iPhone 13 – Disable These 10 Settings ASAP

The iPhone 13 is great, but disabling a few settings will make using it a much better experience.

If–like a lot of people–you got a new iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro you’re probably enjoying all of the new features and capabilities.

Whether it’s your first iPhone or you’ve been carrying one since the last time they shipped with flat sides, there are probably a few settings you should turn off now to make using your new device a better experience. Here are the 10 settings I suggest you disable right now:

1. Disable keyboard suggestions

When you type a message in Whatsapp or write an email on your iPhone, you have probably already noticed the word suggestions that appear above the keyboard. While these can be helpful for slow typers, for nimble fingers the word suggestions usually come too late. If you don’t use this feature you can simply deactivate it, which means one less task for which the iPhone must provide computing capacity.

To do this, go to Settings and move the slider to the left under General > Keyboard and deselect Predictive.

2. Automatically close Safari tabs

On the iPhone a few dozen open tabs can quickly accumulate and paralyse Safari. And even if you do want to keep tabs open finding the one you want among a sea of open tabs can be tricky. If you are someone who rarely closes a tab after use you can have this done automatically in the settings.

Your iPhone can automatically close “tabs that have not been viewed recently” after a day, a week or a month.

In order for is to do this, go to Settings and select Safari > Close Tabs and then the interval you want.

3. Stop app review requests

Annoyed that you keep seeing notifications to review apps in the App Store? If you move the corresponding slider to the left in System Preferences, you can stop these requests for feedback.

To do this, go to Settings > App Store and deselect In-App Ratings & Reviews.

4. Disable automatic app downloads and updates

Apple offers automatic app downloads and updates. This is handy if you want the app that you download on your iPhone to automatically download you on your iPad. But the feature is not always practical, nor are the automatic app updates. Fortunately, you can deactivate both:

To do this, go to Settings > App Store and move the slider to the left for Apps and App Updates.

5. Stop keyboard clicks

For many users the sound that the iPhone makes when you type is quite an annoying feature. If the iPhone is muted, you won’t hear the sounds, but you don’t always want your iPhone on silent. So what can you do if you don’t want to annoy other people every time you type a message?

Fortunately, you can deactivate the touch tones in the system settings:

To do this, go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics and deselect Keyboard Clicks. In the same place, you can also deactivate the lock sound.

6. Disable unnecessary system services

System services includes a list of system-based services on your iPhone that are using your location. Some of these services are necessary like Emergency Calls & SOS, Find My iPhone, and Share My Location. To view your list go to: Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services.

When you’re evaluating your list of system services, it’s also important to remember what the purple arrows mean: A hollow purple arrow indicates that an item may receive your location under certain conditions. This is typically referred to as geofencing and will check to see if you are entering or leaving an area. A solid purple arrow indicates that an item has recently used your location. A gray arrow indicates that an item used your location in the last 24 hours.

7. Disable “Analytics and Improvements”

Go to Settings > Privacy > Analytics and Improvements. Turn off the first option “Share iPhone Analytics” and it will disable other analytics reports happening in the background. This should immediately improve battery life.

8. Allowing apps to track you

iOS 15 gives you the ability to disable notifications from apps requesting to track you. When you turn this off, all app requests to track you will be automatically denied.

To disable: Go to Settings > Privacy > Tracking > and then toggle “Allow Apps to Request to Track.” You can also view the apps that currently or previously requested to track you.

9. Disable push email

Do you need your iPhone to monitor your email accounts every second of every day? That’s the basic definition of “push” email, which is widely regarded as a huge battery suck.

I’m not a big fan of “fetch,” either, which checks for new mail at designated intervals. My thought: When I want to check for new messages, I fire up the Mail app and check for new messages. Anything else is not only a battery drain, but also a distraction.

Try turning these settings off. To do so, tap Settings > Mail, Accounts, then tap Fetch New Data. Turn off Push, then scroll down to the Fetch section and choose Manually.

Remember: If someone needs to reach you in a hurry, they can still call or send a text message.

10. Background app refresh tweaks

Background App Refresh allows for an app to check for updates or new content while running in the background. To find background app refresh, go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh.

First thing, tap “Background App Refresh” and decide if you want apps refreshing in the background while you’re using data. If you want to limit data use, you should change this setting to Wi-Fi only.

Some apps need background app refresh enabled including Messages and some social media apps. However, does GarageBand need background app refresh enabled? Probably not.

Conclusion

If you just purchased a new iPhone 13, consider turning off these settings to improve performance and battery life. If you’ve made any iPhone 13 settings changes you consider essential, hit the comments and name them!