Khaberni - Many iPhone users complain about their battery draining quickly, despite minimal usage or the device being new, and while accusations usually point to the battery life or system updates, tech experts reveal a hidden cause that most users overlook, described as the «silent killer».
The reason is not related to an app that is open on the screen, but to a feature that operates in the background unnoticed by the user, allowing some apps to consume energy even when they are not in use.
Apple confirms that the iOS system is smartly designed to manage background apps, to the extent that it advises against manually closing them through swiping unless an app is malfunctioning. However, an important exception here is the «Background App Refresh» feature.
This feature allows apps to perform certain tasks while not in use, such as fetching data or updating content, which is necessary for some apps like email or messaging apps. However, problems start when non-essential apps excessively use this feature.
Apps running silently
Some apps have high background activity, even though the user rarely opens them or needs them to continuously update. This invisible activity could be one of the main reasons for unexplained battery drain, but the good news is that iPhone offers precise tools to discover these apps and easily control them.
To find out which apps are draining your battery in the background, follow these steps: Go to Settings, press on Battery, scroll down and choose to view all battery usages where a list will show: the percentage of each app's battery consumption, and how long it operates in the background versus actual use, paying attention to apps with high background usage even if you don't rely on them much.
The simple change that makes a difference
After identifying the suspect apps go to Settings, then General, then Background App Refresh where from here you can: stop the refresh for only specific apps, restrict the feature to work via Wi-Fi only, or turn it off entirely if desired, and choosing Wi-Fi only is a suitable compromise for those experiencing quick battery drain.
In case you notice that some important apps do not function properly after stopping the background refresh, you can easily reactivate them from the same settings.
The conclusion is that not all battery problems result from device flaws or aging batteries, sometimes, the cause is an app operating silently, and by changing just one setting, you can significantly extend the iPhone battery life and regain control over energy consumption without sacrificing performance.
