Q: battery life after iOS 9.3.5

Vickie,

I have not noticed a difference.

I've experienced a shocking decrease in battery life. I used to use my iPad 2 all day (games, Internet, books, mail, no videos) and by evening, would still be at about 70-75%. Yet since the upgrade (and I use that word loosely) a days ago, I have not changed my style of use yet am down to 30-35% battery by mid-afternoon. So same style of use, but for fewer hours, and resulting in much lower % of battery still charged. In fact, I found your question when I was searching Google to see if anyone else experienced this and what I might do to fix.

I'm pretty ****** about it because I use my iPad the way others might use a laptop, and I'm not usually in a position to recharge until the end of the day. It's also doing other strange things since this supposed upgrade, and the combination  odd behavior, poor battery life, and my dislike of its "features" has me searching for a way to downgrade.

Yes, I noticed that since i've done that update. It has changed a lot and this is completely absurd...

Yes - most definitely. Both my iPhone 6 and my iPad Pro have both shown a very noticeable and very sharp drop in battery life. This is definitely coincident with the iOS 9.3.5 update.

Previously, with normal usage my pad would last for many many days without a charge and even my iPhone will usually make it for 2 - 3 days before needing a charge, and that's while it's connected to my Apple Watch.

Now, my iPad needs a charge every other day and my iPhone needs a charge every single day - it won't make it 24 hours without being recharged.

My iPhone 6 battery is in good condition, my iPad Pro obviously very new and in excellent condition. No doubt about it, iOS 9.3.5 has knackered battery life. There are hundreds of articles about this on the web in the last few days and a heck of a lot of people on here complaining about it.

No doubt Apple have had this reported and are working on it, but remember that Apple don't always monitor every thread in here. Best to use the Apple support helpdesk and book in a call with them - make sure they know about it and give the issue some priority.

I've updated 4 devices (2 iPads and 2 iPhones) to 9.3.5 and noticed no change in battery life. 9.3.5 was a minimal update that just fixed 3 security vulnerabilities, and there is close to a zero probability that it would affect battery life. If you want to resolve the problem look elsewhere for a solution, and don't just sit helplessly and say it is 9.3.5. Do some troubleshooting and you will almost certainly fix the problem.

Sometimes the update process will cause an app that isn't properly written to get stuck draining the battery. And sometimes a setting will get scrambled. The troubleshooting steps to follow until the problem is resolved, in increasing order of complexity are:

• Power cycle - turn the phone off by holding the SLEEP button until "Slide to power off" appears and do it. Wait about a minute, then turn the phone back on by holding either button until an Apple logo appears.
• Forced restart - hold the HOME and SLEEP buttons until an Apple logo appears (about 10 seconds). You will not lose any data.
• Go to Settings/Battery and see which app is using the most energy. Then kill that app by double-pressing the HOME button, finding the app, and flicking its screen image up. Then restart as in the previous step.
• If a day later it's still the same app delete it, restart the phone, and reinstall it.
• Double-press the HOME button and kill ALL apps by flicking the screen image up. Then restart.
• Connect the phone to iTunes and back it up. Make an encrypted backup if you want it to remember your passcodes, health data, and other secure data. DON'T FORGET THE BACKUP PASSWORD or you won't be able to restore it. Also go to Settings/iCloud, tap on Backup, and make an iCloud backup for extra security. Then reinstall iOS by clicking Restore iPhone. When the restore finishes your backup will be restored and your music and apps will be reinstalled. If you've got a lot of stuff on the phone this can take several hours.
• If you get this far and still see battery drain a day after completing the steps (wait a day for all data to be restored) restore iOS again and do not reinstall anything at all. In the unlikely event the battery drain remains your phone most likely has a hardware problem.

Thanks for your comments Lawrence - some good helpful advice there. I've tried most of your suggestions already but others should definitely give them a try because power drain problems can be caused by a wide range of things. I have had power problems in the past that have been cured by these simple steps. And even if there is a bug with 9.3.5 it doesn't mean every device with bad battery problems is suffering from it. So if anyone has not tried the above - definitely do so.

However, I've posted here because after trying all the usual things I still find terrible battery performance.

I don't agree with your assertion that there is "almost zero chance" that the update will have caused the problem. It's great that your own devices are working well, but you cannot therefore conclude there is a low chance of a bug. Likewise, even if the update only closed three security holes, you and I have no way of knowing what those fixes were and what side effects may have been caused. We also don't know that the update only fixed those three problems, regardless of what might have been posted by Apple on the update notices.

I've also updated two iPhone 5, another iPhone 6 and an iPad Mini. Every one of them is suffering and they all have a wide range of different apps installed and different usage patterns. Every one was working fine before 9.3.5 and now they are not. There is a lot of forum activity about this problem. I still suspect a bug.

I've just opened a support case on this issue with Apple. I'll post more here as and when I get any feedback.

Thank you for your response, Lawrence. Unfortunately, like BigDave, I had already tried these suggestions before posting my issue. However, they may help others.

If I could make a suggestion, though, you might want to consider not making assumptions or being dismissive (bordering on condescending/arrogant) in your responses. Although 9.3.5 is a "minimal update," that assumes someone was updating from 9.x.x.  In my case, I was updating from a lower rev and the only reason I updated was because of the major security issues. So in my case, and possibly others, this was a major update. In addition, battery life changes with 9.x.x have been documented in the tech press. So although I was expecting it, I didn't expect the battery drain to be so bad.

Your response also assumes that people posting have done nothing to help themselves or fix the situation using their own expertise or other sources of information. Again speaking for myself, I tried many other sources and potential fixes before posting here -- the Apple support community was a last resort. I don't like coming here because, almost invariably, there is an answer that assumes everyone who is not sharing the responder's experience is stupid, helpless, or incompetent; they're just whining. In reality, as I'm sure you'd agree, experiences can vary widely due to usage patterns, installed apps, even individual settings -- there is no "one size fits all."

Again, I appreciate your response and the time you took to make it. I'm sure the suggestions may help some others. As a trainer and online community leader though, my experience has been that people learn, respond, and participate better and more fully when they are not made to feel stupid or incompetent. You do seem very competent and knowledgeable, with helpful suggestions to offer, and I'm hoping you will give that same regard to others in future responses.

I agree with bigdave and uiscedraoi, ever since the 9.3.5 update, I instantly noticed this battery drainage. I've tried every suggestion and my iPad pro 9.7 is brand new and I know it's not a hardware issue. Why would Apple sell faulty batteries with the new ipads? Hopefully Apple fixes this battery bug.