Is your iPhone's battery life terrible on iOS 11.1? Here's a temporary workaround
Video: Battery drain issues with iOS 11? Here's some easy fixes
Every time Apple releases a new version of iOS, it takes a few weeks and a few updates to sort things out. It seems that Apple's still not nailed down all the battery bugs yet with iOS 11.1.
Must read: Everything you need to know about charging your iPhone X or iPhone 8
If you're suffering poorer than normal battery life, take solace in the fact that you are far from alone.
OK, it's a problem, and it sucks to have to live with it. What can you do in the interim to help alleviate the problem?
Well, as it happens I'm seeing the problem on older devices myself, so this has given me the opportunity to try to figure out what's going on. Unfortunately, my testing suggests that the problem is down to iOS 11.1 and not some installed app going rogue. That means that there's nothing that the end user can do to fix the problem, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing you can do to help alleviate the problem.
In fact, I've found a few things that help.
iOS 11.2 power user tips and tricks
The first thing, and the thing that works the best, is to activate Low Power Mode (go to Settings > Battery to flip the switch on this). This single setting turns off or reduces email fetch, the "Hey Siri" feature, background app refresh, automatic downloads, and a few visual effects.
The only drawback is that you can't keep this feature on permanently because as soon as your iPhone or iPad hits 80 percent charge, it automatically turns off (you can, however, turn it back on, where it will remain active until your next recharge).
If this feels like you're turning off too much, another tweak that I find helps a lot is to turn down screen brightness by activating the Auto-Brightness feature. This feature is buried deep in iOS 11 ( Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations) but well worth checking to see if it's on.
If your iPhone or iPad is a few years old, then the problem might be hardware and not software, specifically the battery. While rechargeable batteries are good for hundreds of recharge cycles, they eventually wear out and require replacing. An app such as Battery Life or GeekBench 4 can help you check for a worn out battery.
Until Apple fixes this problem, the above -- along with perhaps keeping a charging cable and powerbank handy -- will hopefully help you make it through the day.
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