Engadget Says Closing iPhone Apps Does Not Save Battery; Settings Can Help

According to Engadget, apps that are suspended in the background do not justify the belief that closing them conserves power. The report pointed to the Background App Refresh setting, which when enabled lets apps pull data from the internet and update themselves even while suspended; turning it off prevents those processes and saves power. It also suggested limiting individual apps’ location access to only when the user is using them.

For display settings, Engadget reported that Apple recommends two first steps: setting brightness manually to the lowest level or turning on auto-brightness, and keeping Wi-Fi on so the phone uses as little cellular data as possible. The report said auto-brightness may be the better first option because users do not have to keep changing settings or remember to lower brightness when lighting changes.

Engadget also listed other display adjustments. Disabling Always-On Display can reduce a constant strain on the battery, the report said. Dark Mode can save power on OLED screens because OLED turns off pixels that display black. Turning on Limit Frame Rate sets the display to 60 Hz instead of ProMotion’s 120 Hz, halving the number of screen refreshes in a day, although the report said the savings may not be very noticeable for most people and the change can be jarring for users accustomed to 120 Hz.

On power management, Engadget reported that Adaptive Power analyzes usage patterns and changes settings from screen brightness to background data to lower battery drain when full power is not needed. Low Power Mode makes similar changes but tends to have a heavier impact on performance, so the report said it is best used only when really needed. With Adaptive Power on, Low Power Mode engages automatically when the battery drops to 20 percent.

The report also described charging settings intended to reduce long-term wear. Optimized Charging stops a charge at 80 percent until the user really needs more, and users can set a charge limit so the battery never fills to 100 percent. Engadget said keeping the battery between 20 percent and 80 percent, rather than letting it fully drain or fully charge, can extend battery life by a noticeable amount even before using the other tips.