What’s Draining my iPhone Battery?

The Apple iPhone is known for being very efficient when it comes to battery life. If you don’t actively manage all of the stuff on your iPhone though, you may start wonder “What’s draining my iPhone battery?”. If you think you’re iPhone battery isn’t lasting as long as it should, here are some things you can take a look at.

Note: This post is geared toward users of Apple iOS 7

Screen Brightness and Timeout

It takes a lot of energy to light up the display. Make it turn off sooner and don’t set the brightness too high.

The Fix

• Turn the brightness to a reasonable level under “Settings” > “Wallpapers & Brightness“.
• Set the screen to turn off automatically after 1 minute under “Settings” > “General” > “Auto-Lock“.

 

Background Apps

Apps can be active in the background even when you’re not using them. Ensure they are optimized to not be active more than necessary.

The Fix

• Uninstall apps you no longer use.
• Check which apps are active in the background under “Settings” > “General” > “Background App Refresh“, then turn off the apps you don’t need to run in the background.

 

Location Services

The GPS is additional hardware that can sap the phone’s energy.

The Fix

• Turn off Location Services under “Settings” > “Privacy” when you’re not using it.
• Have a look under  “Settings” > “General” > “Background App Refresh” to see if apps have a blue arrow icon next to them. The ones that have this icon are utilizing Location Services. Consider turning some of these apps off if you don’t need them enabled.

 

WiFi / Data

Depending on where you are and what you’re using, you should manage the networks your iPhone is accessing.

The Fix

• Disable BlueTooth from “Settings” when you’re not using it to connect with another device.
• Connect to a Wi-Fi network when there is one available. 4G and 3G data take more power to use and will be disabled when connected to Wi-Fi.
• When a Wi-Fi network is not available, disable Wi-Fi from”Settings“. This will prevent the iPhone from wasting energy trying to find available networks.
• When a Wi-Fi network is not available and 4G and 3G coverage seems spotty, disable both Wi-Fi and Data (“Settings” > “Cellular” > “Cellular Data“). Another option is to put the iPhone in “Airplane Mode” from “Settings“

 

I hope this post has helped you figure out what’s draining your iPhone battery. Do you have tips to share? Sound off in the Comments section.