If you have issues with battery in your Apple Watch then here is how to stop battery drain in Apple Watch easily so that it can last two days on one charge.
Apple Watch is the most popular accessory that people buy if they have an iPhone, and it runs watch OS. Users are able to stay updated with notifications, take calls, access watch specific apps on their wrist using Apple Watch. Most of the popular apps come with watch version as well, which makes it easy to get notified and do basic functionalities easily. Various versions of Apple Watch have been launched, and the recent one is the Series 8 and Ultra. Even though Apple is improving the battery capacity and hardware to provide you long usage time with a single charge, there are some settings that you should change to improve battery life.
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Apple Watch comes with Apple’s own A series chip which are used in iPhones, iPads and Watches. With bright display and health tracking features like Heart rate monitor, ECG, Sleep Tracking, SpO2 tracking, battery life could have a hit as these sensors will use battery life to keep you updated. For you all fitness freaks out there, Apple Watch is an essential tool as it makes fitness tracking easy.
Reasons for battery drain in Apple Watch
Apple Watch being an inspiration to many other watch brands come with a great set of features which makes it one of the best smartwatch on the planet. With a lot of features, battery drain is expected. Following are some common reasons which cause battery drain in Apple Watch.
Bright display: One of the highlighting feature of Apple Watch is the display brightness. Apple Watch Series 8 comes with a max brightness level of 2000 nits which is great for seeing things on the screen even at bright sunny days. With this level of brightness, the display is the primary factor for battery drain.
Fitness tracking: Another major cause of battery drain on Apple Watch is the number of sensors, Apple Watch comes with Heart rate monitor and SpO2 sensor which becomes active in between to take the reading. This will cause battery drain.
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Background app refresh: When we install an app in iPhone, its companion app is installed on Apple Watch as well. These apps keep running in the background, draining the battery over time.
4G connectivity: Apple watches come with 4G e-SIM support. This enables a feature of making calls directly from Apple Watch without an iPhone. Having this option is great as you can keep your iPhone at home and keep the Apple Watch to take calls. 4G modems in Apple Watch could drain battery very soon because the battery size is small in watch.
How to stop battery drain in Apple Watch
One advantage of using Apple Watch with iPhone is that, you can change all setting of the watch through iPhone. You just need to open the Watch app inside iPhone.
Turn off Always ON feature
Always ON feature was introduced from Apple Watch Series 5 and it has been a welcome change. With this feature, users can see the time just by glancing the scree without turning the screen completely ON. As Apple Watch used AMOLED display, it will be more efficient in using battery when turned ON. But still keeping some pixel always ON will cause more battery drain. I would suggest until you feel it’s necessary, it’s better to turn it OFF so that you get a better battery life. To turn OFF always ON in Apple Watch, follow the settings below.
- Unlock your iPhone
- Go to Watch App
- Go to Display and Brightness
- Click on the “Always ON” button.
- Turn it off.
The same steps can be followed on Apple Watch as well. Go to settings of Apple Watch > Find Display and Brightness setting > Click on it and find, Always ON > Click on it and turn it OFF.
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Reduce wake duration
In the display settings, there is another feature that could drain, your Apple Watch battery. When the display turns ON and stays like that for long, it will drain the battery. The time duration for display should be kept minimum to reduce battery drain. To do it, follow the steps below.
- Open Watch App.
- Go to Display and brightness settings
- Click on “Wake duration”.
- Select the lowest time duration here, which is “Wake for 15 seconds”.
Turn off Listen for” Hey Siri” feature
Siri is the default voice assistant for Apple devices, and the same feature is present in Apple Watch as well. Using Hey Siri function, users can do various operations through voice commands. This includes controlling your smart home, playing music on Apple Music and control it etc. To keep Siri listening always to your commands, the mic should be left ON. This will drain the battery of your Apple Watch. If you want to disable “Hey Siri” feature, follow the steps below.
- Unlock your iPhone and open Watch App.
- Go to Siri section and click on it.
- Here you will see an option called “Listen to Hey Siri” turn it OFF.
- Also turn of “Raise to speak”.
You can do the same on Apple Watch as well. Go to Apple Watch Settings > Scroll and find “Siri” > Turn OFF “Listen to Hey Siri” and “Raise to Speak” options.
Turn OFF background app refresh
As we discussed earlier, many apps come with a companion watch app on iOS. These apps gets installed automatically to watch, and they keep using data and resources on the background. To reduce battery usage from these apps on your Apple Watch, you should disable background app refresh for apps which does not need it. Follow the steps below.
- Unlock iPhone and open watch app.
- Go to Settings
- Click on General
- Find “Background App Refresh” and click on it.
- Here you will see the list of apps installed on your Apple Watch.
- All apps listed will have a switch to the side.
- Turn off for apps which do not need to refresh on the background.
The same process can be done on your watch as well. Go to Apple Watch settings > Go to General > Find Background app refresh and turn off for apps.
Turn off Sensor usage from Privacy settings
As we discussed earlier, Apple Watch comes with a lot of sensors built in which includes Heart rate, ECG, SPo2, Environmental Sound measurement etc. Some of these sensors are not used by people, but they stay ON, using the battery of the Apple Watch. These sensors can be easily turned off from Privacy settings in your Apple Watch.
- Go to watch app on your iPhone
- Scroll down and find “Privacy”
- Here, all the sensors used for fitness tracking and environmental noise detection will be listed.
- Turn off the sensors that are not needed.
This can be done through your watch as well. Go to setting in your Apple Watch > Find “Privacy and Security” and click on it > Scroll down and look for “Health” > Here you will find all the sensors and can be turned off.
Update Apple Watch to latest software
Final and the most important step to take is to keep your Apple Watch updated with latest software. When Apple releases a new version, there will be bug fixes which will reduce battery drain. To update software on Apple Watch, follow these steps.
- Open watch app on your iPhone.
- Go to “Settings”.
- Click on Software update and check if any updates are available.
- If any update is available, download it and install by keeping the Apple Watch on charger.
Conclusion
If you have followed all the steps mentioned above, you will definitely see a change in your Apple Watch battery life and reduce battery drain. Major causes of battery drain are the screen and the apps running in the background. Once the settings are done accordingly, your watch will surely last for two working days of use.
