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iPhone 6 iCloud Safari Sync Drains Battery

Turning on Safari sync in iCloud settings on iPhone 6 causes constant Safari usage and massive battery drain on new iPhone 6 with ios8.

Windows 7 PC with previous and new version of iCloud control panel synching Chrome and IE bookmarks. Macs, iPads also sync iCloud Safari.

I had used this setup for a very long time on iPhone 5s with ios7 and did not notice battery issues.

Now that I can see battery usage by app in ios8, I saw that Safari was consuming 40% of the battery usage even though safari was not running. Background app refresh was off and location services were at bare minimum. This went on for days of getting only a few hours after each charge until I realized the only thing Safari might be doing in the background was synching iCloud.

That was the issue. Now, with iCloud safari sync off, Safari does not even register 1% at all and battery lasts all day.

Has anyone else experienced this?

I will leave it off until addressed by Apple, but this is a problem.

Posted on Sep 26, 2014 5:08 AM

33 replies

dani0805

Level 1

0 points

Feb 17, 2016 6:09 AM in response to sharkmk

Two years later and reactivating safari iCloud still kills the battery at incredible speed. I love to share my tabs across devices but 95% of battery consumption from safari in background is too high a price! Anyone found a more granular cause or workaround?

My latest theory is that it is a problem only when you have 3 devices on the same iCloud accounts (i.e. phone iPad and mac in my case). Because elder in the week I did activate it only for the iPhone and battery was still ok. I don't have the nerve to verify this scientifically now, but seems plausible.

Jan 7, 2017 8:42 AM in response to MacMyWorld

MY Safari isn't syngin with my iCloud and it is stil draining my battery!

Mar 7, 2017 11:35 PM in response to MacMyWorld

Having the same issue with my iPhone 6s on iOS 10.2. Turning off Safari iCloud Sync fixed the issue. The issue first appeared, when I got an Apple Watch a few days ago.

iPhone 6 iCloud Safari Sync Drains Battery