The most common battery drains on your iPhone
Your iPhone battery drains fastest when apps run in the background, your screen brightness stays high, location services track your position constantly, and your phone searches for a weak cellular signal. These four things account for most rapid battery loss. A fifth major drain—old age—happens when your battery has gone through hundreds of charge cycles and straightforward holds less power than it did new.
The good news is that you can see which apps are using the most power and turn off the features you do not need. Your iPhone keeps a record of battery use by app, updated every 24 hours. This record tells you exactly what is draining your battery, and you can act on it when ready.
Key Takeaways
- Check Settings > Battery to see which apps have used the most power in the last 24 hours or last 10 days.
- Background app refresh, location services, and high screen brightness drain battery faster than almost anything else.
- Turning off features you do not use—like Bluetooth, location, and push notifications—can add hours to your battery life.
- If your battery health has dropped below 80 percent, your phone will not hold a charge as long as it did when new, and you may need a battery replacement.
How to check which apps are draining your battery
Open Settings on your home screen, then tap Battery. You will see a list of apps ranked by how much battery they have used. The percentages show what portion of your total battery each app consumed. Tap the clock icon at the top to switch between the last 24 hours and the last 10 days—the 10-day view shows patterns over time.
Apps at the top of this list are your main battery drains. If an app you rarely use is near the top, that is your answer: either delete it, turn off its background activity, or stop using it. If the top apps are ones you use constantly—like Messages, Maps, or your email client—the drain is normal and expected.
One important note: the percentage shown does not mean the app is broken. An app that shows 40 percent battery use might straightforward mean you used it for two hours straight. The same app showing 5 percent might mean you checked it once. Context matters.
Turn off background app refresh for apps you do not need
Background app refresh lets apps update their content even when you are not looking at them. Mail checks for new messages, weather apps fetch forecasts, and news apps load headlines. This happens constantly, and it drains battery whether you are using the phone or not.
Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh. You will see a list of every app with permission to refresh in the background. Toggle off the switch next to any app you do not need to update automatically. Most people can turn this off for social media, games, and news apps without losing anything important. Keep it on for Mail, Messages, and any app that sends you time-sensitive notifications.
Turning off background app refresh for five to ten apps can add 30 minutes to a full day of battery life, depending on how often those apps were refreshing.
Reduce screen brightness and enable auto-brightness
Your screen is the single largest battery drain on most iPhones. A bright display uses far more power than a dim one. If you keep your brightness at maximum, you are draining your battery much faster than necessary.
Go to Settings > Display & Brightness. Turn on Auto-Brightness so your phone adjusts the screen brightness based on the light around you. In bright sunlight, the screen will be bright; in a dark room, it will dim automatically. This saves battery without making the screen hard to read.
You can also manually lower your brightness by swiping up from the bottom of the screen to open Control Center, then dragging the brightness slider down. Most people find they can comfortably read at 40 to 60 percent brightness indoors.
Turn off location services for apps that do not need it
Location services use your phone's GPS, which is power-hungry. Many apps ask for location permission but do not actually need it constantly. A weather app needs your location once to show your local forecast. A social media app does not need to track you at all.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services. You will see a list of apps with location permission. Tap each app and choose "Never," "While Using," or "Always." Choose "Never" for apps that do not need your location. Choose "While Using" for apps like Maps that need location only when you are actively using them. Avoid "Always" unless the app truly needs to track you in the background—very few do.
Turning location off for five apps can add 45 minutes to a full day of battery life.
Check your battery health in Settings
Your iPhone battery degrades over time. After 500 full charge cycles, a battery typically holds about 80 percent of its original capacity. After 1,000 cycles, it holds about 60 percent. This is normal wear, not a defect.
Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging. Look at the "Maximum Capacity" percentage. If it shows 80 percent or higher, your battery is in good shape. If it shows below 80 percent, your battery is aging and will not hold a charge as long as it did when new. If it shows below 50 percent, Apple recommends a battery replacement.
You can also see "Condition" on this screen. If it says "Normal," your battery is fine. If it says "Service Recommended" or "Service Battery," your battery needs replacement. This is not an emergency—your phone will still work—but a new battery will restore your battery life to normal.
Disable push notifications and fetch settings
Push notifications wake your phone and light up the screen, which uses battery. Fetch settings control how often your phone checks for new email and data. The more frequently your phone fetches, the more battery it uses.
Go to Settings > Notifications and turn off notifications for apps you do not need alerts from. Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts > Fetch New Data and change the fetch interval from "Every 15 Minutes" to "Hourly" or "Manually." This means your phone will check for new email less often, saving battery.
Turning off notifications for ten apps and changing fetch to hourly can add 20 to 30 minutes to your battery life per day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my battery drain faster in cold weather?
Cold temperatures slow the chemical reactions inside your battery, making it unable to deliver power as efficiently. Your iPhone may even shut down at 20 percent battery in very cold weather, then turn back on when it warms up. This is temporary and does not damage the battery. Warm your phone in your pocket or indoors and it will work normally again.
Does closing apps in the app switcher save battery?
No. Closing apps does not save battery because apps in the background use very little power when you are not using them. Closing and reopening an app actually uses more battery than leaving it in the background. Only close an app if it is frozen or misbehaving.
Should I turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to save battery?
Turning off Bluetooth saves a small amount of battery if you are not using it. Turning off Wi-Fi actually uses more battery because your phone will search for cellular signal instead, which is more power-hungry. Keep Wi-Fi on when you are home or at work, and turn off Bluetooth only if you are not using wireless headphones or devices.
What does "Low Power Mode" do?
Low Power Mode reduces performance and limits background activity to extend battery life. Your phone will fetch email less often, reduce screen brightness slightly, and disable some visual effects. You can turn it on manually in Settings > Battery, or set your phone to turn it on automatically at 20 percent battery. It can add 1 to 3 hours to your battery life.
Can I replace my iPhone battery myself?
Apple and authorized repair shops can replace your battery. The cost varies by iPhone model but typically ranges from $50 to $100. Replacing the battery yourself is possible but difficult and risks damaging your phone. An authorized repair is safer and comes with a warranty.