Are you someone whose gaze doesn’t regularly notice that your battery charge is getting low? Do you tend to run your batteries down to zero, beyond when the device either warns you or stops responding and then abruptly turns off?
I previously wrote about iPhone batteries in Battery Health & Repair and Maximize Battery Life, including best practices like configuring Background App Refresh.
In Settings > Battery, you can view usage history over the most recent 24-hour and 10-day periods. The list shows what apps and processes are using your battery and whether for on-screen and/or background activities.
Note: These proportions add up to 100%. So, if you use very few apps, don’t be surprised if one that shouldn’t use much power is using a percentage that’s higher than expected.
Battery Health
Your battery is a consumable part and will not last forever. You can check its current capacity in Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging. Depending on your usage habits, you can generally expect it to work well for 2–4 years.
The battery is considered depleted when its capacity declines to 80%. At this point, you will probably find it necessary to recharge more than once a day and the device may be sluggish and/or spontaneously shut down.
If you don’t need to replace your iPhone for other reasons, having the battery replaced is an excellent way to extend the life of the device and make it work like new again.
As iPhone parts are tiny and not designed for DIY repairs by many users, I recommend hiring Apple or another provider, which will charge $100 or less for this service. Let me know if you need a referral.
Battery Percentage
Did you know that you can show the battery charge percentage on the status bar of your iPhone? On an iPhone with Face ID, the status bar is impeded by the camera notch so there isn’t room for much information.
However, head to Settings > Battery to toggle Battery Percentage. If your status bar width is limited, the battery icon in the top right will change design slightly and embed the current charge percentage.
Charge Me Now!
On iPhone, you can automate an audible notification that might encourage you to plug into power sooner:
- Open the Shortcuts app and choose Automation
- Tap + and choose
Battery Level - Move the slider to a certain position representing a low percentage, such as 5% or 10%; choose the Falls Below item; and choose Run Immediately
On the next screen, you can choose one or more actions. I recommend Show Notification and Speak Text, each set to “Charge me now!” Each action also has additional options you can set. Set any additional actions you desire and tap Done.
Now, when your battery charge descends to 4%, 9%, or whatever is 1% less than the level you set, the actions you created with trigger. Hopefully, you were paying attention!
To promote a long life, it’s best to keep a battery charge between 20% and 80%. To that end, keeping an awareness of the status can extend the life of your device each day and over its years of use.
Reply or comment on this