Best apps to prevent you from needing iPhone repair (PART ONE)

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Nobody wants to get an iPhone repair, but sometimes it's just a fact of life. You drop your phone on a rainy day and it gets wet. You leave it frying in the sun and soon find yourself at a cell phone repair shop. These things can't be prevented … or can they? Here are some apps that will help prevent you from requiring an iPhone repair service.

1. Yahoo Weather. There are a plethora of weather apps available for your forecast needs, but in terms of simplicity of design and ease of use this one takes the cake. It gives you only the most salient information – the weather right now, the forecast later in the day, and five- or 10-day projections (depending on your preference). And it does that without the ad work that encumbers similar apps. This is the perfect app to boot up just before leaving the house, because it will let you know if it is too cold to have your iPhone out (Apple says iPhones should not even be unsheathed in temperature under -4 degrees F). One bonus feature of this app is that it comes with beautiful photos specifically tailored to your current location (and its climate). 

2. Battery Doctor. One of the biggest reasons people visit iPhone repair shops is to get their battery replaced. There are all sorts of ways iPhone batteries deteriorate, but many of them are easily preventable and there's a litany of steps you can take to prolong battery life. That's where Battery Doctor comes in handy. The app breaks down your battery life by all the programs you have running on your phone. It tells you exactly how much time you can save by shutting certain programs off (for example, “Suspend WiFi to extend X minutes”). Additionally, the app even works when your iPhone is charging, keeping a log of each charge to ascertain its battery “Health Score.” This app will help you extend battery life not only on a per-charge basis, but also equip you with the battery conservation tools to extend its overall life.

3. iFixit: Repair Manual. The folks at iFixit are known for their sardonic teardowns of Apple products (see, for example, how they disassembled the iPhone 5), and now they're spreading the knowledge with a free app that targets just about all of your repair needs. With step-by-step instructions and helpful videos, the app enables you to troubleshoot and do home repair to save you money on a cell phone repair shop. And because repairs to Apple products often deal with very small pieces, the app provides a series of high resolution images so you can see all the fine details. This app can help you decide what iPhone repairs can be done at home. However, there are certain repairs that should never be tried at home, as iFixit can attest with its laborious teardown of the iPad Air.

For more helpful apps, stay tuned for part two. In addition, note that none of these apps are foolproof, which is why it is helpful to know that iResQ is always there to lend a hand.

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