since upgrading to iOS5 I’ve noticed my battery life is a lot lower.

A quick google found this thread on the subject, and possible short term fixes until it is sorted (presumably with iOS5.1)

http://osxdaily.com/2011/10/16/ios-5-battery-life-fix-tips/

and this comment in particular seems a good one – iOS5 seems to have the GPS permanently on by default to check what timezone you are in

Hi,

I think I’ve found a cause of the battery drain. Believe it or not but it’s the System Service for setting Time Zone. If I go to Settings -> Location Services -> System Services and turn ON the “Status Bar Icon” option at the bottom, I can see the GPS is in permanent use. Disabling the “Setting Time Zone” option immediately stops it.

I’ve tried this on my dad’s iPhone 4s too. I suspect it’s an iOS5 bug.

All the best,

Alex

Carry a spare battery…oh. 😉

Thanks for this. Upgraded to a 4S on Friday and I thought the battery seemed worse than my ageing 3GS. sure enough, checked in settings a nd the phone was using GPS to set my time zone…

Noticed this after I upgraded, even after switching it off battery life seems to have taken a bit of a hit.

Ah, that’s useful, I wondered why the GPS symbol was on even without any mapping ‘ware running. And yes you can carry a spare battery. Amazon do one, around £22 and will fully charge an iPhone or iPad. Just plug in the cable. Then there’s battery cases…
Much better than a removable lith ion battery that you have to carry in a case in case it catches fire because the contacts get crossed.

I wondered why the GPS symbol was on even without any mapping ‘ware running. And yes you can carry a spare battery

it wasn’t for me – I’ve just realised thats because the GPS icon thing in the status bar had been switched off after the upgrade – got it switched back on now

Hmm odd it didn’t seem to be showing the GPS icon on the status bar. Maybe the System Services don’t – or maybe it just doesn’t kick in much. Deactivated anyway.

Edit: ah it does when you activate that setting. Very odd.

Graham S – go to Settings/ Location Services/ System Services – then scroll to the bottom. You may find (as I did) that the GPS Icon in the status bar has been deactivated (mine had)

Yeah see it now. Ta.

Don’t think that setting was “deactivated” BTW, as that setting didn’t exist in iOS 4.