8 iPhone Battery Tips to Keep It Powered All Day

When iPhones are brand new, they can easily last all day, but that lasting power can diminish over time. On top of that, the latest iOS 18 software and apps, including Apple Intelligence AI, can drain them quickly. Long use and new features may lead you to need to recharge it sooner. But before you consider buying a new Apple phone, like the new iPhone 16 or the more affordable iPhone 16E, try out these battery hacks to prolong the daytime your current iPhone stays charged.

Some of the causes of battery drain are easy to control, like features turned on by default that can be switched off. Others might require a lifestyle change as you switch up how you use your iPhone throughout the day, breaking habits and going without some minor perks. In all cases, it’s helpful to keep a pocketable power bank in your pocket or bag just in case. 

Here are eight tips for diagnosing and extending your iPhone’s battery life.

1. Find what’s draining your battery

Some apps drain more of your iPhone’s battery than others, and it’s no surprise that the biggest offenders are those that track location, stream video or generate graphics (games, for example, especially fast-paced online ones). If it makes your phone heat up a bit, it’s probably running down your battery faster than casual use. 

There’s a way to specifically check which apps are draining your battery the most. Head to Settings > Battery and scroll down to see which apps are the worst culprits for taking the biggest percentage of your screen time. Also, don’t skip the Insights and Suggestions section, as it does all the analysis for you and shows you which apps and settings to change.

Note that these are the biggest uses of your battery, but you’ll have to parse through them to see which are big battery drainers, like YouTube or TikTok. In my case, Safari takes the biggest chunk of my use, which represents a lot of endless scrolling of sites and forums — but YouTube is in second.

2. Drop the battery-draining apps

Let’s face it — whether it’s Instagram, TikTok or something else, one or two apps are probably draining an outsized chunk of your battery every day. If you want longer battery life, remove the app by long-pressing its icon on the Home Screen and clicking the “x” in the corner. 

Yes, you could try to limit your use before wiping these apps from your phone. If you believe in your willpower, you could just stick the offending app in a folder to keep it out of sight, out of mind. 

But if you need some help from your iPhone itself, you can set a time limit for individual apps or whole categories. Go to Settings > Screen Time and tap App Limits. From there tap the Add Limit button to select by entire categories or specific apps. 

3: Turn down your screen brightness

You can save battery by turning down your iPhone screen’s brightness. This one’s pretty easy: tap-and-drag from the top-right corner to bring up the Control Panel and manually lower the brightness bar. Alternatively, you can find these controls in Settings > Display & Brightness or if you prefer to be verbose, you can ask Siri to reduce the brightness.

While you’re in the Display & Brightness sub-menu, tap Auto-Lock to set your phone to have a shorter time before locking itself. That way you won’t be draining battery if you put your phone down and paying attention to something else.

4: Turn on Low Power Mode