Phone batteries not lasting over time seem to be an ever-present problem, especially with recent smartphones.

This appears to be a particular problem with iPhones and can be especially annoying if it doesn't last long when you're out and about.

However, a tech expert has revealed some habits from users that might be contributing to the problem.

Tom Paton, founder of greensmartphones.com, has revealed several things to avoid to help the longevity of your iPhone's battery life.

Sudbury Mercury: Charging your iPhone overnight can affect the batteryCharging your iPhone overnight can affect the battery (Image: PA)

5 habits to avoid to help save your iPhone battery life

1. Keeping your phone screen face-up

Having your phone face up on a flat surface means that every time you get a notification it turns on momentarily, but if it was face down it would not do so.

Tom Paton said: "What's worse is, if you're sitting outside, at a restaurant for example, your iPhone will have its brightness set very high, to ensure you can still see the screen despite the sun's glare. Every time you receive a notification, your screen will turn on at almost full brightness. By keeping your phone face-down when it's on a table or desk, you can save a huge amount of battery life."

Lock screen notifications can be turned off on a per-app basis by going to Settings and then Notifications.

Alternatively, iPhone users can also use do not disturb mode to prevent the screen from turning on when they receive a notification.

2. Charging your phone overnight

Charging your phone overnight might be a common thing to do, but it can affect your battery life if done regularly.

Tom Paton said: "Your iPhone is quite smart - when you charge your phone overnight, it knows to charge fast until it reaches 80% full, then it charges the remaining 20% more slowly, to avoid overcharging.

"The problem is, when on charge for an extended period, your battery gets hot. Over time, this can degrade the life of your battery, making a full charge run out more quickly."

3. Keeping Location Services on all the time

Locations services can be useful but having your iPhone in constant communication with a satellite uses up a lot of battery life.

Every time you open an app with location services enabled it can waste battery life.

It can be turned off by going to the Privacy section in the Settings.

Sudbury Mercury: Keeping Location Services on can drain the batteryKeeping Location Services on can drain the battery (Image: PA)

4. Using battery-killing apps

Certain app usage habits could have an impact on an iPhone's battery life, particularly "navigation and video streaming" ones.

Tom Paton said: "Anything to do with constantly tracking your movements, such as Google Maps or Uber, will use up huge amounts of battery. The same is true of apps like YouTube and Netflix, because they use lots of processing power, keep your screen and speakers on, and require lots of data - which eats into your battery life.

"It's a good idea to check how much battery different apps are using and consider uninstalling the ones that are draining your charge. Fortunately, on an iPhone, this is very easy to do. If you go to Settings > Battery, you can see a list of apps that use the most battery life."

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5. Using 'Raise to Wake'

Raise to Wake is a feature that means when you lift your iPhone from a flat surface the screen will turn on.

Tom Paton said: "If you're constantly on the go, you could be picking up your phone hundreds of times a day, using up a huge per cent of your battery life. To save battery, it's a really good idea to disable Raise to Wake.

"If you pick up your phone and want to see your notifications, you can always double-tap the screen, or press the power button."

Raise to Wake can be disabled in Settings under the Display & Brightness section.