Health app causes recurring battery drain on iPhone 17

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing a recurring issue where the Health app causes abnormal battery drain on my iPhone 17, and I’m hoping someone has found a solution.

Device info:

— iPhone 17 256GB EU (iPhone18,3)

— iOS 26.3 (23D127)

— Apple Watch Ultra 2 paired

— No third-party apps with Health access

The problem:

Every 7-10 days, the Health app suddenly consumes up to 25% of daily battery with almost no active use. The issue started a few days after pairing the Apple Watch Ultra 2 with the iPhone 17.

What the crash logs show:

The healthd daemon (HeartHealthDaemon) gets stuck in a CPU loop, using 74-95% CPU repeatedly and causing a memory leak from ~20MB up to 600MB.

My theory:

The issue seems to be triggered by the Vitals baseline calculation that Apple Watch performs after 7 nights of sleep tracking. After this threshold, a background process starts and gets stuck in a loop.

Steps already taken:

— Deleted all Health data

— Disabled iCloud Health sync

— Disabled Motion & Fitness tracking

— Disabled heart rate notifications

— Disabled Watch background app refresh

— Removed the Heart Rate app from Apple Watch

— Disabled Sleep tracking on Apple Watch

— Reset Apple Watch as new device

— Restarted iPhone

— Contacted Apple Support

— Booked a Genius Bar appointment

The problem always comes back after 7-10 days. Has anyone experienced the same or found a solution? Thanks.

iPhone 17, iOS 26

Posted on Feb 18, 2026 12:52 PM

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4 replies

Feb 21, 2026 2:14 AM in response to Mrzd92

The measure of battery health deterioration/drainage is subjective and can vary depending on individual usage patterns. There is no universal standard to determine whether the battery health deterioration/drainage is normal or abnormal because it heavily relies on how the battery is used and maintained.



Protect & Prolong the Life of your iPhone's Battery:

  1. About the battery usage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch ...
  2. Batteries - Maximising Performance - Apple (IN)
  3. iPhone Battery and Performance
  4. About Charge Limit and Optimised Battery Charging on iPhone - Apple Support (IN)




Try to monitor Battery usage by iPhone Activity as shown below


What is shown under battery usage? Checking that would give you an indication of the usage behavior.

  1. Background Activity
  2. Notifications
  3. Connected to Charger
  4. Or any Other




Try some of these options too.

To prolong the life of your iPhone battery, you can follow these tips and best practices:


To prolong the life of your iPhone battery, you can follow these tips and best practices:

  1. Optimize Battery Charging: Enable the "Optimized Battery Charging" feature on your iPhone. It helps reduce the wear on the battery by slowing down the battery aging process. You can find this option in Settings > Battery > Battery Health. About Optimized Battery Charging on your iPhone - Apple Support (IN)
  2. Avoid Extreme Temperatures: Extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, can negatively impact your battery life. Avoid exposing your iPhone to excessive heat or cold, such as leaving it in direct sunlight or in a freezing car.If your iPhone or iPad gets too hot or too cold – Apple Support (UK)
  3. Use Original Chargers and Cables: Always use Apple's original chargers and cables or certified third-party accessories. Low-quality chargers or cables can damage the battery and reduce its lifespan. Identify counterfeit or uncertified Lightning connector accessories - Apple Support (IN)
  4. Avoid Draining the Battery to Zero: Charge it whenever the charge becomes lower than 20%. The rest is up to you when to charge. how long to charge, how often to charge, which adapter to use starting from 5W to 140W USB-C Power Adapter etc.
  5. Optimize Display Settings: Adjust your display settings to optimize battery life. Lower the screen brightness, enable auto-brightness, and use shorter screen timeout durations. Adjust the display and text size on iPhone - Apple Support (IN)
  6. Minimize Background App Refresh: Limit the number of apps allowed to refresh in the background. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and disable it for apps that don't require real-time updates. Switch apps on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support (IN)
  7. Disable Push Email: Push email notifications can drain your battery quickly. Instead, set your email accounts to fetch data manually or at longer intervals. You can change this setting in Settings > Mail > Accounts > Fetch New Data.
  8. Disable Unnecessary Notifications: Reduce the number of unnecessary notifications you receive. Go to Settings > Notifications and customize which apps can send you notifications.
  9. Limit Location Services: Some apps use GPS and location services in the background, which can drain your battery. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and disable location access for apps that don't require it.
  10. Update iOS: Keep your iPhone's operating system up to date. Apple regularly releases updates that can include optimizations and improvements for battery life.
    1. Update Over-the-Air (OTA) —> Update your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support (IN)
    2. Update using iTunes/Finder —> Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support (IN)
  11. Enable Low Power Mode: When your battery is running low, enable Low Power Mode in Settings > Battery. It reduces power consumption by disabling non-essential features.
  12. Avoid Battery Drain during Storage: If you need to store your iPhone for an extended period, make sure to charge it to around 50% first. This helps prevent the battery from draining completely, which can be harmful.
  13. Disable Dynamic Backgrounds and Motion Effects: Dynamic backgrounds and motion effects use additional processing power and can impact battery life. Use a static wallpaper and disable parallax motion effects in Settings > Accessibility > Motion > Reduce Motion.


By following these tips, you can help prolong the battery life of your iPhone and maintain its overall performance over time.


Feb 21, 2026 4:07 AM in response to Mrzd92

Hi, this is not Apple Support. Apple and Apple Support do not participate in the communities here. They only moderate our posts to insure all user guidelines are followed in regard to content and user behavior. Your comments will not be reviewed by Apple. Apple will make changes based partially on the feedback they receive through their official channel, linked below .


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Health app causes recurring battery drain on iPhone 17

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