It appears that Apple’s quality control had gone for a toss while manufacturing the iPhone. All along we had been hearing about the reception problem, which occurred due to a faulty exterior antenna. Then, there was the problem of yellow patches on the screen. And now, yet another issue has come up- the iPhone camera is not working!

The defective camera system not only hinders the possibility of taking good pictures, it may also render the Face Time app useless. This is disastrous as the video calling feature (Face Time) was the most talked about feature of the new iPhone 4.

Different problems faced by users:

• Many users have complained that when they tried to click on the camera the screen would go black and the Apple icon would appear in the middle of the screen. This screen would just not disappear.
• Some complains that while opening the camera it brings up the unlock screen, the power button had to be held for some time.
• Another user complained that whenever he would go to the camera roll to view pictures he had previously taken, the image did not appear to have been saved.
• For some users a gray outlined box appeared at the place where the picture ought to have been but when that box is clicked, the program would crash bringing up the home screen.
• What’s worse, attempts at video calling seem to be thwarted. Users are very disappointed with the fact that Face Time does not function properly.
• A particular user wanted to test video calling with his wife. Although the phone that he was using displayed his wife’s image during the call but the phone that his wife was using did not receive any image from his phone. The box that was supposed to show his photo on his wife’s phone, showed her own photo!

Unfortunately Apple still don’t have any support documentation for these problems. Though most of the scenario depicts software problems but several others have notified about serious hardware issues with iPhone camera.

For your reference you can keep an eye on this support discussion thread regarding iPhone camera problems.

Apple must fix up this camera problem soon as this is certainly affecting its image in the market.

Many iPhone users are facing a lot of problems with email. They are facing problems in sending or receiving email messages. The email account configured in the user’s iPhone has been popping strange problems. Sometimes it simply refuses to accept any incoming mails and at other times it suffers from problems in the retrieval of mails.

Some common problems faced by iPhone users with their email

• A particular user complained that was having trouble in syncing his emails with his iPhone. If he was successful in syncing it, the emails stopped working on his computers with the message ‘problem connecting server’. He was able to retrieve all his mails after providing all his account information but thereafter he could not send mails or receive mails on his iPhone. Thus, apparently he could only use either his computer or his iPhone!
• Email settings often vary between the media that is used to access them. If you try to delete the affected email account and set it up from the start things might be okay.
• Also, it has been noticed that if you try opening your email from different devices, your email may actually ‘lock out’. This will prevent new mails from coming in.
• Outlook is known for being troublesome on the iPhone. You might need to carry out some troubleshooting to use Outlook successfully. This could include deleting all email accounts, resetting network settings, manually adding mail accounts after disabling Wi-Fi and disabling the syncing of emails with iTunes.
• Sometimes users also find their mail boxes frozen. This may result due to a recent software up gradation. This problem may also occur after a message has entered the mail box.
• The iPhone mail does not work at all for those who get a lot of emails daily specially related to spam. iPhone does not have spam filters.

Solutions to iPhone Email Problems

• Try using different alternative SMTP servers
  • Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars
  • Under Accounts open the account you trying to send mail
  • Go to Outgoing Mail Server and turn on other alternative servers

• Configure your email account directly on iPhone and not from your computer
  • Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars and from there only add your email accounts under Accounts by tapping the Add Account option.
• Turn of Wi-Fi and try fetching your mails by using the Cellular Data network
• Try restarting your iPhone by pressing the sleep/wake up button for few seconds on turning it back on

After trying these options your iPhone should be back with your email account working perfectly fine. Otherwise you may need to visit the nearest Apple Store.

It’s hard to believe how an alarm application can be screwed up on an iPhone! Many users have been experiencing glitches in the iPhone alarm function since the start of 2011. Most people are really disappointed about the fact that a simple alarm function has been messed up by Apple. They have been very vocal about the kind of problems they faced, to which Apple responded by saying that it would soon fix the bug. Apple has landed in a very embarrassing situation because of his particular bug showing up. It certainly raises questions about Jobs’ programmers as they appear to be challenged by a simple alarm function.

Common Problems with the iPhone 4’s Alarm Feature

• Users complained that the alarm which they had set for the morning did not ring. People who completely relied on their iPhone to wake them up, either faced embarrassment or were caught in an awkward situation where they could not meet their commitments on time.
• A particular user tried to fix the problem by setting a repeat alarm for the day and it worked.
• Users faced this alarm problem on the 1st and 2nd of January. Apple had assured that the alarm would start working on its own from the 3rd of January itself. While for some users it happened as was predicted by Apple, but for some others things did not change.

As Steve Jobs claims that his software is the best in the universe, people are not ready to let him off so easily. Someone who claims to be the best should not mess up something as simple as an alarm function. And moreover, this was not the first time that this problem had occurred. The same problem had also occurred in November 2010 when the iPhone alarm rang an hour late due to daylight savings.
Apple had better fix this problem before if it does not want to gain the wrath of its loyal customers.

Battery longevity is a very important issue in case of electronic gadgets. If the battery is drained due to excess use of the device i.e. you are continuously engaged in games, watching movies and pushing of IM`s, quickly fetch few more charging cables. But if you are losing battery charge with moderate usage of the device, then there are some problems regarding battery life.

Following are some troubleshooting steps that may help to recover from this cause:

1. Reboot iPHONE

If the iPhone starts to drain through the battery accompanied by rise in battery temperature, “rogue-process” can occur. This may be the result of old-fashion cycle. Press the “Sleep” tablet until arrow appears. Else if the device is frozen, press “Sleep” button along with the “Home” button to avoid the complicacy of freezing and to allow forceful exit of all applications to bring the red arrow. Then you should swipe to turn off the device and after few minutes the device should be turned on.

2. Redo Push of Email Accounts and other Apps

Since the introduction of iPhone 2.0, Push option went fatal due to excess withdrawal of battery life. With iPhone 3.0, Push option caused malfunction of the list of contacts in the background. Twitter, games as well as your IM fails to function properly.

According to Apple, Push button forces 20% excess drainage of the battery life. But if you are facing excess battery deplete, the Redo Push. It indicates recreation of anything that involves Push, embracing MobileMe and Exchange Accounts. If you are fed up with the surplus draining of battery life, try to perform the Redo Push the apps that involve Push, one by one or all at a time. Find the culprit quickly by checking any improvement in battery life by performing Redo Push one at a time.

To Redo Push the accounts enter “Settings”, from the menu. There you can choose to delete the MobileMe and Exchange accounts. Contacts, Mail and Calendars can also be done from scratch.

To Redo Push the apps, enter “Settings” from main menu, and select “Notifications”. Select the applications that involve Push notifications. Then reach “Home Screen” to press hold the Home button until the icon starts rattling. Finally delete the Push notification application.
To recreate MobileMe and Exchange accounts, select “Settings”. Calendars, Mail, Contacts should be re-entered. For apps associated with push notifications, sync them back from iTunes or download them from App store.

3. Restore as new iPhone

I won`t lie to the users. Restoring your device as a new iPhone is a nuclear option. It generally solves the problem in majority of the cases. On performing the above, we sometimes encounter a new firmware accompanied with an excellent battery life.

To restore your iPhone, connect your device with the USB cable to Windows or Mac. Then launch iTunes. We will visualize a “Restore” option at the centre of the screen. Tap the “Restore” option. Your device will undergo the laborious process of obliterating your iPhone and installing the firmware from scratch.

When iTunes asks you to choose any one of the options: restore your data from backup or setup your device as new iPhone, always opt for setup your device as new iPhone.

You will lose all your previously saved data. The app responsible for the corruption in settings resulting in poor battery life is removed as well. This may even kill your jailbreak. But if something in jailbreak was the liability for poor battery life, like eerie turbulence in background. Try using the device devoid of jailbreak.

If you have successfully installed your device as new, you can sync back all the data back into your iPhone, with the help of iTunes. You can also download the necessary apps on the device itself.

Thus rebooting the device, redoing of Push involved applications and restoration of your iPhone are three austere steps to try and fix battery life problems.

Encountering problems connecting to internet? Call drops? Applications are not functioning properly? Malfunctioning of the Home Button? The classic solution to these issues is to make a quick and easy restart, without connecting to a computer. So before visiting to the nearby Apple store, try this out. This phenomenon of quick and easy restart of the device without connecting to the computer is called Soft Reset. This helps you to escape any frozen applications that jammed your device for minutes. Hard reset must not be performed in small intervals as it may hamper the device.

Follow the below mentioned instructions to perform a Soft Reset:

• If any application on your iPhone is frozen, press and hold “Sleep/Wake” tablet at the upper right hand of your iPhone and the “Home” tablet at the base of the screen simultaneously.
• Continue to press both the buttons until you observe a silver white screen followed by the Apple logo at the centre of the screen.
• You should make sure to continue to press both the buttons even after the “Slide to Power Off” screen pops up.
• Allow your iPhone to reboot. This process generally takes 1-5 minutes. This facilitates fixing small issues with the gadget.
• When your iPhone has rebooted successfully, you will be prompted to “Unlock” your iPhone by entering the password if your device is password protected.

However, performing Soft Reset repeatedly may harm your iPhone. If your problem persists after performing Soft Reset, then try to perform a Hard Reset. Hard Reset is generally not recommended for smaller issues. Performing a Hard Reset has a risk of losing important data. It requires re-sync of data using iTunes.

iPhone DFU (Deep Firmware Updrade)

1. Turn your iPhone off.
2. Connect your gadget to the mac/pc with aid of USB cables.
3. Sync your device using iTunes.
4. Press and hold “Home” plus “Power” tablet for about 10 seconds.
5. Release the “Power” button but continue pressing “Home” button for another 10 secs.
6. Now iTunes will detect iPhone in the recovery mode.

One of the prime complaints of majority of worldwide iPhone users is concerned with the glitch of the Home Button. Users often experience the response of a single-click on the Home Button on applying double-click to the same and a single-click is not registered at all. Some users often come to a conclusion that any particulate matter might have accumulated under the button resulting in improper functioning.

Software Related Problems

Some of the users started complaining about the problem following the update of iOS to version 4.1, which happens in case of certain electronic gadgets on new software updates. Hence a rapid solution was enforced by a further update of iOS to version 4.2.1 but still the problem persisted in large number. For majority of the users, the problem was intermittent but now it is experienced quite often.

The following steps may throw some light on this cause :-

Reset the device

Press and hold together your Home Button as well as Sleep/Wake button until u experience a blank screen followed by the Apple logo to reset your device.

Restoring from backup

Plug the device into your computer and access iTunes. Click on the Restore option in iTunes and while reboot, select the option to restore from last created backup.

Set it as a new device

If the problem persists, perform the above and while reboot select the option to set it up as a new device instead of backup restore. Your contents should be made to re-sync.

Hardware Related Problems

Despite following above software concerned solutions, if your device does not respond properly to the actions of the Home Button then contact your nearby Apple dealer immediately for replacement of the Home Button or to get a new iPhone. If you do not want to contemplate the replacement matter, then please wait patiently for next update of iOS. Hope it will bring a solution to this matter.

If some excess attention is paid to certain aspects, battery life as well as battery lifespan can be extended. You should not place your device in a hot location or expose it to direct sunlight. This hampers longevity of the battery.

To deal with the battery, we should be aware of certain terms; battery life & battery lifespan. “Battery life” refers to the time for which the device will work until it must be recharged. “Battery lifespan” indicates the total time the battery may last before it needs to be replaced.

How to estimate iPhone battery lifespan?

Depending on the manner of usage of your iPhone, we can estimate the life and lifespan of the battery. Usage statistics can be examined by navigating to Settings -> General -> Usage. We can check the “Last time it was completely charged”.

We find two categories of operation of the device:

Usage

It tells us the time the gadget has been under use since the time of last complete charge. The phone is draining charge when you are receiving messages, answering an incoming call, engaged with media facilities and surfing the internet.

Standby

It indicates the time the device is powered on since the time of last complete charge.

It is a universal truth that iPhone batteries do wear out. Brand new device needs a replacement of the battery within 18 months, as it completes its lifespan. But you can swipe in a new battery at a price of $6. The generalized longevity of an iPhone battery is 1150 mAh. In theory, users should experience 50% excess runtime.

Now it’s time for some surgical experience. The iPhone appears to be airtight from the outside, but a little effort using a knife named X-Acto, can help to open the case.

Checkout the full detailed procedure of iPhone battery replacement in the video:

For any queries, check the iPhone Rapid Repair Guide. Just push the new battery inside and close down all the openings.

I have some caveats, beginning with the warranty issue. If the iPhone is opened, your warranty will be nullified. This may also happen on insertion of third-party batteries. Losing the warranty of the battery is not an important issue. But if you have the warranty option, rush to your nearby Apple outlet.

The practical caveat implies that unless you are well acquainted with tools and electrical devices, you would love to appoint a professional. Rapid Repair is one such proficient software.

Sometimes you need to replace the battery before even celebrating its anniversary. It’s my suggestion to all the users across the globe. Make sure to visit your nearby Apple outlet. But believe, in actual practice, replacing the battery is nothing but a piece of a cake. But you are bound to lose all data along with the media. So do not forget to keep a recovery or backup for the gadget. For the lithium ion batteries used in iPhones’ in general to perform to the optimum level before being charged to a count of about 300-400.

Your iPhone is your favourite gadget, right?

Yes we know that. Facing uncanny consequences after dropping the gadget in water, don’t worry. We are here to help you and provide guidelines to bring you out from the trouble. Your device may happen to get wet during rain, spilled some kind of drink or accidentally fell into water.

Is there some reason to panic with my wet iPhone?

Absolutely not. Your iPhone may be repairable.

Just remember these 2 points as soon as you find your iPhone wet -

• Switch it off as soon as possible
• Avoid connecting it to your computer or to switch it on.

These unwanted attempts may amplify the damages. This can cause any other cog of the device to malfunction. It`s an earnest request to follow our guidelines and to bring a halt to unauthorized operations on the gadget. This is asked for your own benefit.

To overcome such problem, in the primary level try these -

• Use a hairdryer smoothly and gently to dry the sensitive parts of the iPhone.
• You are also allowed drying the earphone opening with the aid of compressed and pressurized air.
• Try to clean and dry the internals of your gadget.
• Call the Apple experts.

Experts at the Apple outlet will examine the audio holes to verify the LCI to check whether it has been impaired due to any contact with moisture. Qualified engineers and experts at the Apple outlet will study the reason of the failure of the gadget i.e. whether the reason of malfunction is exposure to moisture or collapse caused due to improper functioning of the internal parts. LCI better known as “Liquid Contact Indicators” came into existence, to guide Apple experts, to inform them about any sign of exposure to moisture. They can clearly depict whether any water mutilation has occurred.

According to me, please prohibit any experiments on the valuable device. Pay a visit to the nearby Apple outlet along with the faulty device. Geniuses at the store can provide you with the correct methods to nullify or compensate the damage done.