iOS 11 has been out in the wild for a couple of weeks now and people have been experiencing a few issues here and there but, mostly, the roll out has gone fairly smoothly. There have been some quirky bugs including messaging bugs, WiFi issues, a home button delay, and a synchronization issue with Exchange accounts that was fixed with a small iOS 11.0.1 update. However, the biggest issue experienced by users appears to be iOS 11 battery life – or the lack thereof.
Battery life always seems to be the biggest complaint whenever a new version of iOS is released. This is no different with iOS 11. Part of it is the fact we tend to use our devices a little more when new features are introduced. We play with the new version of iOS and end up making our devices work a little harder which decreases battery life a little faster. However, there are some legitimate issues with iOS 11 battery life and, until Apple releases fixes for these issues, we will have to find ways to get the most out of our iPhone batteries on our own. Here are some tips to help you extend your iOS 11 battery life:
Turn Off Auto Brightness
That big beautiful display is awesome for enjoying media but it’s your biggest enemy in the fight against poor battery life. Turning off auto brightness is a great way to help get some extra life out of your battery. To do this, go into your “Settings” app and then tap on “Accessibility.” Don’t ask me why the auto brightness setting is in accessibility. Simply turn off the auto brightness setting and then set the slider to your liking. The lower you set the brightness, the less battery life you will use. If you spend a lot of your day indoors then you should be able to get by without having a very bright display and you will get a lot more usage out of a single charge.
Stop Apps From Refreshing In The Background
Even while you aren’t using an app, it may be using battery life as it works in the background. This is great for some apps. For example, if you want the weather to always be updated then it needs to be able to work in the background. However, other apps don’t need to always be sucking away battery life. If you go into your “Settings” app and then tap on “General” you will see an area for background app refresh. Turn off apps that you don’t need to refresh in the background while you aren’t using them. Taking away this ability from a few apps can help extend your battery life a lot.
Turn Off WiFi and Bluetooth
Obviously WiFi and Bluetooth are handy if you are using those features but if you aren’t then leaving those sensors turned on is a huge suck on battery life. If you have those toggles added to your Control Center then you can easily toggle WiFi and Bluetooth on and off as you need them. Getting in the car? Toggle WiFi off and toggle Bluetooth on. Getting out of the car? Toggle Bluetooth off. Make it a habit to take a second to turn off those services when you stop using them and you should see your iOS 11 battery life improve.
Use Low Power Mode
If you see your battery life getting low and you still have another hour until you can sit beside a wall outlet then be sure to turn on Low Power Mode and get some extra life out of your battery. Again, you can add this toggle to your Control Center to make it easy to turn on and off. Don’t use this all day as it can make your device feel somewhat slow or laggy. However, it can be a huge help when you need to make that last bit of battery life last.
Do A Hard Reset
Sometimes the most basic tech support advice is the best. Just do a hard reset if you’re experiencing poor iOS 11 battery life. Sometimes a service could be running wild in the background without your knowledge and the best way to stop that and get everything back on track is with a hard reset. For iPhone 7 owners and owners of earlier models you will want to hold down the lock key and the home button until you see a black screen with the Apple logo. For iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus owners you will do the same thing but hold down the lock and volume down buttons instead. A quick hard reset may be your best friend if you are experiencing poor iOS 11 battery life.
Beyond those tips, the only other thing you can do is be patient. Apple is likely working on fixes for battery issues and you may see improvement with future updates. Have you been experiencing problems with iOS 11 battery life or has the update been kind to you? Let us know in the comments section below!
