How to Keep Your iPhone Battery Alive After an iOS 9 Upgrade

After downloading iOS 9.0.1, many users have been reporting battery life problems. This is an issue that seems to reoccur every time a new iOS update rolls out. Seriously, every time. Even though the reasons for depleted battery life can vary case by case, there are several useful tips for improving battery life. If you encounter bad battery life, try one of these tricks.

Check which apps are wasting your battery

Even though people blame iOS 9 for wasting battery, it does have some useful features that help you preserve power—you just have to dig in and find them. One of the first things you should do is check how much battery each app is using. You can do this by opening up Settings > Battery then scroll down to “Battery Usage.” This will show you a list of apps, with a percentage next to them. Most likely, the apps at the top of the list are the ones you use the most, but there may be some energy hogs hidden in the list that use a disproportionate amount of battery. Consider deleting them, or at least be wary of where all your battery is going.

Make sure you turn off unnecessary features

It’s stupid-simple advice, but you’ve got to take it. If you are experiencing battery drain, make sure you turn off features like Bluetooth, AirDrop, and background apps when you aren’t using them.

Same goes for apps. Even when you exit an app, it can eat up battery by running in the background. You can either turn apps off every time you close them (by hitting the home button twice, and then swiping up), or you can turn off Background App refresh. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh, then you’ll have the option of turning it off for each app one by one, or for every app entirely. You may want to keep this feature on for some apps (such as GPS or mapping apps), so it might be best to think about whether you need the app constantly refreshing or not.

Low Power Mode

Low Power Mode is a new iOS 9 feature that was created to preserve your battery in those moments when you need it most. It conserves battery by turning off all the functions that you don’t immediately need (like background app refresh, automatic downloads, and certain visual effects). This can significantly extend your battery, but it also slightly lowers performance.

To turn Low Power Mode on go to Settings > Battery and you’ll see it at the top.

Dim that screen

Turn it all the way down. Sure, you can’t see anything, but your battery might last just a little bit longer. Besides, do you really need optimal brightness when you’re walking around with your iPhone in your backpack?