Apple's iOS 7.1 software update brought in some of the amazing features, bug fixes and performance improvements. Nevertheless, this software update initiated new problems as well. The significant one is: battery drain.

If you are one of those with shorter battery life problem, look no further - we are here to help you fix the problem.

You can also read more on the best & the worst thing about iOS 7.1.

Here are some of the tricks and tips to get the better out of your device's battery. This is a hand-picked compilation of methods posted by iMore and ZDNet.

Battery Life Scrutiny

The first and foremost step is to understand the problem. It is basic human psychology: when we find something new or in this case, when we do an update to the existing software version, it is only natural that we try out a lot of options & features. This means, we are making the phone "overwork" and in turn, giving way for the battery to drain unceremoniously.

According to iMore, since the user pattern is changed suddenly due to an update, you might me using the phone twice as much as you would use otherwise.

Put your device down for couple of minutes and check the battery pattern. If there is no big change while in standby, your battery life will return to normal when your usage returns to normal. If your phone battery continues to drain when you are not using, then you should conclude that you have a problem.

Pre-existing Software Problems Draining the Battery

Sometime, we may have a persisting problem in the phone, but we just procrastinate and never take some time out to analyse and see what the problem is. So the software update that you made recently, may not be the actual problem, but you have something else going on with your device. In this case, do the following:

1) Network providers cannot be trusted always. As and when they add more customers, which translates to more connections to the same tower, the signal strength may take a beating. So check your network signal as a first step.

If the signal is weak, your iPhone's radio could be eating away the power trying to stay on the network, or if you are commuting, then again switching between connection types eat up a lot of power. So switch off the radio.

2) Anything running in the phone continuously will deplete the battery. Apps like Facebook, Skype, Pandora could be the culprit draining your battery away. So what to do?

Double-click the Home Button > activate the multitasking car view > quit. And then, hold the finger down on those apps that eat up the power, and turn them off.

3) Some common problems related to your Apple device might have a fix in Apple Store. Either you get a service or replacement of device.

4) Did you reboot at all? Sometimes the fix is just a click away. All you have to do is to restart/reboot the device by giving your device a much required break. It is always a good practice to restart your device periodically.

5) And if you think you have a problem with your battery then you should drain your device's battery completely until it shuts down and then charge it back to full. This fine-tuning works like a charm and helps in understanding whether the problem is with the battery or not.

Rule of Thumb: "When you are not using a Service, Turn it Off"

Here are some of the items that can be turned off to get the better out of your device battery, according to iMore.

1) Turn off Background app and content refresh:

Navigate to Settings > General > Background App Refresh lists down the items that you can turn off.

2) Turn Off App Store Updates:

Navigate to Settings > App Store > turn off automatic app and content downloads.

3) Turn off Siri:

Navigate to Settings > General > Siri. According to iMore, users keep telling them that this option has helped them save battery life due to accelerometer issues.

4) Turn off Location Services:

Navigate to Settings > Privacy > Location Services, > turn off any app and service you don't need tracking your location.

5) Turn off Push Notifications:

Navigate to Settings > Notifications > turn off any app you don't want to be alerted.

6) Turn of Notification Center widgets;

As per reports, Stocks and Weather in Notification Center seem to drain the battery faster. I'm not surprised, because weather uses Location Service.

Airplane Mode for the Goner

If you want to use a particular service/app for a prolonged period of time but you know that the battery is going to drain mid way and you are desperate enough to get what you want then put your iPhone or iPad in "Airplane Mode" and save the battery for when you need them.

The Powerful Option - Format/Restore the Device

Yes, you heard it right. What do we do when we have an unsolvable problem in our computer/laptop? We format the device. Same applies to Smartphone as well. Here we call it 'restoring or resetting' the device instead of 'formatting' the device. Before trying this option make a backup of all the data that you need from your device, because once you do a full restore - you will lose all the data stored in the phone.

Navigate to Settings > General > Reset. You can tap either "Reset All" or "Erase All Content and Settings". Do not forget: So as to use the latter option, take a backup of your data.

The Last Option - Re-installing iOS 7.1 via iTunes

According to ZDNet this is the nuclear option. Based on the user feedback, re-installing iOS 7.1 through iTunes, using the full iOS 7.1 update package instead of using the OTA (over-the-air) package helps resolve all the problems. A data back is very much required in this case.

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