3 iPhone Mistakes That Are Draining Your Battery, According To Experts

Your iPhone battery shouldn’t zonk out six months after you purchased your expensive device. But the reality is: sometimes our iPhones refuse to hold a charge for longer than a few hours. And when that happens (assuming your phone isn’t actually old and doesn’t require a new battery), the best thing you can do is first try and figure out how you could be contributing to battery drainage. There are a number of common mistakes you could be making that are messing with your phone’s ability to maintain a charge — but the goods news is that each one of them can be remedied. Michael Jan Baldicana, SEO and Technical Content Specialist with Dream Chasers, outlines the three iPhone mistakes that are draining your battery. 

“We have all left our phones on the table next to us when we are not using them,” Baldicana says. “But, this is a mistake that could be costing you more than you think. We leave our iPhones on the table next to us when we are not using them, which is draining their battery life. Sometimes these mistakes can be costly too — leaving your phone screen on can cause your phone to overheat and shut down due to overheating or shutting down when it’s too hot out.”

Simple fix: press the side button on your phone until the screen turns off to save battery power. 

One of the main reasons why keeping background apps running in the background is a bad idea is because there are so many apps running in the background all the time, which can drain your battery quickly, Baldicana says. “The most common mistake that people make is keeping background apps running in the background,” Baldicana says. “This is because many people don’t realize how much these apps use your battery power.”

To turn off Background App, go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh. Make sure it’s toggled off. 

Leaving Bluetooth on when you’re not using it is a mistake that many iPhone users make, Baldicana says. “This can be due to the fact that people are not aware of the battery drain that Bluetooth can cause,” he says. “This is why it’s important to know how to turn off Bluetooth when you’re not using it in order to save your battery life.”

It could also simply be that you assume Bluetooth automatically turns off when you’re not using it. But manual work is required to ensure you aren’t wasting batter power. To turn off Bluetooth simply go to Settings > Bluetooth and toggle Bluetooth off.