 into something like a blackberry clone then this case will do the job.  

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Alternative Product

Video

TYPO PRODUCTS - iPhone Keyboard Case from Typo on Vimeo.

iPhone 5 Interesting Application

Cycloramic

If you have already the latest iPhone, then I am sure you've been trying it's new functions like the panoramic view. Although this feature has been around and in fact, other mobile manufacturers consider this as already old, this has been a distinct feature of the iPhone5 amongst it's predecessors. But with the refinement of  the camera , the development of the screen, and because apple used it for it's latest phone, this feature of a camera phone has somewhat came back from the dead, and made headlines not only to the users but to the apps developers as well! 

What I am talking about is an application that turns the phone 360 degrees to take panoramic video shots. Cool, first application of it's kind for mobiles. The application can make your iPhone turn once, twice or three times 360 degrees whilst taking hands free video recording. It utilizes the vibrate function of the phone to make it move. So the vibrate mode should be on before you can use the application. If your phone has a funky cover or case, you need to take it off and let the phone stand on a flat, level, solid and smooth surface like a wood, or glass for the phone to spin freely from friction, and as you might not want to get some scratches at the base of your phone whilst taking the shoot. Application of this program maybe limited, but those who wanted to be included in the video shoot instead of being left out whilst taking the shoot can comfortably sit down and relax and let cycloramic do the trick.

Capability of the program is limited to take videos without sounds, and at the moment, does not support panoramic still photos. I am sure the developers are already unto this, and might have these updates in the near future.

The application is available at the apps store and costs 0.64 pence at the time of this post. If you are interested to experience this it, visit the apps page and just type in cycloramic at the search window. 

See cycloramic  video in action below

Watch an amateur video gererated by cycloramic.

This Season's Best iPhone 5 Deal

As the festive season is on, there's a price crash on the iPhone 5 and now is the time to get it, SIM free or on contract. Several online re sellers are even cheaper than buying it direct from apple, saving you something for that leather case or additional accessories. So here's the latest offers from selected retailers.

Contract

Carphonewarehouse

The most recommended offer with an attractive monthly bundle is £36/month for 24 months. This is provided by O2 network with unlimited voice calls to any network, unlimited text cross network, and 1GB of data. You do need to pay £25 upfront for the phone, but it is still the cheapest and most attractive offer so far that I can find online. Delivery is free or you can choose to collect it from the nearest Carphonewarehouse outlet from your location. The total cost for this deal is £889. 

You can choose between black or white unit.

Dialaphone

If you are looking for the lowest effective cost after 24 months then iPhone 5 from dialaphone is the best option. For £33 line rental a month plus £49 upfront payment, Vodafone iPhone 33 is the deal for you. This gives you 600 free minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data. It also includes 2GB of wi-fi data from vodafone network. The total cost after 2 years is £840.96

Pay as you go

When call budget is an issue, pay as you go is a suitable option. Carphonewarehouse has a wide selection of networks to choose from offering the iPhone 5. 

Why buy pay as you go? The phone comes with a nano sim card which is ready to use and depending on your choosen network, you can have free international calls, priority tickets, buy one take one cinema tickets, free calls to the same networks and so on. The tag price is £499.95 upfront plus a £10 top up, a total of £509.95. 

SIM Free

Apple store sells the 16GB iPhone 5 at £529 upfront. Carphonewarehouse sells this for £509.95, a saving of  at least £19 which you can use to buy for a protective case or another accessory. The good thing about SIM free is you can use any SIM card from any network from any country. And if you have an existing contract  an incompatible SIM card size, you can call your network to provide you with a nano SIM card.

Accessories

Carphonewarehouse offers further savings of up to 25% off on all apple accessories including iPhone 5. Essential accessory like screen protector and case are a must to keep your device in mint condition and protect it from accidents. See details below.

Now is the right time to get yourself a new iPhone 5 at a holiday season price. I am sure you wouldn't like to miss the price drop, so strike while the iron is still hot.

iPhone 5 Tips

Internet Browsing

• Private Browsing (#1)

As you use your phone to browse the web, information on the sites you visit, the search query you've typed will be saved on the browsers memory. And if you share your iphone5  with your friends and family, this data will be readily available to those who have an access to your phone.  If you do not want  this from happening, activate the Private Browsing by going to Settings, Safari, Privacy, then turn on the Private Browsing button.

If you do not want websites to store your information whilst visiting their pages, you can opt not to accept cookies. Do this choosing Never at Accept Cookies menu.

• Clear History, Cookies and Data(#2)

If you have used your iPhone5 to browse the internet before setting on the Private Browsing option, you might first need to clear your history, cookies and data. And to see which websites has managed to save some data from your browsing habits, check it from Settings, Safari, Advanced, Website Data. You have an option to delete the site from the list or delete all. 

Which one not to delete? 

This depends on who have the access on the phone. If it's just you alone, then I will leave the data from emails and social networks. I will just erase that from banks or shopping and any site that involves financial transactions. Why? Just in case the phone is lost and somebody manages to get an access.

• Auto Fill(#3);

This function is useful in filling out online forms, especially when you are fond of joining websites that asks you to input the same personal entries. When turned on, the Auto Fill function uses the information stored under your name in Contacts. Or if you are creating a profile for one of your friends, you can automatically fill in his details as long as it is saved in his profile. 

You can Access this by going to Settings, Safari, Auto Fill, My Info then choose the entry where you keep your information.

• Reading List

Action Button

If you come across an article you want to read later, most of the time, you just hit the bookmark button and the web address is saved in the bookmark for later access. The disadvantage of this method is, your bookmark continuously piling up of addresses creating clutter especially when you seldom tidy up your list when you no longer need it or have finished reading what you've wanted to read.

A solution for this is to use the Reading List instead of the Book Mark. You can save a website to read later without adding it to your bookmark by pressing the action button  when you are browsing then press Add to Reading List.To get back to the saved reading list, tap the bookmark icon and the Reading List is at the top. Once you've accessed the saved item, it will be automatically deleted from the list.

• Reader's Aid

And whilst reading, you can magnify the text of the article without necessarily pinching it out to zoom the page with your fingers. You can even take off all the distractions like adverts and photos by using the Reader in Safari. It is activated when you tap on the title of an article, the Reader button will be available at the address bar. A tap on the reader will give you the option to increase or decrease the size of the text, by tapping on the relevant icon. The text then will be auto fitted into the screen for easier navigation and reading.

Texting

• Keyboard Shortcut

Predictive text helps texting quick and easy. The only downside to this is, it spells out the whole word in english. You can not use a shortcut of words when the function is on. Another way to compose text quickly is to use keyboard shortcuts. It doesn't matter if you use any language or several languages, or write abbreviations of words. It does understand and spells out words the way you want it, only in a flash and quicker way.

Try the function by going to Settings, General, Keyboard, Shortcuts, Add New Shortcut then enter the Phrase you want to use and the Shortcut for the phrase, one letter for each word and do not leave a space between the letters.

Useful when texting the same phrase or word every time.

• Customized Vibration

Allocating a customized ringtone to a contact lets you know who is calling before you answer the phone. This function has been around for sometime. How do you know who is calling when your phone is on a vibrate mode?

You can now predict who is calling you or sending you a message when your phone is on silent mode by just  observing the vibration it makes. There are several preset vibrations you can choose from to assign to your contacts. You can also make a new customized vibe by going into Settings, Sounds, Ringtone, Vibration, Create New Vibration then tap on the screen to make your own sequences.

To set up the customized vibration to your contacts, go to the name of your contact, tap edit and choose the preset vibe or the one you've made.