There is a high chance that your phone’s battery health may be declining if you are constantly charging it or looking for outlets to plug it in.
You may be imagining the drain of your battery, but Apple has built-in tools (that will be enhanced in iOS 14.5 and beyond) set to tell you for sure if your phone really is about to die.
Knowing how your battery is fairing can keep you from having to shell out big bucks for a new phone (a basic iPhone is $399). Treat the battery right and implement a few iPhone battery charging tips and tricks so that you can get the most out of it.
The following are some ways to monitor and maintain the battery of your iPhone in order to keep it running like (almost) new.
What Kind of Battery Does an iPhone Have?
1. Remove cover during charging
During charging, your iPhone will generate heat, so it could get hot. To make sure that the heat generated during charging is dissipated properly, remove the iPhone’s cover. Thicker covers and protective cases trap heat, causing the iPhone to overheat during charging. This can harm the battery’s health.
Most of these cases come in thick foldable leather cases, which have openings for cards and other accessibility features. Therefore, avoid using those huge and thick rubber cartoon covers for charging your iPhone since they can cause your iPhone to battery damage.
2. Don’t let your battery completely drain out
Many people think that fully discharging and recharging their phones will extend their battery’s life. In contrast, as the battery goes lower, a greater amount of current is drawn out, so the battery life decreases. It is therefore essential for you to recharge your device once it has reached 20%.
Furthermore, once you finished charging the battery, don’t forget to unplug the charger. When the phone’s battery is already fully charged, people are still leaving it to charge. This, however, will further degrade your battery’s performance.
3. Don’t use the phone when charging
You can upset the cycle of your phone while it is charging if you’re watching videos or playing games. You should therefore avoid using your cellphone while it’s charging to protect its battery. Furthermore, you should turn off the vibration notifications and the typing sounds. Over time, these features drain the battery, so make sure to turn them off if you aren’t using them.
4. Turn off cellular data and WiFi when charging
Don’t let the Wi-Fi or cellular data be turned on while you charge your phone. Considering that mobile data use more energy than Wi-Fi, it is recommended that you turn off mobile data if you must choose between these two.
In addition, if you are out of the wifi network, don’t keep your WiFi on. This causes your battery to drain faster. Since it continuously searches for Wi-Fi access and keeps the processor busy. Therefore, if possible, shut off the WiFi and cellular data simultaneously when plugging in your phone to charge.
5. Enable “Optimized Battery Charging”
With iOS 13, Apple introduced a new feature that limits the amount of power that you can use until you need it. It is referred to as Optimized Battery Charging. In Settings > Battery > Battery Health, you should find this enabled by default.
When a lithium-ion cell is fully charged, or charged to capacity, it degrades over time. With iOS 13, your device is restricted to around 80 percent charge until you pick up your phone. The app examines your habits and limits your charge accordingly. When that happens, the device charges to its full capacity.
Keeping the battery’s capacity at 80 percent or less for a limited time will help the battery to last longer. In general, a battery degrades as it goes through more charge and discharge cycles, which is why eventually, batteries have to be replaced.
Hopefully, optimized battery charging will enable you to extend the battery life on your iPhone.
6. Use the default (genuine) charger
It is recommended that you use the charger included with your device. But the interesting fact is, you can also use the charger that came with your iPad to charge your iPhone and it will charge up to full sooner than the iPhone’s own charger.
You’ll find various third-party offers in the Apple store itself, as well as reliable brands such as Belkin (UK or US) and Juice. Make sure that the third-party charger you are using is of the highest quality if you are forced to use one.
It is not a good idea to purchase cheap knock-offs, as these may damage your device.
7. Don’t charge your iPhone overnight
In the past, charging smartphones were primarily done by plugging in at night, disconnecting them in the morning when fully charged.
The reason for this was when batteries took a long time to charge to full capacity, so users and devices had ample time to recover from the previous day’s exertions in bed accordingly.
But now that charging time has decreased, you might want to reconsider how you top off your tank.
In Apple’s words, the lithium-ion battery preserves the longest battery life and provides a lighter, faster-charging experience for iPhones. The other features are fine, but Li-On does not really enjoy being reduced to 0 percent at the end of each day and then returning to 100 percent the following morning.
It is recommended by Apple and many others to keep smartphone batteries between 40 and 80 percent charged. Taking your battery to 100 percent is not recommended even though it will not necessarily damage it, but letting it run down to 0 percent on a regular basis can lead to premature battery death.
However, there is an exception, as a complete charge of 0-100 percent should be done once a month to keep the battery healthy.
8. Don’t overheat your battery
It’s not a charging issue specifically. Still, it has great significance. Probably, you noticed after spending time in the sun, your phone was likely to become dramatically slower. Due to the fact that iPhone batteries hate extreme temperature changes, they must work harder in high heat or low temperature.
Apple states that the “comfort zone” between 32 and 95 degrees is ideal for iPhones (and iPads, iPods). Bottom line: Your phones are cute little computers that need to be bundled up and cooled down as often as possible.
How to Look up iPhone Battery Info
It is true that every battery has a certain lifespan. However, with proper charging habits and maintenance, you can definitely upgrade the performance. We have tried our very best to include some tips in this article that are based on our very own experience and that of industry experts. In case of any further issues, do not hesitate to let us know. You are always welcome.
Resources:
- Lithium-ion battery safety guidelines: https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries
- Apple’s official battery health support: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208387
- Tips from Energy.gov on mobile device energy saving: https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/articles/5-tips-saving-energy-your-smartphone
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Understanding phone overheating causes and prevention: https://www.androidauthority.com/phone-overheating-1051706/