This article has been updated since it originally published on October 31, 2020.
If your iPhone struggles to hold a charge during the day and is dangerously close to a dead battery even before dinner, the problem could be what you are doing (or failing to do) at night. Sometimes it isn’t enough to plug in your charger and power up your iPhone once a day. Before you rush to the Apple store and spend money on a new battery that your smartphone may not need, we spoke with Heinrich Long, privacy expert at Restore Privacy, and gathered other popular tech expert tips about the five nighttime mistakes every iPhone user should stop making because they drain your battery so fast.
Not Turning Off Certain Services
Many assume that charging mistakes are the sole reason why your iPhone refuses to hold a charge. And while it’s common knowledge that keeping your phone steadily charged between 40 and 80 percent is optimal for the health of your smartphone’s lithium batteries, Long stresses that there’s another battery-draining culprit at hand. App crashes are your secret battery murderers, according to the expert.
As it turns out, a lot of your apps are just constantly running when they’re really not meant to, especially at night, Long says. “Every single one of them is costing you precious battery life,” Long says. “Location tracking? Don’t need it. Push notifications overnight? Don’t need those either. Wi-Fi? No. Try turning off all these services and see how your phone fares overnight.”
Not Closing Apps
It’s also a good idea to keep an eye out for apps that crash and can damage your phone, often times without you even being aware that it’s happening. “The other thing you may want to look out for is that whenever you’re meant to close an app, but the app crashes instead, it’s going to generate an error, and heat up your phone, instead,” Long says. “Not only will that drain your battery overnight, it can also be dangerous for your phone.”
The best way to fix these potential problems and increase the charging capacity of your iPhone is by manually closing down every app that you are not using, Long says. Another tip that can help is making a habit of turning your phone off and on again before bedtime. ‘That way, you make sure that there are no present errors that can interfere and drain your battery,” Long says.
Charging Your Phone All Night Long
As mentioned before, the sweet spot for your phone’s battery charge is between 30 and 80 percent. Letting your phone charge all night long means it will no doubt reach 100 percent charging and stay there for hours. This is not a recommended practice, according to most tech experts. Instead, getting into the habit of charging your phone several times a day, including before bed, ensures your battery lasts until your morning alarm goes off.
Charging Your Phone In a Cold Room
Where you charge your phone matters — especially when it comes to temperature. An iPhone battery isn’t built to sustain extreme temps such as super-cold or hot rooms. Make sure wherever you charge your phone, the temperature is safe for your device.
Not Taking Advantage of Opportunities To Upgrade Software
Evening is the perfect time to search for any software or app updates and make sure your phone is updating accordingly. The pause you can take from using your device gives you the ideal opportunity to get your ducks in a row when it comes to upgrade. Remember: upgrades are crucial because they address any bugs or other issues with apps and old software programs. Taking care of these things puts you at less risk of catching viruses or being infected with malware. When in doubt, check settings to make sure you are up to date.
