iPhone Battery Drain Fix: What to do if your phone keeps unexpectedly losing power

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Loyal iPhone users can vouch for a mysterious ailment that hits their phone after a year or immediately after a software update: The battery life declines rapidly. 

At first, it'll hardly be noticeable. But then a device charged to 40% will mysteriously drop to 9% in minutes. Or an iPhone will remain at 1% for hours. 

When your battery falls into the low territory, your first intuitive move might be to close out of a few apps that are open in the background. But this measure can do more harm than good. Or, at the very least, it'll do nothing. According to CNET, the act of closing out of apps may drain your battery further — depending on the app. And then there's the fact that an email from Apple iOS chief Craig Federighi revealed that closing out of multitasking apps does nothing for battery life.

So what can you do if your phone seems to be losing its battery life on the regular? These nine steps can preserve your battery life.

iPhone battery drain fix: First, see if your phone is eligible for a battery replacement

If you own an iPhone 6s and find that it randomly shuts down, you may be in luck: It could be part of a larger problem, and your device could be eligible for a battery replacement. To see if your iPhone 6s is within the limited serial-number range, contact an authorized service provider, an Apple store or technical support. You can also look up your handset's serial number to see if there's any sight of the following within it: Q3, Q4, Q5, Q6, Q7, Q8, Q9, QC, QD, QF, QG, QF or QJ.

iPhone battery drain fix: Reduce notifications

If you get notifications from every app in every medium, it's time to change that. Click on the Settings app and scroll down to Notifications to customize each app's notification setting. For apps that are less relevant, turn off the slider next to Allow Notifications to shut them off entirely. For others, attempt to pick just one medium: sound, badge app, vibration.

iPhone battery drain fix: Dim the lights

If your screen is super bright, then you can preserve some battery by dimming the brightness, according to Apple. To do this, go to the Settings app and scroll down to Display & Brightness. Here, you'll find a brightness scale located at the top. Move the Brightness slider to the left to lower the brightness as far as it can go without compromising on your experience. 

iPhone battery drain fix: Turn off Location Services

Have a bunch of apps that use Location Services? This feature uses GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi hotspots and cell tower locations to determine an approximate location. Apple recommends turning this feature off to preserve battery life. To do this, go to Settings, select Privacy and then select Location Services. Tap on the slider next to Location Services at the top to turn off this feature entirely, or scroll further down to customize the settings for each individual app.

iPhone battery drain fix: Refrain from using apps that drain your battery too much

To know which apps are using up the most battery, get the breakdown of your battery usage. Select the "Settings" app, go to "Battery" and then take a look at the battery usage from the past 24 hours listed from most to least. 

Regularly checking in on this page can reveal patterns in your behavior: Maybe Snapchat is using up a lot of battery life, for instance. Tapping on an app will further break down battery usage based on "on-screen" time and "background" time. This can help you avoid certain apps when you're trying to preserve battery life or remove the background activity option for other apps.

Apple

iPhone battery drain fix: Turn off Background App Refresh

By going to General under the Settings app, users can select on Background App Refresh to stop apps from refreshing content in the background. If you don't want to turn them all off, then scroll further below to see which apps have permission to refresh in the background and curate the list.

iPhone battery drain fix: Turn on Low Power Mode

Apple has a Low Power Mode, introduced with iOS 9, within the iPhone's Settings app. Under Battery, tapping the slider next to Low Power Mode will reduce power consumption.

"Apps including Mail will not download content in the background, and features like AirDrop, iCloud sync and Continuity will be disabled," Apple said on its website. "You can still use key functions like making and receiving phone calls, email and messages, accessing the internet and more. And when your phone charges up again, Low Power Mode automatically switches off."

iPhone battery drain fix: Place your device on Airplane Mode

If you need to preserve your last bit of battery for an emergency or to hail a ride, then place your handset on "Airplane Mode." To do this, click on the "Settings" app and tap the slider near the orange icon labeled "Airplane Mode." You can also swipe up from the bottom of your Home screen to open up your iPhone's Control Center and then select the orange icon with a small white plane inside.

When your iPhone is on Airplane Mode, three wireless features — Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Cellular (voice and data) — are turned off. While this feature was built for consumers to utilize their smartphone while in-flight, it also saves your device's battery. Fun fact: Placing your phone on Airplane Mode while charging will also make it charge up faster.

iPhone battery drain: Update to the latest iOS

While many users claim an iOS update is responsible for their battery woes, Apple maintains that updating to the most recently released iOS will preserve battery life. "Apple software updates often include advanced energy-saving technologies, so always make sure your device is using the latest version of iOS," Apple said on its website.