Inconsistencies in battery life.

P_NG wrote:

Hello AdvisorMP,

How can I have Background App activity if I always have all the apps closed?

Background App Refresh has nothing to do with whether or not you force closed an app. It keeps the data that an app will require refreshed in the background so that it's immediately available when you switch to the app. You turn it off by going to Settings>General>Background App Refresh. You can turn it off globally (Strava might object) or by individual apps.

I always have Mobile Data off unless on the street I need to check something on the fly and then I turn it off again.

Except in the aforementioned areas of low signal strength, mobile data uses less battery than WiFi. Unless you have a very restricted data plan, leave it on. The phone will, overall, function better.

You should not be force-closing apps, ever, unless they are not working correctly. Here’s the long explanation of why→Do not close "background" apps | Communities. Force closing an app does not stop it from relaunching and running if it receives a notification to process, or other “event” such as incoming email, weather update, etc. But it DOES mean that the relaunch will use more energy than will just leaving it suspended in the quick launch screen ready to run upon activation; if it is removed the app has to go through it’s one-time startup process again, possibly access its server to see what has happened since the last launch.

I just checked (in response to another thread). My quick-launch (aka “multitasking”) screen currently has 100 suspended apps in it.

Why are you not connecting the phone to the charger every night and leaving it connected all night every night? That is the single best way to preserve battery life and health. Here's what top forum expert and battery expert Lawrence Finch has to say:

There is never a time when any smartphone is doing nothing, so it will use energy 24/7, and the amount used will vary from day to day and minute to minute. For that reason alone you should charge your phone overnight, every night. In addition, the absolute best way to get maximum use on a charge, as well as slow the decline of battery capacity long term is to enable Optimized Battery Charging (Settings/Battery/Battery Health) and charge the device overnight. The battery will fast charge to 80%, then pause. During the nighttime pause the phone will use mains power instead of battery power, allowing the battery to “rest”, and thus reducing the need to charge the battery quite as often. The phone will resume charging to reach 100% when you are ready to use your phone; it will “learn” your usage pattern.

About Optimized Battery Charging on your iPhone - Apple Support

Thanks for reaching out P_NG,

It sounds like you want to better understand the trends you see in your battery usage. We can help.

The most common reasons for unexplained battery use usually include the following:

• Background App activity.
• Using a resource intensive app.
• Using your device in a hot environment.
• Using your device while indexing is occurring during the first 72 hours following an update.

From the screenshots you shared, we don't see the most important part, which is the breakdown of apps by usage. That said, while we don't see what apps contributed to your battery use, we cans that it is consistent - that the same amount was used over time showing a gradually sloping reduction of battery remaining, as opposed to a sudden drop at a single point in the day.

One possible activity that could present this type of usage pattern is Personal Hotspot. If you aren't actively using your device, but it is still being used by another device to connect to the internet, it is never not using power and you would see this type of graph.

Of course, there are other causes, and this is just an example. The point is to consider what is happening behind the scenes: is there a connection to the internet, is GPS tracking active, are you roaming and your device keeps looking for a signal, things like that.

You can check out these articles to learn more about your battery and how to get the most out of it:

• iPhone Battery and Performance
• Batteries - Maximizing Performance

Hope that helps.

Take care.

Yes, force closing apps can use more battery life. It's only advised that you do so if the app itself is unresponsive. That's what Apple says. But, that's most likely not the cause of your occasional more rapid battery drain.

If I had to guess, I would say that, at times, you're in an area of low cellular signal. That will drain your battery very rapidly. If you're only noticing toward the end of the day, you may not be able to pinpoint where the signal is low.

Also, getting two and a half to three days out of a single battery charge is pretty unusual in itself. Even if your battery is only down to 72% at the end of the day, you should still put it on charge overnight. This will allow it to automatically back up to iCloud every night which can be a lifesaver.

See here:

When to charge your iPhone or iPad - Apple Community