Zahir Ahmad

Q: iOS 8.1.3 - Battery draining very quickly

Since installing iOS 8.1.3 on my iPhone 6 the battery has started to drain very quickly with little to no use. Anybody else having the same problem

iPhone 6, iOS 8.1.3

Posted on Jan 30, 2015 6:44 AM

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Q: iOS 8.1.3 - Battery draining very quickly

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  • by Gator5000e,

    Gator5000e Gator5000e Mar 10, 2015 6:43 AM in response to Zahir Ahmad
    Level 1 (33 points)
    Apple Watch
    Mar 10, 2015 6:43 AM in response to Zahir Ahmad

    What I am seeing (still) is data usage under the Settings category - Cellular > System Services > Push Notifications, Software Updates and Messaging Services. I have all push notifications turned off, all background updates off and all other items that i can find that operate in the background turned off. So in my mind, something in the operating system is using cellular for something which constantly uses the battery.

     

    I would really love to know what Push Notifications and Software Updates are under the Cellular >  System Services category. To me, since the number associated with those services keeps getting bigger, even though I am on WiFi 90% of the day, tells me something is pounding the cell radio. I just don't know what.

  • by DaltonLima,

    DaltonLima DaltonLima Mar 10, 2015 7:15 AM in response to Gator5000e
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 10, 2015 7:15 AM in response to Gator5000e

    8.2 doesn't help my drainage in my iphone 5s either (as I expected).
    Just one cycle of charge till now. (My battery runs 100% trough 0% in approx 5 hours. (airplane mode on) Restore as new iphone before and after upgrade to 8.2.

     

    In 8.1.3 I was seeing some usage in cellular data under "Time & Location". All "background notifications" and "location services" are off was turned off.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Mar 10, 2015 10:28 AM in response to Gator5000e
    Level 8 (37,997 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 10, 2015 10:28 AM in response to Gator5000e

    Gator5000e wrote:

     

     

    I would really love to know what Push Notifications and Software Updates are under the Cellular >  System Services category. To me, since the number associated with those services keeps getting bigger, even though I am on WiFi 90% of the day, tells me something is pounding the cell radio. I just don't know what.

    Push notifications always go over Cellular Data, because there is no protocol for pushing over WiFi. But the amount of data pushed should be small. It will include Visual Voicemail, iCloud updates to mail, contacts, calendars, notes, Notifications and notifications of updates to app files for iWork. If you have an MS Exchange account it will also update over cellular data. (The actual iWork file updates can go over WiFi, but the notification that a file has been updated does not.)

     

    But are you sure you are on WiFi 90% of the day? I ask because when the phone is asleep WiFi is turned off to save battery, unless the phone is connected to power. So even though you may be in range of a WiFi hotspot the phone will not use WiFi if it is not plugged in to a power source.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Mar 10, 2015 10:31 AM in response to DaltonLima
    Level 8 (37,997 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 10, 2015 10:31 AM in response to DaltonLima

    DaltonLima wrote:

     

    8.2 doesn't help my drainage in my iphone 5s either (as I expected).
    Just one cycle of charge till now. (My battery runs 100% trough 0% in approx 5 hours. (airplane mode on)

    The phone can use MORE battery when the phone is in Airplane mode if there are apps stuck trying to send or receive data. This is not true of the built in apps, which are smart enough to recognize when they have no connection, but not all 3rd party developers take that into consideration. As you already have a battery drain issue that's the most likely cause of it - apps that are not well-behaved.

  • by Gator5000e,

    Gator5000e Gator5000e Mar 10, 2015 11:18 AM in response to Lawrence Finch
    Level 1 (33 points)
    Apple Watch
    Mar 10, 2015 11:18 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

    OK, I reset my cellular usage settings at 2PM. I went to get a cup of coffee, chatted for a bit and came back to the phone and Push Notifications under Cellular > System Service had used 11.4KB of data. As I typed this it went up to 11.7KB. I wish I knew what notifications was being pushed. I know this is what's killing the battery. Or at least is a major contributor to the drain.

  • by Brian McMurry,

    Brian McMurry Brian McMurry Mar 10, 2015 11:38 AM in response to Lawrence Finch
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Mar 10, 2015 11:38 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

    Lawrence, you said:

     

    Push notifications always go over Cellular Data, because there is no protocol for pushing over WiFi.

     

    How is it that Push notifications works on my 'WiFi only' iPad?

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Mar 10, 2015 11:42 AM in response to Brian McMurry
    Level 8 (37,997 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 10, 2015 11:42 AM in response to Brian McMurry

    It doesn't push. The iPad periodically polls. But the notifications will not be in real time, as they are over cellular data.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Mar 10, 2015 11:44 AM in response to Gator5000e
    Level 8 (37,997 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 10, 2015 11:44 AM in response to Gator5000e

    Gator5000e wrote:

     

    OK, I reset my cellular usage settings at 2PM. I went to get a cup of coffee, chatted for a bit and came back to the phone and Push Notifications under Cellular > System Service had used 11.4KB of data. As I typed this it went up to 11.7KB. I wish I knew what notifications was being pushed. I know this is what's killing the battery. Or at least is a major contributor to the drain.

    It is not what is killing the battery, and it is not a major contributor to battery drain. 11.5 KB is nothing in the modern world. It uses an unmeasurably small amount of energy. If you have heavy battery drain it is some app that is not going to a suspended state, or it is large amounts of data transfer - 10's or 100's of MB, not a few KB.

  • by Gator5000e,

    Gator5000e Gator5000e Mar 10, 2015 11:45 AM in response to Lawrence Finch
    Level 1 (33 points)
    Apple Watch
    Mar 10, 2015 11:45 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

    So in my case, with almost all push notifications turned off (I have messages and calendar notifications turned on) what is behind these cellular push notifications?

  • by Gator5000e,

    Gator5000e Gator5000e Mar 10, 2015 11:54 AM in response to Zahir Ahmad
    Level 1 (33 points)
    Apple Watch
    Mar 10, 2015 11:54 AM in response to Zahir Ahmad

    I realize the data amount is not a lot and I'm not concerned about the amount of the data, but I am concerned the that the number keeps continually growing, even after a reboot. To me that shows that something is going on in the background. I just don't know what.

     

    I just got this phone Saturday after Apple replaced it and I ran it with only the stock apps (no additional apps added) and it still did the same thing. And none of the apps I added later are showing as using cellular data.

     

    Plus after I upgraded to 8.2 yesterday via iTunes, there are many apps i haven't even run yet. I don't think it's a rouge app. If it is, its running on it's own without me opening the app.

  • by DaltonLima,

    DaltonLima DaltonLima Mar 10, 2015 12:02 PM in response to Gator5000e
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 10, 2015 12:02 PM in response to Gator5000e

    in my case, I`ve restarted fresh, without installing any apps, and even without logging in to any icloud or itunes account. Everything turned off.
    Nothing works here. Heavy drainage. 100% in 5 hours or less.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Mar 10, 2015 12:08 PM in response to Gator5000e
    Level 8 (37,997 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 10, 2015 12:08 PM in response to Gator5000e

    Gator5000e wrote:

     

    So in my case, with almost all push notifications turned off (I have messages and calendar notifications turned on) what is behind these cellular push notifications?

    You just said it yourself. Messages and calendar notifications, plus call data updates, visual voicemail, network syncs, clock calibration, weather, stocks, Find my iPhone, Game Center, App Store update notifications - things you can't turn off. But that's all irrelevant. Notifications are not causing your battery drain. I have 240 apps, and over 100 of them have notifications enabled. I do not have a problem with battery drain. If Notifications were a problem I certainly would. Notifications use very little data and very little power, even if you have a lot of them. Chasing after Notifications is not going to solve your battery drain issue.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Mar 10, 2015 12:15 PM in response to Gator5000e
    Level 8 (37,997 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 10, 2015 12:15 PM in response to Gator5000e

    Gator5000e wrote:

     

    I realize the data amount is not a lot and I'm not concerned about the amount of the data, but I am concerned the that the number keeps continually growing, even after a reboot. To me that shows that something is going on in the background. I just don't know what.

     

    I just got this phone Saturday after Apple replaced it and I ran it with only the stock apps (no additional apps added) and it still did the same thing. And none of the apps I added later are showing as using cellular data.

     

    Plus after I upgraded to 8.2 yesterday via iTunes, there are many apps i haven't even run yet. I don't think it's a rouge app. If it is, its running on it's own without me opening the app.

    See my other reply about what uses notification data. It is apps that you can't turn off. After upgrading, unless you set the phone up as new, all of the apps that had been running before the update were still running after the update. An update does not kill apps. And, in fact, an update can cause poorly written apps to get stuck in a loop if they were interrupted by the update process and lost track of what they were doing before the update. This is one reason that battery issues sometimes appear right after an update. It isn't the version that you updated to, it is simply the fact that the update process interrupted apps in the middle of doing something, and they did not recover correctly. The worst offender in this regard is MS Exchange, followed closely by Facebook. MS Exchange because of a critical flaw in the Microsoft Activesync protocol. Facebook simply because it wasn't well written.

  • by Gator5000e,

    Gator5000e Gator5000e Mar 10, 2015 12:23 PM in response to Zahir Ahmad
    Level 1 (33 points)
    Apple Watch
    Mar 10, 2015 12:23 PM in response to Zahir Ahmad

    I really appreciate your help. Sounds like you worked for Apple. But I am so frustrated right now. I used to have lots of apps and no problems. Now I have 10-15 installed. I'm down to 30% on the battery level. I've gotten new phones, restored as a new phone, gone bare without any additional apps added. Something is causing this. I don't care if it's Apple or T-Mobile or an app. I just want to get it figured out.

     

    I will give the System Service Push Notifications a rest pursuant to your explanation.

     

    There is an app I just found called System Status and it shows a lot of what's going on with the phone, including disc usage and processes running. Unfortunately, I don't understand half of it to tell if there is something running that shouldn't be.

     

    BTW, I don't use Exchange. And as I said after the phone was replaced, I ran it without installing any apps at all and still experienced the drain. Maybe it's a T-Mobile cell or network problem. I don't know.

  • by Brian McMurry,

    Brian McMurry Brian McMurry Mar 10, 2015 12:32 PM in response to DaltonLima
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Mar 10, 2015 12:32 PM in response to DaltonLima

    DaltonLima,

     

    I'm having a very difference experience than you.  You said you are getting 100% drainage in 5 hours with everything turned off and you are not logged into iCloud, iTunes etc...

     

    My battery will last for days with everything turned off.  But, as soon as I log into iCloud and only have Cell Data turned on, even will all iCloud services turned off, I'll burn anywhere from 13 to 44 MB per hour of cell data and the battery is dead in about 5 hours.

     

    I've successfully replicated this on an iPhone 5, 5s and a one day old iPhone 6.

     

    I'm currently working with Apple Engineering by way of a senior AppleCare advisor to remedy this problem.  The last suggestion from them was to 'TRY' the 8.2 update as they think there might have been a fix included that might address my issue.  Well, I updated early this morning, tested on both the 5s and the 6. 

     

    Didn't work for me.  During my latest test, the 5s and 6 are burning 43 Mb and 35 Mb per hour, respectively.

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