UPDATED: April 23, 2024
We’ve all been there. You’re at a social occasion. You’re trying to look occupied, but not overly so. Then it hits you: your iPhone, your life crutch, is down to 20% power. You internally yell, "Why is my phone's battery draining so fast?!". There’s no way you’re going to last the duration at the rate you’re sucking screen light. Here are some useful tips to help you save your iPhone’s battery life and keep you out of a jam.
Battery Usage Data
Settings → Battery
The first thing you might want to check is what is actually causing the greatest battery drain – this way you can see exactly how much power each app is using. I know you don’t want to acknowledge Facebook is sucking 45% of your total battery usage, but we all have to come to terms with our addiction at some point. Not only will this help you manage battery life, it might actually help you manage your actual, real-life life, too.
Turn Down Your Brightness
Settings → Display & Brightness
This is probably the most straightforward, and simplest, way to save battery life because the greater the brightness, the greater the battery drain you'll experience.
Decrease Auto-Lock Time
Settings → Display & Brightness
While you're in there adjusting your brightness, you can also decrease your Auto-Lock time. This setting controls how quickly your display is shut off and your phone is locked after inactivity. Naturally, no display on while your phone is idle leads to less battery drain.
Turn Off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Settings → Wi-Fi/Bluetooth
This is another straightforward way to save battery life, since iPhones burn a shocking amount of power searching for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals. Unless you’re already hooked up to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, turn both off and preserve that sweet, sweet battery life.
Turn Off Location Services
Settings → Privacy → Location Services
Location services uses GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi to pinpoint your location, sucking battery life in the process. But you’re already at the party. Turn off Location Services and get back to those Snapchat stories.
Reduce Motion
Settings → Accessibility → Motion
First, you might be asking what is "motion"? Well it's basically fancy animation effects that give your phone a sense of depth as you tilt your phone or open and close application. That being said, it's not super necessary if you're looking save some battery (or at all really), so it should be an easy decision to disable this setting and get some extra battery life.
Reduce Flashlight Brightness
Control Center (Swipe Down From Top Right)
Using your iPhone flash as a flashlight is a handy trick but it also can drain your battery in a hurry. But, if you have to use your flashlight, you can reduce the amount of light it emits, which you guessed it, reduces the consumption of battery power. Now, this trick only helps when you're actually using your flashlight but, hey, anything helps. To turn down your flashlight power, swipe down from the top right of your iPhone (or bottom if your phone is pre-iPhone X) to access the Control Center. Then, long-press the flashlight icon and make the adjustment.
Grayscale Mode
Settings → General → Accessibility → Display & Text Size → Color Filters
Clutch when you’re in the dreaded holiday party jam, running low on power, and Brittany from HR is fighting to make eye contact with you. Not today, Brittany. Just toggle Grayscale Mode on. Your screen will switch over to black-and-white, saving you power and, hopefully, a conversation on the drawbacks of fluorescent lighting.
Low Power Mode
Settings → Battery → Low Power Mode
A little more extreme than Grayscale, Low Power Mode shuts down a whole host of non-essential power-draining features, including automatic downloads and background app refresh. Does it limit you a bit? Sure. But the alternative is a blank iPhone screen, and that’s not an option.
Dark Mode
Settings → Display & Brightness → Dark
Staring at a white screen doesn't just cause eye strain – it also uses more battery. So, if you turn on ‘Dark Mode’, elements of your phone’s color scheme will be inverted, which helps conserve phone battery. In this mode, you’ll see white text on a black background – a win for your battery and eyes.
Pro Tip: You can save even more power by simply getting into the habit of shutting off your screen manually every time you’re done using it. Much like buckling a seatbelt, it becomes reflex over time.
