What to do when iPhone battery dies in a few hours, even without using the phone

Has it ever happened to you that your iPhone battery, which would normally last a whole day, suddenly dies within a few hours? Don't worry, we've seen it in the past: as an iPhone's battery ages and wears out, the device's performance is intentionally reduced. However, There are times when this is not normal behavior and having to resort to tricks to save battery on iOS is not the most practical.

Apparently, this is done so that the impact of this aging battery is less. Aside from the debates and collective demands of the OCU, it is clear that The unstoppable evolution of smartphones has pushed battery technology to the extreme. There is also a way to improve and fix this issue.

The culprit: a leaked application

With scenarios like the one already discussed by the OCU, it is not surprising that many of us panic or believe the false myth of planned obsolescence when suddenly our iPhone battery dies within a few hours of a day to day. But this is surely due to something else and not the iPhone's battery life.

If you're used to your iPhone battery lasting more or less a whole day and suddenly it lasts a few hours, something is wrong. What gives it away most of all is that the phone is hot even if you're not using it, a sign that it's “working” way more than it should.

How to find the app responsible for draining iPhone battery

The most likely thing that can happen is that there is an application that consumes a lot of battery without us realizing it. It may have crashed or we may have left a resource-intensive game running in the background. From the settings we can locate this applicationtrack it down and act on it.

In these settings in iOS 17, enter the “Battery” section. There, if you go down a little, you will find a list of apps ranked from most to least battery draining in the last 24 hours or last seven days. The responsible person must take first place by offering:

Note that if you tap the small clock icon in the tabs to change time slots, the duration appears. hours and minutes the app was in the foreground and background. Useful data to know if this application really closes correctly or not when we stop using it:

It is enough that Find the app that consumes the most battery and close itwhich you can do by swiping this app up in the multitasking interface (you can access it by swiping up from the bottom and holding it for a few moments before lifting it up).

For an app to do this isn't strange at all. The developer may not have updated and optimized it for several years, or a bug may cause excessive resource consumption, which is more common. If an application update does not arrive and the problem persists, it is best to stop using it and look for an alternative.

What if no application consumes more than necessary?

In this case, follow these steps:

1. Turn your iPhone off and on again: a simple restart can fix temporary errors. Turn off the iPhone in case of iOS error This helps detect if something is consuming too many resources.

2. Factory Restore iPhone: If the problem persists, You can always try to factory restore iPhone. Attention! This erases all your data, so make sure you have a backup. Breaking iPhone from factory is simple, it doesn't require much knowledge.

3. Contact Apple: If the problem persists after restoring your iPhone, contact Apple to diagnose the problem. This may be a hardware problem with this battery, so diagnosis by an authorized service center would be necessary.

Even if in a few months you will be able to change the battery yourself purchase the parts and download the instructions. Apple recently surprised us with a program that allows us to repair the iPhone ourselves, with the appropriate tools, manuals and parts. This should be easy to do at home if you're a bit handy.

Anyway, for older iPhones (e.g. since iPhone It may be more cost-effective for you to purchase a new terminal. not change the battery of the old one. Remember that you have Apple's recycling program, with which if you bring an old iPhone to recycle its components responsibly, you get a discount to buy a new one.

Some additional tips

Since prevention is always better than cure, here are some key tips to avoid draining the battery:

1. Enable low power mode– This mode reduces battery consumption by disabling certain non-essential functions.
2. Reduce screen brightness: The screen is one of the components that consumes the most battery.
3. Disable background updates– Some apps update in the background, which can consume battery power. You can disable this feature for apps that don't need it.
4. And finally, close apps you are not using: Don't leave applications open that you don't use.

Luckily, since iOS 17.4, there's a crucial new feature: it tells you how many charge cycles your battery takes without having to do anything strange. Of course, only for certain models, like the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. But you should know that This addition is very important to establish a preliminary analysis. With it, you will be able to predict if your battery is too weak and needs to be changed or if the problem comes from elsewhere.

Cover image | Generated with DALL-E 3

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