Battery Drain on iOS 26 and iOS 26.0.1.

andrea_filice wrote:

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/6028a191-4116-4e02-8c7d-9e0e04dbdba9

Meta needs to calm down, it's not possible that Instagram consumes 38% of my battery for a simple 2 hours. Whatsapp has 22% of use but anyway how does it in the background to have gone 1 hour and passes if I have never made a call or something like that

You are absolutely correct and even Google has called out Meta for battery draining on their devices. Meta has the worst track record for introducing bugs in their apps, and attempts to resolve it with another update that introduces a different bug. For example, Instagram was just updated 4 days ago with 12 updates in just the last month. It is clear very little in-house testing is being done and the users are really the bug testers.

The apps are free for you to download and use, but Meta is making billions off the data they are able to gather on you and that is also done on your device that is using the battery. They do this by building a Social Graph for everything you do on their platform, including information from others liked or commented on your post and those that you did to others. Processing is being done in the background on your device and any notification you receive will launch the app in the background to process the payload. That is simply their business model and it is no surprise that Meta owns WhatsApp as well.

It is no surprise that without those apps, you have exceptional battery life. Once you are able to identify the problem, it is up to you how you want to proceed. If you are unhappy with the Meta apps, contact them and express your disproval and if they are unwilling to offer any solution you find acceptable, then quit using those apps. It really is your choice what apps you have installed on your phone and the Developer of the app is responsible for how that app performs.

TTPDElmer wrote:

I did the update last night. I have not had any prior battery issues. I barely used my phone today due to being at work, but the battery percentage dropped like a ROCK. Not good.

For the first 24-48 hours after any iOS update, battery usage will be higher than usual as the phone rebuilds all its internal databases.

andrea_filice wrote:

Yes, but unfortunately here in Europe Meta apps (especially WhatsApp) are fundamental.

I've already tried to contact Meta by WhatsApp, but the only answer I got is that an Apple problem by a stupid AI agent.

I understand, unfortunately it does not change the fact that those apps are consuming the battery. When you can remove an App and have your battery return to normal, then add the App again to test and find the Battery Consumption return, then you can clearly identity the fault and I would be concerned that they are using AI to tell you it is not their fault when it has been reported on extensively.

When you see the exact same reports for the Meta Apps draining the battery in the Android/Samsung Support Sites, it is much more difficult to believe it is the result of a singe phone manufacturer. Also the fact that the same is true for their apps other than WhatsApp, such as Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram makes it more than just a coincidence.

While Google has publicly called out Meta for their apps draining the battery, Apple has remained silent, other than allowing users to see the apps that consume the battery and let them make the choice themselves to use the app or not. I would hope Apple could apply pressure on Meta, but could you imagine the uproar if those Apps were removed from the App Store. It also is not a violation of App Store Submission Guidelines where Apple could legally remove those apps.

The battery draining varies across users with those apps due to their own personal Social Graph that Meta uses to capture data. Each user has different data points such as their contacts, likes, posts and also includes others who have included them in their contacts, likes, posts. When using multiple Meta apps, those same data points multiply. This data is sold to advertisers, whether you know it or not. They may say it does not identify you specifically, but that data is still being gathered on your device and is how they made $2.7 billion dollars in the last quarter alone on apps that are free to download and use.

That is their business model and they don't have any incentive to reduce this activity that would result in lower profits, as long as they don't lose their customer base. Could they make a simple encrypted Messaging app that does not result in this significant battery drain? Absolutely, and there are others where that is not the case, such as Signal or Telegram.

iOS 26 and iPhone 17 series has broken a lot of things. CarPlay and battery being my primary concern. That being said doing a hard/force restart is worth a try. It’s an old trick for sorting out charging and drain issues sometimes after certain updates. I’ve been doing this since 2009 for iOS devices. The first thing you would observe after force restart is there would be a sudden drop in battery percentage at least by 4-10 percent once the device restarts. I think this is because the battery management has finally got in sync with the correct percentage of the battery and now the charged percentage will show correctly possibly changing the battery to its full capacity now which earlier could have been less. And yes there would be an improvement in battery management. Just a theory. But I have seen it working. Not so sure with iOS 26 though.

L_O_R_A wrote:

I’m ditching social media Apps on my new iPhone 17 that I got last week. I am accessing everything through a secured browser so far so good with that issue on Meta

Thanks for the update. The same thing has been seen time and time again that the battery problems go away when the app is removed, yet some still can't believe the app is the problem and continue to say it is Apple.

It is not the point that Apple would never have a bug in the OS that would cause battery drain and that certainly has been seen before, but when everyone complaining has the same Meta apps and the battery draining goes away when the app is removed, you have found your problem. Browser access is a great alternative until Meta figures out their app issues.

I do think Apple needs to press harder on alerting users of an Apps effect on the Battery. Even though it is clearly visible in the Battery Settings there is still more that can be done. In a couple of months, Google is going to start flagging the apps that consume excessive battery in their Play Store and I think Apple should do the same. I also don't think it would be out of line for a Notification to pop up on your device when a preset limit on battery use has been detected. Not sure if that would really change the minds of those who say they simply can't live without an app, so it must be Apples fault, but it may.

Battery stats are not updated immediately and are done on a background process similar to the way Steps are added in the Health app. In both cases the values are updates shortly afterwards when that background process has been completed, not done in real time. That would explain why you see a different value immediately after ending a FaceTime call.

To get a better idea on the rate of drop you are seeing, can you post the green battery graph with the last 24 hour option selected. I agree that a 30% drop seems excessive on a 1 hour call.

Following can be tried depending on your risk appetite. May not be advisable from safety point of view and depending on how essential are these features to you but could be done until the iPhone stabilises after updates:

1. Set all mail accounts to fetch manual. New mail only arrives when mail app is opened.
2. Turn off Siri learning for as many apps as possible that is not essential to you. You will have to go Siri settings. I have a feeling that the Apple Intelligence and Siri are using lot of phone resources to learn from your apps and phone usage behaviour.
3. Background activity still happens even if you set background refresh off. You can see that in battery % used for apps. It shows on screen % and background activity %. Close apps on your drawer once done.
4. Location services off for all non essential apps. It can be turned off completely as well until required during navigation but this is risky and not advised (I believe ‘find my phone’ will lose access unless lost mode is enabled from other associated devices) and definitely not for people who tend to misplace their phones. I’ve seen location services running every time I unlock my phone. This does drain battery.
5. Lastly 26.1 seems to have improved the battery management. Not sure though. Do not forget to update all apps and do a force restart before these measures.

Yes, some may ask why bother buying a smartphone then but maybe as a temporary measure to save your battery performance until it’s fixed.

Disclaimer: At your own risk please.

Followyoheart wrote:

1. Following can be tried depending on your risk appetite. May not be advisable from safety point of view and depending on how essential are these features to you but could be done until the iPhone stabilises after updates:

Set all mail accounts to fetch manual. New mail only arrives when mail app is opened.

2. Turn off Siri learning for as many apps as possible that is not essential to you. You will have to go Siri settings. I have a feeling that the Apple Intelligence and Siri are using lot of phone resources to learn from your apps and phone usage behaviour.

3. Background activity still happens even if you set background refresh off. You can see that in battery % used for apps. It shows on screen % and background activity %. Close apps on your drawer once done.

4. Location services off for all non essential apps. It can be turned off completely as well until required during navigation but this is risky and not advised (I believe ‘find my phone’ will lose access unless lost mode is enabled from other associated devices) and definitely not for people who tend to misplace their phones. I’ve seen location services running every time I unlock my phone. This does drain battery.

5. Lastly 26.1 seems to have improved the battery management. Not sure though. Do not forget to update all apps and do a force restart before these measures.

Yes, some may ask why bother buying a smartphone then but maybe as a temporary measure to save your battery performance until it’s fixed.

Disclaimer: At your own risk please.

Hello~ Have you tried this on your own device? Perhaps you should do so rather than post “Disclaimer: At your own risk please. “ Wow…

~Katana-San~

What makes you think I haven’t tried? The caution was there because everyone has different requirements. Some may want the mail to arrive as soon as possible because that might be most important for them, some may prefer automation most maybe because they are on road most of the times driving, some may have to keep their devices outside their workplace and hence cannot afford to turn location settings off. So it was just a caution to try out what suits you the best without jeopardising what is important to you. My screen shot of the experiment shows a 14% drop from full charge in 21 hours. Of course phone was idle mostly. But it was important to see how the charge drops without usage. It used to be 15-20% overnight under default settings. But still I am saying maybe my device has got stabilised now (as we all know devices takes time to settle down after certain updates) and there is a room for error in my assumptions. I think we can learn to give some credit to others as well.

After two months of this, having my phone run down completely every day in 6-8 hours, I finally caved, backed it all up, did a complete factory reset (except for eSIM), and restored from backup. Was avoiding this because it creates lots of knock-on work getting things working again, especially some 2FA that doesn't play nice with backups. Cost me about 4 hours including some IT support calls and I'm sure there's a long tail of stuff I haven't got to yet. But I am now getting through a full day with 30-40% battery left, like I was back before this saga began.

Kelster46 wrote:

Mine was updated today nothing but lag since and talk about battery drain I’m literally watching it go down in front of my eyes rapidly shocking I was on 99 percent and am on 11 within a very quick time and hardly any use please help This is shocking and to upgrade all apps how do I even do that all manually ?

Since you just updated today you are going to have to wait 3-5 days for the background processes to finish indexing files and performing object detection on your photos before you are able to make any battery usage comparisons. You should also expect extra heat being generated during this time and some lag on the screen when navigating.

About Apple software updates - Apple Support

Apps are updated independent of an iOS update and are done in the App Store. Most users have it set to update the apps automatically when they become available by the developer, but you can also update them manually.

How to manually update apps from the App Store - Apple Support

I finally found out what program was drawing down the battery on my iPhone. This has been a months long hunt ever since I updated to IOS 26. And the internet was unless. Turns out buried deep in the system setting was a location beacon that wouldn’t shut off.

You have to go to: Settings->Privacy and security-> Location services ->System services-> find my Iphone.

And that was after I'd disabling: Settings->General->Background App refresh-> find my iPhone

And also after I disabling: Apple account-> find my

Why are there three different places to disable this battery eating, poorly written program?????

oldmaninflorida wrote:=

Why are there three different places to disable this battery eating, poorly written program?????

• Disabling Apple account-> find my is the setting for finding YOUR device and turns on Activation Lock.
• Background App Refresh is only for updating the UI of Find My when the app is not open. That is an optional setting that has little impact on battery performance.
• Settings->Privacy and security-> Location services ->System services-> find my Iphone, allows your device to participate in the Find My network where it broadcasts the location of OTHER Apple devices. That is how another user can find their lost device when your iPhone passes within range. You don't need to be using Find My yourself to assist others in finding their devices, but if you turn this off it also means you will not be using Find My to locate your device. I suppose if you are in a household with many Apple devices with users constantly using Find My to locate them, it may have a greater impact, but have seen no data on battery consumption from the service for that purpose.

Just because you don't understand what the settings are for does not mean it is a poorly written program. As IdrisSeabright suggested, it is most likely something else that was going on that you correlated with this setting. Maybe you have Automatic App Updates set in the App Store where you would not even know it occurred other than a little blue dot next to the app.

Update

after the factory reset didn’t help me

( even after a week , to give it time to re-index recalibration nonsense)

a few days ago

i went thru all the apps

1- turned off background refresh on every app ( except GPS & maps + navigation)

2- turned off notifications on

all but a couple that I think I should leave on

( GPS + maps , etcetera )

3- set screen refresh to 60

my battery life is about 80% better

Today I’ve used

2 hr 41 minutes

at 6 am my battery was about 50%

it’s 2:21 pm. My battery is 25%

( battery health is 94% )

been on WiFi all day

this probably isn’t perfect but it’s way better than anything I’ve gotten with

iOS 26.xx.x

Wu7chamber wrote:

Well, it's been a few weeks and indexing didn't seem to help. Didn't think it would. I'm sure Apple thinks I already need an upgrade after only a year and a half.

Don't forget to update to iOS 26.2 released today. It is seen for most already, but may take a little more time to propagate to your device. Beta testers had already noted improvement, but we could not post here as it violates the Terms of Use for beta software.