12 iOS Features secretly draining your iPhone battery — and how to stop them

Dubai: Simple ways to make your iPhone battery last longer.

If your iPhone battery seems to drain faster than it should, you're not alone. While lithium-ion batteries naturally lose capacity over time, most of us are unknowingly speeding up the process by leaving certain features running that we don't actually need.

The good news? A few quick adjustments can add hours to your battery life without requiring any technical expertise.

Most of these features are available before you get the iOS 26 update as well. Before rushing out to buy a new phone, check your Battery Health in Settings (anything above 80% is still decent). Then try these straightforward tweaks to squeeze more life out of your device.

Your screen is the biggest battery drain on your iPhone. Modern displays are brighter and more vibrant than ever, but all that visual brilliance comes at a cost. The simplest solution is to turn down the brightness manually. Head to Settings > Display & Brightness and adjust the slider, or access it quickly through Control Centre by pressing lightly on the brightness icon.

It's a small change that makes a significant difference, especially if you tend to keep your brightness at maximum all day.

Low Power Mode is one of the most effective tools for extending battery life. When activated, your iPhone focuses only on essential tasks, disabling background activities like downloads, iCloud syncing and automatic mail fetching. The feature kicks in automatically when your battery drops below 20%, but you can enable it manually anytime through Settings > Battery.

For even quicker access, add Low Power Mode to your Control Centre via Settings > Control Centre. When it's on, your battery icon turns yellow, so you'll know it's working.

Since iOS 16, iPhones have offered haptic feedback for the keyboard, which provides a gentle vibration with each keystroke. Whilst this creates a more immersive typing experience, Apple has confirmed it may affect battery life. The feature isn't enabled by default, but if you've switched it on yourself, consider turning it off.

Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Keyboard Feedback and toggle off Haptic. You'll still hear the click-clack sounds if you prefer audio feedback, but you'll save power in the process.

The smooth animations and transitions across iOS look sleek, from the fluid way apps open and close to the colourful burst when you activate Siri. However, these visual effects consume battery power. If you're willing to sacrifice a bit of polish for better battery life, enable Reduce Motion.

Navigate to Settings > Accessibility > Motion and toggle on Reduce Motion. The interface will feel slightly less dynamic, but your battery will thank you.

Many apps continue checking for updates and new content even when you're not actively using them. This background activity quietly drains your battery throughout the day. You can disable Background App Refresh entirely or customise it for individual apps under Settings > General > Background App Refresh.

If you want to be selective, turn it off for power-hungry apps like email clients and social media platforms. Disabling it won't stop apps from working, but there may be a brief delay when new information loads after you open them.

Widgets on your lock screen might seem convenient, but they force apps to run constantly in the background, fetching data to keep information like weather forecasts and sports scores up to date. This continuous activity drains power steadily throughout the day.

The easiest solution is to switch to a lock screen profile without widgets. Press and hold your lock screen, then swipe to choose a different option. If you'd rather keep your current setup but remove widgets, tap Customize, select Lock Screen, tap the widget box and hit the minus button on each widget to delete them.

GPS location tracking is essential for apps like Maps and navigation tools, but constant background pings drain your battery quickly. Rather than disabling location services completely (which would severely limit your phone's functionality), customise individual app permissions.

Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services and adjust each app's access. Options include Never, Ask Next Time, While Using the App, or Always. For most apps, "While Using the App" strikes the perfect balance between functionality and battery conservation.

Since your display is the biggest battery drain, controlling when it automatically turns off makes a real difference. Adjust this setting under Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock. If you often put your phone down without manually locking it, choose a shorter time interval to give your battery a break.

You might also consider disabling Raise to Wake if you don't want the screen lighting up simply because you've picked up your phone.

Every time your screen lights up with a notification preview, it consumes power. If you receive frequent texts, news alerts and social media notifications, those little bursts of activity add up quickly. Reducing interruptions can save both your battery and your sanity.

Open Settings > Notifications and choose which apps can send alerts and where they appear. Turn off Lock Screen notifications or select Notification Centre instead so alerts won't wake your screen. Alternatively, use Focus mode to set temporary restrictions on when notifications come through.

If you're running iOS 26, take advantage of Adaptive Power mode, which manages battery settings automatically. When enabled, it adjusts performance, reduces screen brightness by 3%, limits background activity and activates Low Power Mode if your battery drops below 20%.

The feature uses on-device intelligence to predict when you'll need extra battery life based on your usage patterns, switching on and off throughout the day as needed. Enable it by going to Settings > Battery > Power Mode and selecting Adaptive Power. You can also turn on Adaptive Power Notifications if you want alerts when the feature activates.

If you own an iPhone 14 Pro or later, the Always-On display shows the time, widgets, notifications and wallpaper whilst your device is locked. Although Apple has optimised it to minimise power consumption, it still uses battery. You can disable it under Display & Brightness > Always On.

If you prefer keeping it enabled, the display automatically turns off when your phone is face down, in your pocket or bag, when Sleep focus is active, or during your set bedtime.

Your iPhone constantly searches for Wi-Fi connections, Bluetooth devices and cellular data in the background. If you're in a genuine power emergency, disable these features through Control Centre or simply enable Aeroplane Mode to turn off all cellular functions at once.

This is admittedly an extreme measure for everyday use, but it's handy to know when you're trying to preserve every last percentage point.

iOS 26 now estimates charging time when you plug in your device. The lock screen and Battery settings display how long until you reach 100%, and if you have Optimised Battery Charging enabled, it shows the time remaining to reach 80%. Whilst this doesn't improve battery life directly, it might convince you to wait those extra few minutes for a more substantial charge.

Before you can properly monitor battery life, you need precise information. The battery icon shows a rough estimate, but enabling the exact percentage makes tracking much easier. Go to Settings > Battery and turn on Battery Percentage. The icon will then display a number, letting you monitor usage at a glance.

Making a few of these changes today can genuinely extend your iPhone's daily battery life. You don't need to implement every suggestion, just pick the ones that suit your usage habits and watch your battery percentage stop plummeting quite so dramatically.

Areeba Hashmi is a trainee at Gulf News.