My iPhone battery lasted all weekend

2016-09-29 09:12:18 alice 5

My iPhone battery lasted all weekend

Yes, really. I didn’t charge my iPhone 6S once. Nor did I turn it off.


If you don’t believe me, here is absolutely everything I did over this mystical weekend to keep my phone alive from one full charge on Friday afternoon through the following Monday. I believe that, if followed meticulously, these steps will result in your iPhone battery lasting all weekend as well.


Friday


  1. Drove from New York to campsite in Acadia National Park.

  2. Charged phone to full battery in car along the way.

  3. Lost service about 20 minutes after the L.L. Bean outlet.

  4. Put phone in airplane mode.

  5. Locked it in the dark, cool car trunk. I cannot guarantee this will work in months other than September when the weather is different.

  6. Pitched a tent.

  7. Built a fire at campsite.

  8. Made fire REALLY BIG. This may have slightly warmed the iPhone in the trunk of the car parked a few feet away.

  9. Went to sleep.

Saturday


  1. Climbed a mountain.

  2. Briefly turned off airplane mode to see whether there was service (there was!). Texted parents, “I’m still alive.”

  3. Spent 10 minutes archiving work email. (What can I say? I like a tidy inbox.)

  4. Returned phone to airplane mode.

  5. Descended mountain.

  6. Made another really big fire.

  7. Used phone to take Snapchat video of fire, which was both boiling water in a tea kettle and baking a lasagna.

  8. Remembered phone was in airplane mode, and that I had no service anyway. Downloaded Snapchat video for later.

  9. Dubbed meal, “flaming lasagna.”

  10. Put phone in car trunk and went to sleep.

Sunday


  1. Climbed another mountain.

  2. Near summit, spotted a double rainbow.

  3. “Whoa that’s a full rainbow.”

  4. Used iPhone to take photos while keeping it in airplane mode. I understand the last few steps might be difficult to replicate, but also assume seeing the double rainbow augured good fortune for my battery life and so included them in this list.

rhi plastic caps and copper busbar
See, the iPhone is still alive. (Quartz/Alison Griswold)

  1. Descended mountain.

  2. Built another fire (this was the biggest one yet).

  3. Walked to ocean to look at stars.

  4. Went to sleep.

Monday


  1. Left remaining firewood for campsite neighbors.

  2. Departed Acadia.

  3. Removed phone from airplane mode somewhere between Bar Harbor and the L.L. Bean outlet.

  4. Triaged texts and email (about 30 minutes).

  5. Put (still alive!) phone back in airplane mode because vacation wasn’t over yet.