Running out of phone battery is really annoying, but there are some things you can do to make each charge last longer.
An ex-Apple employee has shared six handy tips that will extend your iPhone’s battery life and ensure you’re never left with a dead device.
How to make your iPhone battery last longer
1. Never charge above 80%
Firstly, Tyler Morgan, who used to work at an Apple Store in Los Angeles, said to never charge your iPhone above 80%.
Charging the device to 100% every time can damage your battery, reducing how long your phone will last over time.
You can turn on a feature called Optimized Battery Charging, which will force your iPhone to stop charging when it reaches 80%.
2. Never let it drop below 20%
Similarly, he said you should also never let your device fall below 20% charge, or try not to do it very often.
Lithium-ion batteries, which are used in iPhones, degrade the least when kept between a 20% and 80% charge.
Continuously letting your iPhone get very low in charge or die could significantly shorten the device’s battery life.
3. Use Low Power Mode
If your phone does get below 20% and you don’t have access to a charger, the Apple Expert recommends turning on Low Power Mode.
Low Power Mode reduces display brightness, optimizes device performance and minimizes system animations to extend battery length.
You can enable it by going to Settings > Battery. Your iPhone will usually alert you to turn it on when you go under 20%.
4. Turn off Background App Refresh
Did you know that all your apps are constantly refreshing in the background, even when you don’t have them open?
It uses up loads of charge without you even realizing, and turning it off is a great way to extend your device’s power.
You can do this by going to Settings > General > Background App Refresh. Then, choose Wi-Fi Only or Off.
5. Don’t close your apps
There’s a common misconception that you need to swipe up and close all your apps to preserve battery life.
However, there’s no reason to do this and closing apps actually uses up more battery than leaving them open.
All of the apps are frozen and aren’t using much power at all, so it’s absolutely fine to leave them open all the time.
6. Enable Dark Mode
Finally, putting your phone into Dark Mode will actually save slightly more power than having it in Light Mode.
A 2021 study by researchers at Purdue University found that dark mode reduces the device’s power consumption by 42% at 100% screen brightness.
At 50% brightness, switching from light mode to dark mode saves 9% battery, and at 30% brightness it saves 3% power.
Battery tips from Apple
Apple recommends ensuring you have always downloaded the latest version of iOS to maximize your device’s battery life.
They say you should also dim the brightness, turn on Low Power Mode and use Wi-Fi where possible as this uses less power than mobile data.
You can easily view Battery Usage information by going to Settings > Battery. There is a section called Background Activity which indicates the apps using up power in the background.
