Do you make these iPhone charging mistakes?
Charging an iPhone is easy, right? You just stick the plug in the bottom and away you go. Right? Wrong! It's amazing how many people are suffering from slow charging and actually prematurely wearing their battery by making these simple mistakes. Most of these tips also apply to Android smartphones.
CNE
My informal poll of iPhone users suggest that most iPhone users make at least two of these mistakes, possibly three.
How many do you make? Let me know!
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1: Keeping your iPhone on charge all the time
If you're the type of person that takes your iPhone off charge in the morning, pops it on charge in the car on the way to work, plugs it into a charger by your desk all day before again charging it in the car on the way home, and finally putting it on charge again overnight when you get back, then you need to stop.
This continuous charging is wearing out your battery in two ways. First, you're continually forcing charge into a battery that's always close to fully charged, which isn't something batteries like. Secondly, all that charging is keeping the battery continually warm, which again isn't good for it.
Charge the battery, and let the battery run down to about the 50 percent mark before recharging it. Stop it with the constant recharging!
2: Letting your iPhone run flat all the time
Again, a bad idea, especially if you live in a hot or cold climate, as this can put additional strain on the battery.
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3: Using poor quality cables
While most charging cables you come across are fine, the cheap-and-nasty ones you find in dollar stores just aren't up to the job of charging modern smartphones, especially any sort of fast-charge.
Here's a simple test; if the cable feels thin and flimsy, or it gets warm while charging, it's a poor cable, and you should replace it.
4: Using poor quality chargers
Ideally, use the charger that came with your iPhone, or a fast charger recommended by Apple. Alternatively, use a good quality third-party charger from a company like Anker. Using dollar store chargers can now only result in slower charge times, but they can also damage your iPhone.
5: Using wireless charging
Wireless charging is little more than a fancy gimmick. It's slower than using a cable (especially with USB-C fast charging), and you can't easily use the iPhone while it's charging.
And if you have a case on your iPhone, charging is compromised. And the thicker the case, the more it is compromised.
Sure, slapping your iPhone down of a wireless charger in a coffee shop is a good way to get a bit of a charge up, but as a workable day-to-day method, it's slow and unreliable (there's been many a time when I have put my iPhone down on a wireless charger only to find it hasn't been charging).
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6: Charging your iPhone when it's too hot or too cold
It's not smart to leave your iPhone baking in the sun in a car or in a window, and doubly so to be charging it when it's hot.
Same goes when it's too cold.
iPhones have an operating temperature of 0º and 35º C (32º to 95º F), outside of which they get unhappy, especially the battery.
7: Using damaged cables
Bad idea. Replace them as soon as possible so you get the best charging experience and don't damage your device.
8: Storing a device fully charged or completely discharged
If you are storing a device for more than a few weeks, the best state to do it in is at 50 percent charge.