How to Maximize Battery Life iOS 9 iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

You might be in a situation when you really need to save battery milliamps of iOS device. To increase the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch battery life and get most out of it. The best thing about Apple devices is that you will always keep receiving updates. So even you are using iPhone 5, you can still update its software to iOS 8 and now iOS 9. This definitely gives a new look to your device but the problem which is usually faced is the low battery life. The reason behind this is that every new software comes up with new features which eat more battery. Things are little different with iOS 9 as it gives its users the ability to reduce battery usage and extend battery life. In this article, we will be discussing all those useful tips which you can apply in order to maximize battery life after updating your software to iOS 9.

Use Low Power Mode to reduce battery drain

Apple claims that iOS 9 will increase the battery power for old iOS devices up to one hour. So if you have not still updated your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch software, here is one motivation for you. Also, a low power mode feature has been added to your phone by this new software. If you turn this mode on, you will be able to add more hours to your phone battery life.

Though turning low power mode on comes with some sacrifices like you will not receive any new emails and no visual effect will be shown by your device. Even then this is such a useful feature when you need to save battery life.

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To turn this mode on, go to settings > general > battery > low power mode. If this mode isn’t turned on manually then you will also be notified to turn low power mode on when your phone battery goes down to 20%.

Low power mode ios 9 save battery

Find apps that using more battery

We already post a guide to check which app using most of the iOS device battery. In iOS 8, users have the ability to see which app is eating how much battery life in terms of percentage. This has been upgraded to minutes and percentage in iOS 9.

Now when you go to settings > general > battery you will be able to see all the apps and the time in minutes each app is using your battery. In this way, you will have better idea which app you must not use when you want to save battery life.

Battery usage by apps iOS 9

Turn off Bluetooth to save battery

Bluetooth is a useful tool but it takes too much battery when it is turned on because it will keep on searching for the wireless devices around. If you do not want to waste your battery for no reason, better keep the Bluetooth off when you do not need it.

To turn it off, go to settings > Bluetooth. You can also quickly do that by swiping up from bottom of the screen to access Control Center and tap the Bluetooth icon to disable it.

Control background app refresh to increase battery

Background App refresh as the name implies will keep the apps up to date and refresh them automatically in background and let user know about latest content and updated data. This is no doubt very cool feature by but not when you need to save your battery.

You have the authority to control background app refresh for apps by going to Settings > General > Background app refresh. Turning this off completely isn’t recommended and you should choose specific apps.

Background app refresh iOS 9

Disable location services to extend battery life

There might be some apps or system services that using GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi to determine your location. GPS might be used frequently by any app or system service that cause draining battery quickly. You must disable location services either completely or for specific apps or services to extend battery life.

Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services, here turn the location services switch off for everything or you can disable location service for individual apps from below, Tap on each app and then select Never option to disable location service for that app. System Services can also be managed from that page, scroll-down to the bottom tap System Services and switch off the location for specific system services you like.

Location services ios 9

Turn off animation and effects

To preserve some more battery life you should reduce the interface animation and effects. iOS gives an option to reduce interface motion including parallax effect of icons. To turn on “Reduce Motion” go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Reduce Motion and turn the switch on.
Reduce motion effects iOS 9

Remove widgets to get more battery timing

Remove all widgets from Notification Center that you don’t need. Simple swipe-down from top of the screen to view notification center. Here tap Edit button at the bottom and hit the (-) minus red and then Remove buttons to exclude the widget from the list.
control-center-ios-9-disable-widgets

Disable auto app updates

Back in iOS 7 apple make it easy for us to automatic download music, apps,  books, updates available on other devices. This will keep apps up-to-date automatically instead we go to app store and check for updates manually. No doubt this option is very handy but you keep in mind you might have battery drainage or over mobile data usage problems.

To handle this option go to Settings > “App and iTunes Stores” and under the Automatic Download section turn off all switches for Music, Apps, Books, Updates or according to your need.
disable auto update ios 9

To save battery life Lower the brightness

There are some other steps which you can take in order to maximize your device’s battery life. For example, you can lower the brightness of your device and you can remove live pictures from your wallpapers as this eats battery as well.

More battery related tips

  • Vibrate: Control the device vibration settings, try to use less vibration alerts. Go to Settings > Sounds and modify the Vibrate settings.
  • Games: I would not say don’t play games but at-lease turn off sound while play games.
  • Week signals: Cellular connection with week signals can cause battery drainage and your device will keep searching for cellular connection.
  • Reduce auto-lock time to minimum 30 seconds or at-least 1 minute. To change it go to Settings > General > Auto-Lock.
  • Use still wallpaper instead or Dynamic or animated photos.
  • Show battery percentage with battery icon to see what’s happening actually and take action accordingly. Green battery icon shows battery is over 20%, Red color show battery is under 20% and Orange color indicates Low power mode is on.Use Wi-Fi instead Mobile Data to reduce battery consumption. Wi-Fi consumes less battery power than mobile data so, you should give priority to Wi-Fi to reduce the battery usage.
  • Calibrate battery: Have you ever seen your device battery goes from 15% to 4% quickly in minutes then  you must calibrate your battery. Apple recommends to calibrate iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch battery once a month. Drain down your device until its turned off automatically and then plug it to power source and charge it to 100%. Its recommended not to use phone while charging.
  • You can also check this Apple guide for more battery life saving tips.

You need to choose and apply the above settings and you can save battery power that will help you to maximum battery life with iOS 9 installed on your Apple device.

Please share your experience related to battery problems and saving tips, use form below to leave comment.

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