Is your iPhone having battery issues and not lasting until lunchtime? Before you take it in for service, check out these 10 settings—most of them are buried deep in the menu, and Apple doesn’t mention them by default. On many iPhones, this will give you back a few hours of battery life each day.
There are four main reasons why an iPhone drains its battery: apps running in the background, constant location tracking, a bright screen, and using mobile data in an area with weak signal (the phone boosts its signal strength and overheats). Most of this can be managed in Settings in just a few minutes. Let’s get started.
1. Turn off Background App Refresh for apps that don't need it
Apps like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Booking download content in the background even when you’re not actively using them. With social media apps, this means your phone is active practically around the clock. Go through the list and keep only those apps enabled that actually need real-time data (such as navigation or banking).
Settings → General → Background Content Refresh → Go through the list and turn off anything that doesn't need to run in the background. Tip: You can select „Wi-Fi Only” in the top menu—a compromise that saves both battery life and mobile data.
2. Manage location services
Most apps don’t need to know your location when you’re not using them. Weather, transit, and food apps—they’re all set to „Always” by default. Switch them to „While Using the App,” and your battery will thank you. The GPS chip is one of the most power-hungry components in the iPhone.
Settings → Privacy and Security → Location Services → Go through each app one by one and select „While using” for most of them. Keep „While using” for Maps as well—„Always” is only necessary for a few apps.
3. Limit push notifications
Every notification lights up the screen, causes the phone to vibrate, and wakes up the processor. With social media and games, that adds up to dozens of wake-ups a day. Just keep notifications enabled for what’s really important—messages, email, banking, and your calendar—and mute the rest.
Settings → Notifications → Go through the list and, for less important apps, turn off „Allow Notifications” completely, or at least turn off „Sounds” and „Badges.”.
4. Set the auto-lock to 30 seconds
By default, the iPhone locks after two minutes. This means that when you set it down on a table, the screen stays fully lit for two minutes. Shortening this to 30 seconds is the simplest change with the biggest impact—the display is the biggest battery drain of all.
Settings → Display & Brightness → Auto-lock → 30 seconds.
5. Turn on Reduce Motion and Reduce Transparency
iOS is beautiful thanks to its animations and transparency effects, but these features put a strain on the graphics chip with virtually every swipe. Turning off motion and transparency not only saves battery life but, paradoxically, also makes the system run faster—especially on older iPhones (XR, 11, 12).
Settings → Accessibility → Motion → Turn on Limit Motion. And at the same time Settings → Accessibility → Display & Text Size → Turn on Reduce Transparency.
6. Change the email settings from „Push” to „Manual” or „Every hour”
If you have both work and personal email accounts on your phone, the phone connects to the server every few minutes to check for new messages. For people who don’t need to reply to emails within seconds, the difference is significant.
Settings → Mail → Accounts → Data Retrieval → Turn off „Push” and select „Manual” or „Every hour” for each account. Your email will then be downloaded the next time you open the app.
7. Set Low Power Mode as an automation
Low Power Mode reduces brightness, slows down the processor, and limits background activity. Most people don’t turn it on until they reach 20 %, by which point it’s already too late. Tip: Use Shortcuts to set it to turn on automatically every morning or when your battery drops below 50%.
Open the app Shortcuts → Automations → Create Automation → Battery Level → Falls below 50% % → Set Low Power Mode → Turn On. That way, you won't be caught off guard by the phone in the morning.
8. Turn off Always-On Display (iPhone 14 Pro and later)
A display that stays on all the time, showing the clock and widgets, looks sleek, but it drains a few extra percent of your battery each day. If your iPhone is in your pocket or face-down on a table, there’s no point in keeping it on.
Settings → Display & Brightness → Always-on Display → Turn off. Alternatively, leave it turned on, but turn off „Show wallpaper” and „Show notifications” — the screen will then dim significantly more.
9. Set 5G to „Automatic,” not „5G On”
5G is fast, but in areas with weak signal (subway, apartment buildings, the Prague–Brno train), the iPhone drains the battery while searching for a network. The „Automatic” (5G Auto) option switches to 5G only when it makes sense for speed—such as when downloading large files. The rest of the time, the phone runs on LTE, and the battery lasts much longer.
Settings → Mobile Data → Mobile Data Options → Voice & Data → 5G Auto.
10. Make sure Optimized Charging is turned on
This isn't about daily battery life, but about battery longevity over the long term. The iPhone learns your rhythm and charges the last 20% just before you wake up—this way, the battery degrades less. After a year and a half, the difference in capacity can easily be 5–10%.
Settings → Battery → Charging → Optimized Battery Charging → Turn on. And here's one more tip: in the same menu, check Battery status. If capacity has fallen below 80 %, any further optimization will have only a limited effect.
Most of these settings take just five minutes to set up, and together they can significantly extend your iPhone’s battery life—by several hours a day for many people. Start with Background App Refresh and Auto-Lock; those make the biggest difference.
If going through all ten tips doesn't help and the battery health shows below 80%, it's time for a replacement. At AppleFix in downtown Prague, we’ll replace it with an original part in about 60 minutes—you’ll be able to take your phone home the same day. Stop by or send us a message.
