To check the battery usage on your iPhone go to iPhone Settings > Battery. This will tell you the battery usage for any applications running. Ski Tracks normally uses around 5-8% of battery per hour of use.
There are a number of possible reasons for lack of battery life:
- Battery condition - For example, the number of times it has been cycled (the iPhone battery is left to completely drain).
- Temperature - This has a large effect on battery life.
- GPS Quality - if the phone is struggling to get a signal it will use more power as we increase the quality.
- The Bluetooth is active.
- Music is playing.
- Other background application running - particularly other navigation or compass apps.
Here are a few suggestions of things you could try to extend your battery life:
- Restart your phone before taking it on the mountain. This will stop any background apps and services from running.
- Putting your phone in an inside jacket packet is best as long as the phone can't cause an injury if you fall.
- Make sure your phone is free from anything that might cause it difficulty in getting a GPS signal, such as metal objects, credit cards, metal cases, other phones, transceivers or walkie talkies.
- You could disable the battery monitor, however this will mean you may end the day with a dead phone.
- Reduce the battery monitor to 10%
- Turn off unwanted features such as bluetooth, 3/4G and Wi-Fi.
- Do not use iPod or audio.
- Close all other GPS related application - or just reboot your phone prior to using Ski Tracks.
- Make sure you phone is fully charged and charge the phone as soon as possible. Try not to let the battery reach 0%.
- Finally, as a last resort, replace the battery.