Battery Life is terrible

[Droidophobe]

I recently got a iPhone 8, which is my first experience with Apple products. The battery life seems unacceptably poor to me. The battery drains from fully charged to 25% or so with just light use (Email and making calendar entries) within 3-4 hrs. Last night the battery was at 97% when I went to bed, and when I got up 6 hrs later, it was at 37%. The Battery Usage for the last 24 hrs said Mail 42% and Home & Lock Screen 42%. (Aren't these supposed to add up to 100% ?)

The phone came with iOS11 and has automatically updated several times since I bought it. "Battery Life Suggestions" lists "Enable Auto-Lock," which I haven't done because I'm already tired of unlocking this flipping phone. Does Auto-Lock do something else that improves battery life? And is there anything else I can do that doesn't force me to unlock the phone 100 times a day? My use hasn't even included music or videos yet.

This is very disappointing since I'm going to have to carry a brick around to recharge the phone almost continuously. It takes ~2 hours to recharge to 100% again. Are other people having this problem?

TIA.

 

[TylerLV76]

Are you saying your screen stays on all the time or do you manually turn it off?

Autolock will turn off the screen (which is one of the biggest uses of battery). If your screen is always on you are going to drain your battery much faster than most people.

As for mail, it sounds like you are “fetching” mail nonstop. You have 2 options. Extend the time between “fetches” or depending on your mail provider, use their app to get “push” notifications.

For example, I use gmail for personal mail but the ios mail app doesnt do push for gmail. Because of that I use the gmail app because it does do push mail.

 

[nikkisharif]

I use an 8 as one of my daily drivers and never have battery issues. It honestly sounds like you have a rogue app or just got a lemon. Try doing a hard reboot. If that doesn’t work, you might want to take it to Apple and have them check it out.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.imore.com/how-to-restart-reset-iphone-ipad?amp

 

[Trees]

In iOS 9 or 10 I was experiencing random/intermittent crashes with the iOS Mail app. When that happened, the Mail app was consuming excessive CPU and caused rapid battery drain. (Posted about it in the forums here, but can't find that discussion, will update with link if I do.)

May not be the case in your situation, but another reason to have Apple Support check things out as nikkisharif suggested. You can contact them via phone, chat, etc. and they can run remote diagnostics if needed.

 

[Droidophobe]

Are you saying your screen stays on all the time or do you manually turn it off?

Autolock will turn off the screen (which is one of the biggest uses of battery). If your screen is always on you are going to drain your battery much faster than most people.

As for mail, it sounds like you are “fetching” mail nonstop. You have 2 options. Extend the time between “fetches” or depending on your mail provider, use their app to get “push” notifications.

For example, I use gmail for personal mail but the ios mail app doesnt do push for gmail. Because of that I use the gmail app because it does do push mail.

All right, I enabled Auto-Lock and downloaded the Gmail app. I desperately need to keep Gmail/Google out of my phone's contacts and calendar, so I hope that works with this app. Where is the fetch setting for the native Email if I have to revert to that?

I use an 8 as one of my daily drivers and never have battery issues. It honestly sounds like you have a rogue app or just got a lemon. Try doing a hard reboot. If that doesn’t work, you might want to take it to Apple and have them check it out.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.imore.com/how-to-restart-reset-iphone-ipad?amp

Does a hard reboot wipe my data like contacts & calendar, or the settings?

In iOS 9 or 10 I was experiencing random/intermittent crashes with the iOS Mail app. When that happened, the Mail app was consuming excessive CPU and caused rapid battery drain. (Posted about it in the forums here, but can't find that discussion, will update with link if I do.)

May not be the case in your situation, but another reason to have Apple Support check things out as nikkisharif suggested. You can contact them via phone, chat, etc. and they can run remote diagnostics if needed.

The iOS mail app isn't freezing or crashing. If I can't sort this out, I'll call Apple for diagnostics. There isn't an Apple store anywhere near me.

Thanks for all the suggestions. :yes: I'll monitor the battery usage and see what happens.

 

[TylerLV76]

All right, I enabled Auto-Lock and downloaded the Gmail app. I desperately need to keep Gmail/Google out of my phone's contacts and calendar, so I hope that works with this app. Where is the fetch setting for the native Email if I have to revert to that?

As long as you dont add gmail to the “accounts” section of settings it wont show up anywhere but in the gmail app.

The fetch settings are in settings>accounts and passwords.

 

[TripleOne]

Have you considered getting a battery case for it?

 

[EagleFox007]

Your battery usage clearly shows your email is draining your battery. Make sure that your email is set to fetch instead of push then try to monitor your battery again. I guarantee you that this would save a lot of your battery.

 

[TylerLV76]

Your battery usage clearly shows your email is draining your battery. Make sure that your email is set to fetch instead of push then try to monitor your battery again. I guarantee you that this would save a lot of your battery.

If he was using gmail it was already on fetch as iOS mail wont do push for gmail. Typically push will use less battery as the mail server will push a notification to the phone when necessary as opposed to the phone connecting to the internet looking for new mail. Push doesnt require the phone to do anything until there is a message.

 

[EagleFox007]

If he was using gmail it was already on fetch as iOS mail wont do push for gmail. Typically push will use less battery as the mail server will push a notification to the phone when necessary as opposed to the phone connecting to the internet looking for new mail. Push doesnt require the phone to do anything until there is a message.

You’re wrong about Push. Read this article

https://9to5mac.com/2017/09/26/ios-11-how-to-improve-iphone-battery-life/

 

[TylerLV76]

You’re wrong about Push. Read this article

https://9to5mac.com/2017/09/26/ios-11-how-to-improve-iphone-battery-life/

Depends on which article you read. Theres tons of conflicting reports.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cu...-battery-life-speed-of-delivery-ios-tips/amp/

Fact is, push handles the delivery on the server side. Fetch handles it on the phone side. He already had fetch enabled and his battery drain was outrageous. Now we wait to see what happened once push was utilized in the gmail app.

 

[Just_Me_D]

Are you saying your screen stays on all the time or do you manually turn it off?

Autolock will turn off the screen (which is one of the biggest uses of battery). If your screen is always on you are going to drain your battery much faster than most people.

As for mail, it sounds like you are “fetching” mail nonstop. You have 2 options. Extend the time between “fetches” or depending on your mail provider, use their app to get “push” notifications.

For example, I use gmail for personal mail but the ios mail app doesnt do push for gmail. Because of that I use the gmail app because it does do push mail.

I have an iPhone 8 that I was using before I purchased my iPhone X and what you’re describing is not normal. Check your settings, and app setting, especially the ones with push notifications. My guess? A rogue app. If your usage and standby times are the same in the battery settings, that’s typically an indication of a rogue app, in ‘my’ experience.

 

[RobertP1]

I use an 8 as one of my daily drivers and never have battery issues. It honestly sounds like you have a rogue app or just got a lemon. Try doing a hard reboot. If that doesn’t work, you might want to take it to Apple and have them check it out.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.imore.com/how-to-restart-reset-iphone-ipad?amp

Agree 100% a Rogue App or a Lemon.. What you are saying is not normal

 

[Annie_M]

I have an iPhone 8 that I was using before I purchased my iPhone X and what you’re describing is not normal. Check your settings, and app setting, especially the ones with push notifications. My guess? A rogue app. If your usage and standby times are the same in the battery settings, that’s typically an indication of a rogue app, in ‘my’ experience.

This!!!

I'm sorry you're having such an issue with this. If you continue to have an issue after making the suggested tweaks, I'd definitely call Apple Support. Hang in there, and keep us posted.

 

[Garz]

Have you considered getting a battery case for it?

When their phone drops 60% over night, a battery case isn’t the solution. That is a real issues in itself.

 

[Wotchered]

You have to enable Auto lock to come on after 2-3 minutes, then make your mail manual fetch only. Plug your phone in to charger when you sleep, turn phone off. If you leave your phone screen on all the time of course it will eat your battery.

 

[Droidophobe]

I tried the GMail app but found it only offered Conversation View in its inbox, which made me crazy, so I went back to the native Mail app and figured out how to set it to push, and with Auto-Lock enabled, that vastly improved the battery life so I only need to charge it at night now. Thank you.