iPhone users could be unwittingly damaging their battery life by doing two things that many may do without a second thought. Despite each new iPhone model typically boasting a superior battery life to its predecessors, this does not mean you should squander money on a replacement every time your battery starts to deteriorate.
Apple’s guidance emphasises that all iPhones have a predetermined ‘battery life’, which dictates how much charge they can retain before needing a recharge.
Over time, this battery life begins to diminish as the battery itself starts to wear out. While it’s inevitable that a battery’s life will degrade, you can slow down the process by breaking some bad habits.
iPhone practices ruining your battery life
Frequently charging it to 100%
It is quite common to charge your phone overnight to ensure it is fully charged and ready for use first thing in the morning. However, it is generally advised to keep the phone’s battery between 20% and 80%, as a continuous high power input can accelerate your battery’s degradation.
Luckily, many modern iPhones come with a built-in feature to help maintain optimal battery health. Any iPhone with iOS 13 or later can enable Optimised Battery Charging, which pauses charging at 80% then resumes it to 80% just before the phone predicts you will wake up.
You can ensure battery optimisation is activated on your phone with the following steps:
- Head to Settings
- Press Battery
- Press Charging
- Under Charge Limit, move the slider to where you want the battery to temporarily stop charging
- Under the slider, ensure that Optimised Battery Charging is turned on.
Shutting down unused apps
Many users instinctively close applications completely from the home screen when finished using them. While this might appear to free up resources and enhance your device’s performance, the reality is quite the opposite.
Apple’s official recommendations state that you “should only close an app if it’s unresponsive”.
This is because the iPhone’s operating system efficiently manages background applications, and forcing fresh app launches could actually strain the device’s components, including the battery.
Additional battery health guidance is available through Apple here.