Will keeping a phone plugged in damage the battery?

diodes123 wrote:

Apple doesn’t recommend it—I asked them. I do it, and it’s fine, so I think it’s ok.

Apple does, in fact, recommend charging the phone whenever you want.

Charge your Apple lithium-ion battery whenever you want. There’s no need to let it discharge 100% before recharging. Apple lithium-ion batteries work in charge cycles. You complete one charge cycle when you’ve used (discharged) an amount that equals 100% of your battery’s capacity — but not necessarily all from one charge. For instance, you might use 75% of your battery’s capacity one day, then recharge it fully overnight.

Batteries - Why Lithium-ion? - Apple

I leave mine plugged in overnight every night - always have with every iPhone and iPad I have had. The phone controls its own battery charging, and simply stops charging the battery once it has reached full capacity.

Partial discharge and charge cycles also will not harm a lithium battery. I too often plug my phone in when in my car, or when in my office at work, when sitting in the airport or train station if waiting and an plug is available. No point in not keeping it topped up if convenient to do, so it is always well charged at the times you do need the battery to last awhile.

Industry standard SMART lithium battery technology is very robust and inherently guards against over-charging. Any quality brand name lithium battery, in any device from an electric toothbrush to a electric car, should be fine if left plugged in after the battery is fully charged. That's the very reason for the industry standards in the first place, so you don't have to worry or baby sit your battery powered devices and their charge state.

I would have to agree with that. I do sometimes charge my battery before I leave work depending on the battery level, but my half brained ideas or answers come from me working overnights.

But charging it and keeping it topped up there's nothing wrong with that. What do you have to lose? Zero.

Nope. I do it all the time at home.

iPhone will automatically stop charging once it's full. You cannot overcharge an

iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with Apple charger and cable that came with the device.

Apple doesn’t recommend it—I asked them. I do it, and it’s fine, so I think it’s ok.

I'm glad it helped. I've had a lot of practice looking for this stuff. It makes it easier.

Best of luck.