My Apple Watch 3 runs out of power about 3 hours into an outdoor bike ride.

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Level 1

8 points

My Apple Watch 3 runs out of power about 3 hours into an outdoor bike ride.

I start my day at 100% charged on the watch. I would like to use it to track my outdoor bike exercise, but I bike long distances/times, but about 3 hours in it goes into a power save mode then dies... What settings or tweeting can I do to make the watch useful? My iPhone 8 doesn't last much longer when I use a bike tracking app like Ride With GPS or Strava. Tell me tricks to using these Apple products for log distance GPS tracking...or should I look into Garmin or another brand.

Apple Watch Series 3, watchOS 5

Posted on Apr 10, 2019 4:42 PM

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Answer 1

Branta_uk

Level 7

32,892 points

Apr 10, 2019 5:46 PM in response to droot1610

You might want to consider testing the workout power save mode on the watch. In the Watch app, My Watch, General, Workout Power Saving Mode.

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Answer 2

julieda

Level 7

32,036 points

Apr 10, 2019 5:12 PM in response to droot1610

Make sure both devices have the latest software updates. If your battery performance is still poor reboot your iPhone and your Watch. If that doesn't help you might consider an appointment at the Apple Store Genius Bar and have them examine your batteries. (Neither device should be having poor battery performance).

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Answer 3

Branta_uk

Level 7

32,892 points

Apr 12, 2019 10:19 AM in response to droot1610

If you are also carrying your iPhone as hinted in earlier posts the disabling of cellular on the watch is not an issue. As for the potential reduced accuracy, all I can suggest is test for yourself and decide if the accuracy is significant and, whether you get a useful improvement in battery performance.

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Answer 4

droot1610 Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 13, 2019 9:16 PM in response to droot1610

Today I did the Indoor Cycling workout on the watch for 3 hours, and again it brought the battery down to under 20%. Since I wouldn’t assume it uses GPS for cycling in place, the heart rate must be the power hog in the case(versus LTE). Just FYIz

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Answer 5

droot1610 Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 10, 2019 6:32 PM in response to Branta_uk

The power saving mode will turn off cellular abilities on the watch and heart rate monitoring, correct? It says it's for walking and running workouts, I guess this is the testing you are suggesting I do-has someone else already figured this out?

My understanding is the GPS function will still work (it's for my outdoor cycling), but the calories burned calculation will be less accurate...

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