Smartphone battery life has greatly improved over the years. We now have smartphones that can go a full day or more without you worrying about recharging. While most Android phone users today may not complain about battery life, many iPhone owners are still very much concern of their device battery life.
Generally Android smartphones feature longer battery life compared to iPhone, this is simply because Android packs larger and stronger batteries along with a great battery management system which manages energy consumption and several other features that help cut down power consumption.
iPhone’s battery life are not entirely bad either, however, if you’re using an older version of iPhone like the iPhone 8 backwards, battery life is really something to worry about. If you’re looking for ways to extend your iPhone’s battery life, continue reading our tips below.
How to Improve Your iPhone’s Battery Life
- Enable dark mode (OLED)
- Lower screen brightness
- Disable dynamic and live wallpaper
- Don’t use rise to wake
- Disable background app refresh
- Reduce Motion Effects
- Turn off Location Services
- Use Optimized Battery Charging
- Enable Low Power Mode
- Place Your iPhone Face Down When You’re Not Using It
1. Enable on Dark Mode (OLED)
Apple introduced dark mode for its devices with the iOS 13 update, while it doesn’t play any significant role on battery life for LCD panel, it does improve battery life of the like of iPhone X which uses an OLED display. With dark mode enabled on your iPhone you’ll enjoy a longer battery life while giving you a better reading mode at night.
To enable dark mode on your OLED iPhone, follow the simple steps below;
- Go you device Settings.
- Locate Display & Brightness.
- In display and brightness option, tap Dark.
- Now, toggle dark mode in the Control Center for quicker access.
2. Lower screen brightness
Reducing your screens brightness also helps reduce quick battery drain. This is one of the biggest factor that affects your battery and makes it drain quick, however, most smartphone users ignore this or just don’t know.
You can set your device brightness to automatic (auto-brightness) but I don’t really recommend this as it can sometimes set the brightness at or near max during the day (mostly when you’re outside) and drain your battery faster.
If you want to use auto brightness, make sure you’re using it indoor. You can auto-brightness on or off in Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size.
You can easily reduce your screens brightness from the control center or in the display and brightness in your settings app.
3. Disable Dynamic And Live Wallpapers
Setting Dynamic or Live wallpapers on your iPhone gives it a great look but also uses the battery (not heavy). This is because dynamic and live wallpapers uses animations to give you a 3D like feel on your screen.
Although the dynamic and live wallpapers doesn’t suck your device battery in a serious way, the little it does also contributes to the battery life. It is preferable to use a static wallpaper that does not animate.
To set a static wallpaper, open your settings app, go to Wallpaper > Choose a New Wallpaper > Stills. Here, you can select a solid color wallpaper to use for both your Home Screen background and the Lock Screen background or better still use your own image.
4. Don’t Use Raise to Wake
Raise to Wake is one great feature in the iPhone that lets you pick up your phone and start using immediately. This works by turning on your display immediately you pick it up. While this feature is great for people who uses their device frequently, it may also drain your battery unnecessarily, especially when you are not picking up your phone to use it.
If you already have this feature enabled, you can turn it off so it stops wasting your battery power.
5. Disable Background App Refresh
Background App Refresh lets your apps continue to run in the background and update it contents from the internet, even while the app is not actively running on your screen. These background processes not only causes your internet data to run out quick, it also drains your battery slowly.
You can turn off this feature for individual apps in your settings app. Only disable for apps that does not necessarily need this feature to run smooth.
- Open the Settings app.
- Go to General > Background App Refresh.
6. Reduce Motion Effects
Like Android, the iOS uses animation and transition across the systems interface. With the Motion effect turned on, you’ll get a 3D depth effect when opening or closing apps, animations effects within apps and transitions as you switch between screens.
Turning off motion effects makes your iPhone respond faster and also boosts battery life. To turn off Motion effects, navigate to accessibility under your settings app → Select Motion, then turn on Reduce Motion.
7. Turn off Location Services in Apps That Don’t Need It
Having your location turned on for all your apps can slowly drain your battery as well. When multiple apps are running in the backgrounds and tracking your location, your battery drains a lot faster. You can simply disable location for apps that don’t need it to run.
Personally I have location disabled for all my apps, the only time I’m using location is probably when I’m going on a trip. To disable location services, open your settings app → Privacy → Location services.
8. Use Optimized Battery Charging
Optimized battery charging is a great feature for improving your iPhone’s battery life. This feature was introduced in iOS 13 and helps reduce the wear and tear of the battery.
Talking about wear and tear of a battery, I have written an article in the past on why you should not charge your phones battery from 0 to 100 percent. You can read about it here.
The iPhone smart charging feature, however, put’s your battery at an optimal level while it’s charging, not allowing it to go to 100 percent until the end of a charging cycle.
This is most often activated when you leave your device plugged in over a long period of time especially during an overnight charge. The battery is kept at 80 percent for the majority of the night and then jumps to 100 percent right before you usually wake up.
This feature is automatically enabled on iOS 13 and later .
9. Enable Low Power Mode
One of the best ways to extend your iPhone’s battery is using the Low Power Mode. This limit services that are not crucial to the operation of the phone to preserve battery life.
Although this mode was originally designed to help you stay on battery when your device battery is below average, it can be useful to slow down battery drain.
To enable low power mode, go to your settings app, scroll down to battery and toggle the low power option.
10. Place Your iPhone Face Down When You’re Not Using It
If you’re not making use of your phone, it is advisable to lace it facedown as this prevents the screen from turning on while receiving notification and can boost your battery life.
Final Words
If after all, you’re not getting a great battery time from your device, I strongly recommend getting a power bank so you can keep your device running all the time. Here’s one I recommend, the Oraimo (OPB-P202D) 20000mAh Fast Charge Power Bank. You can use the link below to buy one from Jumia.
Great article I must say very detailed this will really help improve my iPhone battery..
Thanks for this post.