An easy way to save Battery Life and make the battery of your iPhone last way longer than normal is by manually switching your device to Low Power mode. However, Low Power mode saves battery life by allowing only the most essential services to remain active on iPhone, which can prevent you from enjoying the full functionality of your device.
Hence, a better way to save Battery life on iPhone is by modifying certain settings and switching off features, which you are not actively using and unlikely to use in future.
Steps to Save Battery Life on iPhone
You can find below a comprehensive list of iPhone features, which can be adjusted and disabled in certain cases to save battery life and significantly extend the Battery Life of your iPhone.
1. Set Low Brightness Level
The brighter the display on iPhone, the more battery it consumes. Hence, setting your device to reasonable level of brightness is a crucial step in extending the battery life of your iPhone.
1. Go to Settings > Display & Brightness.
2. On the next screen, use the Slider to adjust the brightness to your desired low level.
Note: Set an optimal brightness level that is neither too bright or too dull.
2. Set Low Auto-Lock Period
Make sure that iPhone is using the default Auto-Lock period of 30 seconds. If this does not suite your requirements, select a maximum of 1 minute.
1. Go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock.
2. On the next screen, set Auto-Lock interval to a maximum of 1 Minute.
In our opinion, anything above 1 minute is excessive and can be detrimental to the Battery life of your iPhone.
3. Disable Vibrations
The vibrations on iPhone are triggered by a motor, which consumes a good amount of battery life.
1. Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Haptics.
2. On the next screen, disable Always Play option.
If you want iPhone to vibrate in silent mode, select Play in Silent Mode option & select the Never option, if you do not want your device to vibrate.
4. Use Dark Mode
The default option on iPhone is to automatically switch to Dark Mode at night. However, you can manually enable Dark Mode at any time and expect to save some battery life.
1. Go to Settings > Display & Brightness.
2. On the next screen, select the Dark option.
Here is a good reference that provides a great deal of information about Dark Mode and goes in-depth into this topic.
5. Disable Bluetooth
When Bluetooth is enabled on iPhone, it keeps constantly searching for nearby Bluetooth devices. Hence, disabling Bluetooth while you are not actively using it can help in saving battery life.
1. Open Settings > tap on Bluetooth.
2. On the next screen, move the Bluetooth Slider to OFF position.
If required, you can always enable Bluetooth by moving the slider to ON position.
6. Disable AirDrop
The AirDrop feature on iPhone can use up excessive battery life, due to its tendency to keep scanning for other AirDrop-enabled devices in its surroundings.
1. Go to Settings > General > AirDrop.
2. On the next screen, select the Receiving OFF option.
When required, you can enable AirDrop by selecting “Everyone” or “Contacts Only” option.
7. Keep Wi-Fi Switched OFF
iPhone uses battery life by constantly looking for Wi-Fi networks that it can connect to. Hence, disabling Wi-Fi when you are away from Home or Office can extend the battery life of your iPhone.
1. Open Settings > tap on Wi-Fi.
2. On the next screen, move the Wi-Fi Slider to OFF position.
Note: Do not disable Wi-Fi, if you are using Apple Watch, as many features on Apple Watch need Wi-Fi to function.
8. Disable Personal Hotspot
If you are not using Personal Hotspot, make sure that it is switched OFF.
1. Open Settings > tap on Personal Hotspot.
2. On the next screen, disable Allow Others to Join option.
Note: Personal Hotspot may not be available, if you are using iPhone without SIM or if this feature is not supported by your mobile service provider.
9. Disable Fitness Tracking.
The default option on iPhone is to keep tracking your physical activity and transfer this data to Health App. If you are not interested in this, you can save battery life by disabling the “Fitness Tracking” feature on your iPhone.
1. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > scroll down and tap on Motion & Fitness.
2. On the next screen, disable Fitness Tracking by moving the slider to OFF position.
10. Disable Background App Refresh
Most Social Media Apps have a compulsive tendency to refresh data in background, which consumes both Data and Battery Life.
1. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
2. On the next screen, disable Background App Refresh for all unnecessary & unessential apps.
11. Reduce Motion & Animations
Reducing Motion disables the Parallax effect of icons, which looks cool but consumes battery life.
1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Motion.
2. On the next screen, enable the option to Reduce Motion by moving the toggle to ON position.
12. Fetch Emails Manually
You can expect to save considerable battery life by preventing your device from automatically fetching emails.
1. Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts > Fetch New data.
2. On the next screen, select Manually or Hourly option.
Note: The Manual option saves more Battery by fetching data only when you open the Mail App.
13. Turn off Location Services
You can save Battery Life by disabling Location Services for apps that do not need to access your Location information.
1. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services.
2. On Location Services screen, select the App for which you want to disable Location Services.
3. On the next screen, select the Never option to disable Location Services for this particular App.
Repeat the above steps for other Apps that you do not want to track your Location.
14. Enable Low Power Mode
As mentioned above, the easiest way to save battery life on iPhone is by enabling Low Power Mode. This can be done whenever you feel that your iPhone is not going to last through the day.
1. Open Settings > scroll down and tap on Battery.
2. On the next screen, move the Low Power Mode slider to ON position.
Note: Only the most essential features and services will be working on your iPhone during Low Power Mode.
15. Switch OFF iCloud Photos
You can expect to save battery life by switching OFF iCloud Photos on your iPhone.
1. Open Settings > scroll down and tap on Photos.
2. On the next screen, disable iCloud Photos by moving the toggle to OFF position.
3. On the pop-up, you can select Remove from iPhone option.
In case you are concerned, this step does not remove photos that are stored on your iPhone. Only photos that are syncing to iPhone from other devices will be removed.
The removed Photos will be available on iCloud and they will also be available on other devices, where they originally came from.