iOS 6.1 Leads To Battery Life Drain, Overheating For iPhone Users

An anonymous reader writes "We have started seeing an increase in iPhone issues related to battery life and overheating. All of them seem to be related to users upgrading their devices to iOS 6.1. Furthermore, Vodafone UK today began sending out text messages to iPhone 4S owners on its network, warning them not to upgrade to iOS 6.1 due to issues with 3G performance. The text reads, 'If you've not already downloaded iOS 6.1 for your iPhone 4s, please hold off for the next version while Apple fixes 3G performance issues. Thanks.'"

No problem here

[DJ Particle]

iOS 6.1 - iPhone 4S - no issues. Don't know where TFA is getting this from.

Re:No problem here

[grqb]

Same here

No Exchange, no problem

[Tangential]

Everything I read points to interaction with MS-Exchange as the culprit.

It may be an Apple bug related to interacting with Exchange, but since Exchange is a proprietary and non-standards compliant interface, such things happen from time to time.

I've experienced better battery life since going to 6.1 on my 4S. Of course I don't (and hopefully won't ever) use Exchange.

Re:No Exchange, no problem

[Richard_at_work]

Nice attempt at trolling, but since Apple is a licensee to the ActiveSync protocol, they are fully within control of how they implement that spec and thus responsible for any issues that crop up when none existed before...

"proprietary" and "non-standards compliant" doesn't equate to "shit", it just equates to "I can't download the spec from a website and implement it". If you implement the protocol badly, it doesn't matter whether it's proprietary or not. If you don't control both ends of a connection, then you are entirely dependent on how the other end implement the protocol, proprietary or not.

Re:Rats, already upgraded

[whisper_jeff]

Apple provides some of the best legacy support for their devices of all mobile vendors. By a WIDE margin, in many cases given that most other mobile vendors stop supporting a device the instant it's sold...

Also, on the desktop side, they continued supporting OS9 apps for almost a decade after moving on from that OS, as but one example of their legacy support. They not only provide some of the best legacy support in the industry, they also provide a great deal of advance warning of when that legacy support os going to end.

So, aside from just being a troll, I don't have a clue what you're talking about.

I had issue w. battery, recreated my email profile

[Anonymous Coward]

I solved my 6.1 battery issues by deleting and recreating my two exchange email profile.

Apparently this a common issue after iOS upgrades.

ActiveSync and Calendars

[Laser_47]

Apparently if you update a calendar item on your iOS device, it tries to update Exchange and fails.

It then retries continuously, chewing through battery life and log files: http://wmpoweruser.com/exchange-server-acting-up-blame-those-ios-6-1-users-then-ban-them/ [wmpoweruser.com].

Re:No Exchange, no problem

[Gr8Apes]

... If you implement the protocol badly, it doesn't matter whether it's proprietary or not. If you don't control both ends of a connection, then you are entirely dependent on how the other end implement the protocol, proprietary or not.

And apparently,from skimming the referenced articles, it appears that the server end has issues....

Re:No problem here

[TrancePhreak]

I've read about a problem like this. It was a bug in the handling of exchange servers for the built in mail app. Removing and re-adding the exchange account seemed to fix it. The bug will randomly reappear at times and there is no known cause.

Re:No problem here

[Serenissima]

I used to work at an Apple Store. I was never a tech, so take this with a grain of salt. It's PROBABLY not related to the system update but more than likely something bad on the phone itself. If you see the usage and standby meters the same like you do, you're right, something is hung up in the background. The best thing to do is to make sure you have a backup and restore the phone. If there's something hanging in the background for a while, you'll start to notice your phone acting funny. Like the battery life problem. Left alone for long enough and you'll start getting corrupted data into the phone because of it which will make your phone act really strange. Apps constantly crashing to the point of unusability, it can become unresponsive on certain parts of the screen, etc. And that corrupted data can eventually get copied into the backup file - meaning that any restore from the backup will bring that problem right back.

To Back Up - First copy all photos and videos from the phone to the computer. They will fill up your iCloud space really fast. Then look for Apps that hold documents. Most apps are really just portals to websites so they contain little to no data. However, for apps that contain files, make sure you have those files backed up somewhere. Then backup the phone to either iCloud or by plugging it into iTunes. Plug it into iTunes in either case and also right-click on the phone and hit Transfer Purchases. That will transfer any apps, music, movies, etc that are not currently on the computer from the phone.

So easiest to hardest steps after backing up all data:
1: Reset All Settings: Go to Settings>General>Reset All Content and Settings. Then restore from backup. This can kill a lot of problems and takes maybe 15 minutes. However, if the problem is deep in the system...
2: Restore from Backup: Plug the phone into iTunes and do a System Restore. This will do a clean install and will clear a lot more problems. Then restore from backup. Now, if the problem persists, your backup is more than likely corrupted so...
3: Restore the Phone: Do the same process as above but do not restore from the backup. You can re-sync to iCloud for contacts and re-sync apps from the computer (or re-download them). Essentially you're starting with a fresh system and just copying the apps back over. You'll lose your app data, so maybe some high scores in some games, nothing too bad. However, if the problem persists even after doing this...
4: DFU Restore: Look up how to do this online. If none of the above have fixed it, there's some bad juju on your phone. A DFU will reinstall the system AND the firmware. Just to be on the safe side, I would advise not restoring from backup. If your phone was borked enough that it needed a DFU restore, don't take the chance of putting stuff back on there. Just copy the apps back.

All in all, they're very easy steps to do and when all is said and done, you can have your phone back up and running in about 30 min with any of the above steps. Hope it helps, Cheers!