8 iPhone battery hacks that actually work

Seeing your battery icon turn red in the upper right hand corner of your iPhone screen is never a welcome sight. If you’re tired of watching your battery drain faster than an unclogged sink, you need to learn these necessary iPhone hacks to save battery life.

Apple recently admitted on December 20th that new iOS updates intentionally slow down older iPhone models. A spokesperson for the major tech company explained that older lithium-ion batteries may not be able to handle updates and therefore older iPhones might unexpectedly shut down. Software updates for iPhone 6 and iPhone 7 models have been designed to slow down phone functions in order to prevent shutdowns and increase battery life.

But even if you’re using a newer iPhone model, like the iPhone 8 or iPhone X, you might still be experiencing frequent battery drainage depending on the apps you’re using.

So, whether your iPhone’s battery life is not what it once was and is affected by the newer iOS updates, or you’re just an iPhone and app fiend who experiences battery drainage due to constant use, these hacks will greatly enhance your iPhone’s battery life.

Learn the hacks, share the hacks, and rely on your charger less.

1Turn Location Services off.

Location Services is a huge secret battery eater that often goes undetected. This feature allows apps to pinpoint where you are in the world, which is kind of strange and icky feeling TBH. But if you’re using it on a slew of different apps, then Location Services is also draining your battery like nobody’s business.

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You can switch the entire feature off for all apps by going to Settings > Privacy > Location Services. Or you can also pick and choose which apps can use Locations Services below the main turn off switch. The only apps that rely on this feature are things like Google Maps, Tinder, Lyft, and other location-specific apps.

2Turn on Low Power Mode.

Whether you’re in a low-battery pinch or just know you won’t be near a charger any time soon, Low Power Mode is truly a life saver.

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When you turn Low Power Mode on, you’ll notice the batter color in the upper right-hand corner turns yellow. This feature reduces the actions of other iPhone features like background app refresh and mail fetch. Once you connect to power, the feature will turn off automatically. Just head to Settings > Battery to toggle it on or off.

3Turn down the brightness and turn Bluetooth off.

These two battery-saving hacks are available on the swipe-up screen. Swipe from the bottom to reduce your brightness and turn off your Bluetooth feature (that little icon to the right of the wi-fi button).

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Bluetooth allows you to wirelessly connect to audio players, computers, and other pieces of technology. You probably don’t use it that often, so it’s important to turn it off when you’re not trying to connect to something else. Don’t make your phone work harder than it has to.

4Turn off Background App Refresh.

Background App Refresh helps your apps stay constantly updated even when you’re not using them. It’s a great feature to keep on when you’re not in dire straights. But once that battery hits red, this bad boy should be turned off.

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Head to Settings > General > Background App Refresh to turn it off or on. You can also see which apps use the feature below.

5Choose a fast Auto-Lock time.

The longer your phone sits open with the brightness turned up, the more battery is drained. Choosing a 30- second or 1-minute Auto-Lock will ensure that your battery isn’t being drained when your phone is just sitting on the table.

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You can change your Auto-Lock time by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Life Suggestions > Auto-Lock.

6Stop quitting your apps.

We’ve all heard that quitting our apps after using them is a surefire way to maintain battery life. But it turns out that’s a myth. Only force close apps that you’re not going to use in the near future. The algorithm our phones run on include memory management which takes our app usage into consideration.

Wired.com explains it in simple terms — "Apps that are already in memory open quickly, rather than having to fully start again; it’s like waking your computer from sleep rather than rebooting it completely."

Just leave your most-used apps in the background. They’re fine right where they are.

7Disable as many notifications as you can.

Similar to choosing a fast Auto-Lock time, disabling unnecessary notifications will keep your phone from waking up and wasting battery on alerting you of a notification you don’t necessarily need.

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Go to Settings > Notifications and tap on apps that you can go without notifications from. Sorry Instagram and Facebook — you might have to be ignored for the greater good.

8Put your phone on Airplane Mode when you don’t need cellular service.

When you’re not waiting for a pressing call/email/text, or just feel like truly unplugging, switch your phone to Airplane Mode. It might feel like you’ve stepped off the grid, but if your battery is on the verge of dying, Airplane Mode can keep it out of the red.

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When you switch on Airplane Mode, your phone stop searching for a signal. The process of searching for said signal, especially in a place where reception is poor, can be an instant battery drainer. Just go to Settings and switch on Airplane Mode when in dire straits.

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