Apple wants to improve your battery life with GPS tracking

 

Your iPhone battery probably never gets you through the day on a single charge. Apple’s trying to change that through more efficient battery use.

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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published an Apple patent application today, AppleInsider reports. The application is for “Power Management of Electronic Devices,” and it reveals a method for a device that self-adjusts its settings to preserve battery life based on user habits.

It does this by analyzing the device’s current location and determining a known charging location. For instance, the iPhone learns that you charge it at home every night. It uses this information to determine (or estimate) how long it will be before you charge it again. Based on this, it will adjust by changing settings that eat up more battery power. The iPhone may turn off certain apps that aren’t in use or adjust the brightness to save power. It’s all based on your typical pattern use.

The patent application also describes that the device will charge faster in an unknown location. Travelers with only enough time for a quick charge before boarding a plane or bus will benefit because the device optimizes “to charge at a maximum rate.”

At this point, it’s only a patent application. Apple may choose to pursue the idea, or it may simply want to grab the patent to sit on it before anyone else gets it. Either way, I need more battery life out of my iPhone.