7 Surprising Reasons Your iPhone Loses Charge Fast And How To Fix It: Your Screen is Too Bright & More

Your iPhone is refusing to hold a charge for very long — what could be going on?

This actually isn’t an uncommon problem, no matter how annoying it is to own an expensive device that doesn’t want to work well. There are a few reasons why your phone charge is draining fast and your battery isn’t holding up, but there are also simple solutions (in most cases) that will rectify those situations. Don’t settle for a phone that doesn’t run well. Here are seven surprising reasons your iPhone loses its charge fast and what to do about them.

Your Screen is Too Bright

The brighter you keep your screen, the more your battery has to work to keep it at that brightness intensity. It’s a simple and logistical problem, with the simplest solution.

Lower your brightness setting and try to get used to using a phone with a less-bright screen. Go to Settings > Display & Brightness > drag the slider down as far as it can go, as long as you’re still comfortable viewing your screen.

Background App Refresh is Turned On

You rarely need Background App Refresh to be turned on — unless you really love the convenience of having your apps update constantly, even when you aren’t using them, and you’re willing to sacrifice your charge for this convenience. If not, go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and disable it.

You’ve Recently Updated iOS

Sometimes updating your iOS can lead to battery drainage, but don’t worry: Apple says this is temporary when it happens and will resolve itself. It’s certainly not a reason to skip updates, which are important.

You’re Updating Your Apps

Updating your apps is also important — failing to do so can make your phone more susceptible to bugs. But while your apps are updating, your phone’s battery can take a toll. A good solution is to update apps when your phone is charging or has been charged so that you don’t leave yourself in need of a charger.

You’re Overtaxing Your Phone

If you’re running several resource-intensive apps at once, such as those that require GPS or Bluetooth, you could be asking your phone to do too much at once time. As a result, it may lose battery power faster. Try cutting down on the tasks you require of it at one time.

Push Notifications Are On

Push Notifications is a setting that alerts you every time an app updates. Is is truly necessary for you to stay connected to all apps all of the time? If your answer to this is “no way,” go to Settings > Notifications and turn off notifications for all of the apps that you want.

Location Services is Turned On

Unlike Push Notifications and Background App Refresh, you will need Location Services to be turned on sometimes if you use GPS or apps like your Weather app. But that doesn’t mean you need them turned on all of the time for every single app — doing so is a real drain on your battery. Take back control over this setting by heading to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services. Decide which apps, If any, get access to your location all of the time, and which can be turned off or set to “While using the app.”