What is Optimized Battery Charging

If you have been an iPhone user for several years, you may have noticed that the battery life became shorter after a period of time. Lithium-ion batteries degrade over time and hold less charge than before. One cannot stop this degradation process but it can be slowed down. 

For this issue, Apple introduced a feature that improves your battery health by reducing the time your iPhone spends to be fully charged. This feature is called optimized battery charging. Now, what is optimized battery charging? And why it is so important nowadays? How does it even work? You’ll get all the answers in this article.

Everything You Need to Know about Optimized Battery Charging 

Optimized Battery charging is a feature developed by iOS 13 that decreases battery aging. By controlling charging activity, it improves the lifespan of your battery. 

At the time of long-term charging, this feature allows your iPhone to stop charging right after the battery reaches 80%. Your phone will continue to charge before you need it. This way, your phone will spend less time fully charged, which ultimately will extend its battery life. The phone is also charged completely before you take it out of the charging station in the morning.

This system works based on an algorithm that observes your daily charging pattern i.e. at which time you wake up and start using your phone or at which time you charge plug in your phone for a long time. 

Prolonged charging is harmful to your battery life. That is why this feature cuts off charging when the battery reaches 80% and starts recharging only a little while before you wake up. That’s how battery optimization slows down the degradation process of Lithium-ion batteries. 

Why 100% charging is bad for your iPhone

Lithium-ion batteries are used in iPhones. The chemical aging of these batteries depends on charge cycles. 

During overnight charging, your device stops charging when it hits 100%. Once it drops to 99%, your phone starts recharging. It constantly trickles from 99% to 100. Trickle charging is bad for your iPhone’s health. It increases heat and stresses your phone battery.

Also in this way, your battery adds up a full charge cycle. The more charge cycles your battery has completed, the more its lifespan decreases. Again, lithium-ion batteries tend to have a longer lifecycle when they are charged below 80%. Scientists recommend that the perfect battery percentage is between 30% and 80%. 

Keeping your device plugged in overnight can also reduce the battery performance and lifetime. 

Benefits of Battery Charging Optimization 

Optimized battery charging fixes all these issues as it stays at 80% charge. Thus-  

• Your phone would not take unnecessary charges all night. So no risk of overheating. 
• It reduces the stress that your battery gets from 100% charge. 
• It will not add extra charge cycles. 
• Trickle charging isn allowed here.
• It maximizes your battery life .

How Does Optimized Charging Work?  

Let’s say you wake up at 8 A.M. every morning. Before going to bed you plugged in your charger. Your phone will be normally charged until it reaches 80%. Then it is going to cut off charging. It is again 30/40 minutes before you wake up ( depending on how much time it takes to take 20% charge), it will resume charging. 

Now the question is how your phone will know when you’re going to wake up or plug off your phone? It is by using artificial intelligence. Optimized battery charging uses machine learning to understand Your daily charging pattern. It also takes information from other apps to analyze your daily charging activity. It is not only based on sleep schedule but also depends on some other parameters. Such as location. This feature is only active in places where you spend the most time. Also, it won’t work when you have an unusual routine or when you are traveling.  

How To Enable Optimized Battery Charging 

Battery charging is available on all iPhones that support iOS 13. It is on by default on iPhones. But some other options should be enabled to activate this feature. They are – 

Location Services 

1. Go to Settings 
2. Tap Privacy 
3. Turn on Location Services 

System Customization 

1. Go to Settings 
2. Tap Privacy 
3. Select Location Services 
4. Tap System Services 
5. Turn on System Customization

Significant Location 

1. Go to Settings 
2. Go to Privacy 
3. Select Location Services 
4. Tap on System Services 
5. Turn on Significant Locations 

These services track your location to determine whether you are traveling or not. But none of this information is sent to Apple. 

How to Know if Battery Charging Optimization Is Active 

If optimized battery charging is active in your phone, you will get a notification saying, “scheduled to finish charging by 8.00 A.M.” If you need to speed up your charging, you can press and hold the notification, and then you’ll get another option saying “charge now.” Tap it and your phone will start charging.  

How to Turn Off Optimized Battery Charging

Like most people, if you are accustomed to overnight charging, keeping this feature on is best for your battery health. 

But if you want fast charging, you can turn this feature off. To disable – 

1. Go to settings 
2. Choose battery 
3. Tap on Battery health 
4. Disable optimized Battery charging 

Wrap up 

In this article, we tried to provide you with a clear concept about optimized battery charging. If you are concerned about your iPhone’s battery life, you must enable this feature. As this algorithm is based on your regular charging habit, it will take 4-5 days to be accustomed to your daily routine. It is nothing but a unique and necessary feature to preserve your battery health.