How to ensure a long, happy life for your iPhone

Many people value their iPhone over most other possessions. After all, we keep much of our personal information there and it is usually among the more expensive purchases we make.

However, chances are there are some things you could or shouldn't be doing to ensure your iPhone's longevity. Many iPhone users place a case on their device, but not too many think about ways they can protect the internals, primarily the battery. No matter how pristine you manage to keep your iPhone on the outside, once the battery dies you're out of luck.

Here are a few things you can do to make sure your iPhone lives a long, happy life:

No force quitting your background apps

For whatever reason, force quitting apps running in the background has become the default battery saving move for many iPhone users. However, this practice doesn't save you any battery. In fact, it could be hurting your battery life.

An iPhone user recently sent an email to Apple asking whether the practice actually saves any battery. The email was answered by Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, who said force quitting apps in the background does nothing for your battery life.

Other recent tests have shown that force quitting apps actually uses more battery because the app then has to be completely reloaded next time you open it. You may be one of the many iPhone users who default to this practice, but be sure you can help your iPhone's battery life by breaking the habit.

Screen brightness

Powering the screen is by far the most battery intensive thing your iPhone does. Unfortunately, many people crank up the screen brightness to the maximum setting and leave it there. This will drain your battery faster than just about anything and over time will shorten your iPhone's lifespan. Instead, it's a good practice to leave your brightness set somewhere around 50% if you can afford to.

Also, turning off the Auto-Brightness setting is a major help to your iPhone's battery as well. To do this go to Settings -> Display & Brightness and switch off the Auto-Brightness option.

Use an Apple charging cable

iPhone charging cables are a dime a dozen and you can get them fairly cheap just about anywhere. However, you get what you pay for and many third party Lighting cables can do some serious damage to your battery. Some have even been known to cause small explosions and fires.

Trust me, it's worth spending the extra cash for one of Apple's genuine cables or MFi certified Lighting cables if you need an extra one.

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

Most iPhone users leave both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on all the time. However, this can be yet another battery drain. Simply shutting these options off when they aren't in use can conserve a good deal of battery.

Apple has even made this process extremely easy. You can toggle both options on and off by swiping up from the bottom of the screen to access Control Center.

In the recently released iOS 9.3, there is also a new 3D Touch shortcut available for the Settings app, which allows you to jump straight to either option inside the settings app.

Implementing these tips into your routine will save you battery life daily and will help maintain your iPhone battery's health over the long term.