Turn on Low Power Mode to cut background activity
Low Power Mode is the single fastest way to extend your iPhone's battery life. When you turn it on, your phone reduces processor speed, limits background app refresh, and dims the display slightly — all without losing core functions like calls, texts, and maps.
To turn it on, open Settings, tap Battery, then toggle Low Power Mode to on. Your battery icon will turn yellow. You can also swipe up from the bottom of your screen (or down from the top right on newer models) to open Control Center and tap the battery icon there. Low Power Mode stays on until your battery reaches 20 percent, then turns off automatically — or you can turn it off manually anytime.
Many people leave Low Power Mode on all day without noticing a difference in performance. The trade-off is real but small: apps refresh less often in the background, so email and news apps may take a few seconds longer to show new content when you open them.
Key Takeaways
- Low Power Mode cuts background activity and processor speed, extending battery life by several hours without affecting calls, texts, or navigation.
- Reduce screen brightness and enable auto-brightness so your display uses less power in dim rooms and outdoors.
- Turn off location services for apps that do not need it, since GPS drains battery faster than almost any other feature.
- Disable background app refresh for apps you do not need to update constantly, like social media or news apps.
- Close apps running in the background, turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when not in use, and reduce how often your phone checks for email.
Lower your screen brightness and use auto-brightness
Your display is the biggest battery drain on an iPhone. Lowering brightness saves power when ready, and the difference is noticeable — a screen at 50 percent brightness uses roughly half the power of one at full brightness.
Open Settings, tap Display & Brightness, and drag the brightness slider down. For most indoor use, 30 to 40 percent is comfortable. You can also toggle on Auto-Brightness in the same menu, which adjusts brightness based on the light around you. In a dark room, auto-brightness dims the screen; in sunlight, it brightens it. This automatic adjustment prevents you from running the screen brighter than you need.
If you use your phone outdoors often, auto-brightness is worth the small battery cost because it prevents you from manually cranking brightness to maximum in sunlight. The net effect is usually a battery gain.
Turn off location services for apps that do not need it
GPS and location tracking drain battery because your phone is constantly calculating your position. Many apps request location permission but do not actually need it — a weather app might ask for your location to show local forecasts, but you can type your city instead.
Open Settings, tap Privacy, then Location Services. You will see a list of every app that has asked for location access. Tap each app and choose "Never" or "While Using" instead of "Always." "While Using" lets the app know your location only when you have it open; "Always" lets it track you in the background. For most apps, "While Using" is enough, and "Never" is fine for apps like calculator or notes that do not need location at all.
Maps, weather, and find-my-friends apps are exceptions — they often need location in the background to work properly. For everything else, turning off background location saves battery without breaking the app.
Disable background app refresh for apps you rarely use
Background app refresh lets apps update their content even when you are not using them — so your email inbox is fresh when you open the app, or your news app has new stories ready. This convenience costs battery because apps are working when your screen is off.
Open Settings, tap General, then Background App Refresh. You will see a toggle at the top to turn it off entirely, or you can scroll down and toggle it off for individual apps. Turn it off for apps you check only once a day or less often — social media, news, games, and streaming apps are good candidates. Keep it on for email, messaging, and calendar apps if you want notifications to arrive promptly.
Turning off background refresh for five to ten apps can add an hour or more to your battery life, especially if those apps are large or update frequently.
Close apps running in the background and disable push notifications
Apps left open in the background continue to use CPU power and can trigger location requests or network activity. Closing them is straightforward: swipe up from the bottom of the screen (or swipe down from the top right on newer models) to see your open apps, then swipe up on each one to close it.
Push notifications also drain battery because they wake your screen and trigger processing. Open Settings, tap Notifications, and review which apps send you alerts. Turn off notifications for apps where they are not urgent — you do not need a notification every time a social media app has a new post. Keep notifications on for messages, calls, and calendar reminders.
Closing apps manually takes a few seconds each time, but disabling notifications for non-essential apps is a one-time change that saves battery all day.
Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when you are not using them
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi both search for networks and devices in the background, which uses power even when you are not actively connected. If you are not using wireless headphones, a smartwatch, or a car stereo, turn Bluetooth off. If you are away from home or the office, turn Wi-Fi off and use cellular data instead — Wi-Fi searching can actually drain more battery than a cellular connection.
Open Control Center and tap the Bluetooth icon to turn it off, or tap the Wi-Fi icon to disconnect. You can also turn them off in Settings under Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Many people leave both on all the time out of habit, but turning them off when you do not need them adds hours to your battery life.
Reduce how often your phone checks for new email
Every time your iPhone checks for new email, it connects to the network and downloads data. If you have email set to check every 15 minutes, your phone is doing that 96 times a day. Changing the check interval to 30 minutes or one hour cuts that activity in half or more.
Open Settings, tap Mail, then Accounts, then Fetch New Data. You will see options for how often to check: every 15, 30, or 60 minutes, or manually (only when you open the Mail app). Choose 30 or 60 minutes, or switch to manual if you do not need email constantly. You can also turn off push notifications for email in the Notifications settings so your phone does not wake to read every new message.
This change is invisible to most people — you will still see new email within an hour, and you can always open Mail to check manually if you are waiting for something urgent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Low Power Mode slow down my iPhone?
Low Power Mode reduces processor speed, so demanding tasks like gaming or video editing may feel slightly slower. For everyday use — email, texting, browsing, maps — the slowdown is not noticeable. Most people leave it on all day without realizing it.
Will turning off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi make my phone harder to use?
You can turn them back on in seconds from Control Center whenever you need them. If you use wireless headphones or a smartwatch regularly, keep Bluetooth on; if you are mostly on cellular data, turning it off saves battery without affecting your ability to use the phone.
Can I use my iPhone normally while preserving battery?
Yes. Low Power Mode, lower brightness, and turning off location for unnecessary apps are all invisible changes. You will not notice them in daily use, but they add several hours to your battery life. More aggressive changes like disabling background refresh or turning off Bluetooth require small trade-offs in convenience.
What is the fastest way to preserve battery right now?
Turn on Low Power Mode when ready — it is the single biggest change you can make. Then lower your screen brightness. Together, those two steps can add four to six hours to your battery life in the next few hours.
Does battery preservation damage my iPhone?
No. Low Power Mode, reduced brightness, and turning off background services do not harm your phone. They are designed by Apple as normal operating modes. The only thing that damages battery over time is heat and repeated full discharge cycles, neither of which is affected by these settings.