The new iOS 8.0 update has brought along some handy features, however, some users who have updated to this version have been also complaining that the new version has been draining their battery.
It is not uncommon for Apple’s OS updates to cause some small battery-related problems, however, they are usually quickly resolved with the next update. So, while you wait for the iOS 8.0.1 to come along, follow our short tips on how to improve your iOS device battery life.
Check in the battery usage level
The very first thing you should do in order to decrease the battery drain is to disable all the apps that are using the most power. Even though when we tested it the battery was still draining at an unusual level even when the device was not in use, however by disabling some apps we also have managed to prolong its endurance. You can try this by going to:
- Settings General Usage—Battery Usage
Select the Last 24 hours or last 7 days (this may be different if you have already switched to iOS, however, the counter is limited to seven days max) to see which app has been draining the battery the most.
Now, depending on which app is draining your battery the most, you can take counter steps to prevent this. For instance, if you notice that Mail is using your battery a lot, because of its background activity, then you can simply change the background refresh settings. We will explain this bellow.
- Display as one of the reasons for short battery life
Even without updating to iOS, the display is still responsible the most for the enormous battery-draining level. Follow these tips to make sure that your iOS device screen is not wasting more power than it requires.
Second Method
- Open Control Centre by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.
The slider which is above the music player allows you to control the screen brightness. To reduce the brightness level, slide it all the way to the left. When indoors, this should be good enough, however in bright areas you should adjust the brightness levels according to your needs.
iOS also has an auto-brightness feature that will keep the iOS screen at the right level of brightness in accordance with the ambient lighting. Still, this also uses some battery power, so if you want to prolong the battery life, you should set the brightness level of your screen to a minimum and disable auto-brightness. When your battery is running low, then open Settings—Display and Brightness—Auto-Brightness—OFF.
And one more thing, always make sure that your device screen is not on longer than it needs to.
- Open Settings—General—Auto-Lock. Select the lowest value—either 1 minute on iPhone or 2 minutes on iPad.
- It is also possible to disable the cool parallax effect, which when your battery is running low may not seem so cool.
- Open Settings—General—Accessibility—Reduce Motion—ON.
Wireless connections
Once you are outdoor, your iOS device may be constantly switching from 3G to LTE or even to Edge. By controlling mobile data usage you can drastically improve the battery life of your device. Follow these tips:
Open Settings—Mobile. If you are already connected to a Wi-Fi network, turn of the Mobile Data switch. And right bellow Mobile data there is an Enable LTE switch which you should also turn off unless you are among those lucky users who have 4G access.
Next, scroll down to the header that says “Use Mobile Data for”. Here there is a list of all the apps that are allowed to use the mobile data on your iOS device. For each app, there is an on/off switch. You can set it to off for those apps you do not need mobile data. The majority of games and fitness apps do not need mobile data.
Furthermore, right below the name of the apps, there is an indicator of how much mobile data has been used so far by each app. You can check those apps with the most used mobile data and see if you can disable the mobile data usage for them.
It is also possible to stop apps from using mobile data to download updates. To do this open setting—iTunes and App Store—Use Mobile Data—Set it to OFF.
Another useful tip is to disable the Wi-Fi, AirDrop, and Bluetooth when you do not need them. You can disable them quite easily, just swipe up from the bottom of your screen and Open Control Centre. From there turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. After that, tap on Airdrop and choose off to disable it. And remember to enable the Wi-Fi when you are home or in your office.
Location services
The GPS of your device is another factor that contributes to the fast draining of your device battery life. Most of the apps want to access your location and because of this, your battery is constantly wasted. iOS 8 comes with some new location options which can help you extend battery life. Follow the tips below:
If you want to stop apps from using your location, open Settings—Privacy—Location Services—Turn Services off.
If this option is not available for you, then scroll down to the list of apps. iOS 7 has allowed for users to either allow or block location access while in iOS 8. You can choose to let apps access your location only when you are using them.
Open Settings-Privacy-Location Services and press on any app from the list. Most of the apps will show you three options: Never While Using the App and Always. By tapping Never, you will disable location access. By Tapping While Using the app, the app will have location access when it is actively being used. And on Always the apps, of course, will always use your location.
Now go back to Settings—Privacy—Location Services and choose to Share My location. It is possible to disable this feature as well, but it is recommended that you keep it on in case you want your family and friends to know where you are. You can save battery power by turning off the Find my iPhone feature. Open Settings-iCloud—Find my iPhone. However, please note that this is a highly efficient anti-theft feature. So it is recommended that you leave it on.
Improve Battery Life Notifications
Almost all apps that you install on iOS will ask you for permission to send you notifications. While some can be really useful, like alerts to deals on apps, the majority of them are not. And every time you get a notification on your device, the screen may be turned on and it will play a sound and vibrates. And these small things may drastically affect your battery endurance.
iOS 8 offers you a switch that can disable all notifications for any app. Follow these simple instructions:
Open Settings and go to Notifications.
Scroll down, and tap on any app under the header “INCLUDE”. Now tick the Allow Notifications switch to the OFF position. You should disable notifications from games or some other apps that are not important but are constantly showing up. In the end, the choice is up to you to decide which app’s notifications are important and which are just wasting your battery.
In case you do not want to disable any notifications, then you can still use the Do Not Disturb Mode. With this, your iOS device will not wake up even when you get notifications. This can be set by opening Settings—Do not Disturb. This option can be really useful when you are in the office and you do not want to get mail notifications for some time.
After everything is set up, you can quickly access Do not Disturb through the Control Center. Just swipe up from the bottom of the screen and press the moon icon.
If you have enabled push notifications for mails, then you should consider reducing the frequency of alerts. To do this open setting—Mail, Contacts, Calendars—Fetch New Data. Set it to Off.
By disabling this, you will have to check your mails manually but you will also save your battery life.
Choose each of your accounts and instead of Fetch, choose Manual. Now, the app will download your emails, calendar, and contact updates only when the app is opened, instead of doing this in the background.
Go down to “Fetch”. If you have accounts that are set to Fetch data automatically, you can check how often it refreshes. If you want to save battery, just select either Hourly or Manually.
Improve Battery Life by Data used in the Background
Many apps do updates automatically or they download data in the background. You should consider disabling this option if you want to prolong your battery life. It’s one of the most important methods to improve battery life on an iPhone or any other cell device.
Here is how to do it:
Open Settings—General—Background App Refresh—Off. In this way, you will stop the app from working in the background. In case this option is not available, then you can scroll down and disable it for any app in the list.
The new feature Handoff which was introduced with iOS 8 allows the users to take calls on an iPad or MacBook as long as they are connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the iPhone. This is a useful feature; however, it too can waste your battery life. To disable it open Settings—Handoff &Suggested Apps— set it to Off.
It is recommended that you also turn off the automatic download of app updates to increase your battery life. Open Settings—iTunes & App Store. Go down to Automatic Downloads. Set the switch to Off for Apps, Books, Music, and Updates. Now scroll to Suggested Apps and turn off the App Store.
Now even though it is recommended that you set your device to do backups automatically through iCloud, it is still better for your battery life to do this thru Wi-Fi only. Open Settings—iCloud—iCloud Drive—Use Mobile Data—Set it to Off.
Another method to save battery power is to go at Settings—Safari—Preload Top Hit—Set to off. Now, every time you use Safari, the browser will be prevented from loading the top website from search results. It is a small gain, however, everything counts when you want to extend your device battery life.
- Don’t allow your device to vibrate to improve battery life
When you are at home or at work, your phone probably will not be in your pocket, so it may be a good idea to disable vibrations to prevent them from wasting your battery life.
Improve Battery Life By disable vibrations, do this:
- Go to Settings—Sounds—Vibrate on Ring—Off. It is also possible to disable vibrations by setting your phone on Silent.
If you have serious problems with the battery on your device, then you can also disable the sound when your device locks and the click sounds when you type. To do this open
- Settings—Sound and go down until you see Lock Sounds and Keyboard Clicks.
If you have problems with your battery since you updated to iOS 8, this short article should provide you with information on how to deal with it. In case we have missed anything, let us know in the comments.
