I got a new iPhone eight from the Apple store about a month ago. out of the box it came with iOS 12.4.1. after a couple weeks I decided to update to iOS 13.3.1. now my battery drains about twice as fast as it did with iOS 12.4.1. I went into settings and checked my battery health and it was at 100%. I checked my battery usage by app and couldn't find an obvious culprit for the problem. That made me start to think that voiceover could actually be what is draining my battery so much. now I'm having to turn on mono audio to save battery while using the built-in speakers on my phone and even with mono audio on the battery still drains faster than when using stereo audio in iOS 12.4.1. I have noticed that when I use voiceover a lot the back of my phone is warm. i let a representative from Apple Accessibility know about the issue, and he says that he is aware of iOS 13 in general draining the battery. on a normal day, my voiceover volume is set to 100% and my device volume is set to 50%. my screen curtain is almost always on. even at lower device volume the battery still drains much quicker than normal. I hope that Apple fixes this problem soon. edit: when I am at home I am using Wi-Fi calling with airplane mode on and The battery is draining faster than it did when I used the cellular network in iOS 12.4.1.
By Josh C., 26 February, 2020
Forum
iOS and iPadOS
Comments
Battery
Make sure you have dark mode on, do a force reset just in case that might help. So far for me things are OK. Using 11 pro max and my battery last for 2 days.
I already tried all that
I have already tried all of that, except for maybe the forced restart. I have rebooted my phone by turning the power off and back on several times after the update. dark mode is on. I can't even get my battery to last a whole day. maybe this is a problem specific to iPhone 8?
iPhone xs
Had this problem with the XS. I got so tire that I decidedto get 11 pro max.
battery drain in iOS 13.3.1
How do you turn on dark mode?
dark mode
Go to setting, display andbrightness and turn it on.
forced restart didn't fix it.
I tried force restarting my iPhone and it didn't change anything. The battery is still draining like crazy. The phone is still getting warm during intensive VoiceOver use. this problem didn't start until I updated the phone. i'm wondering if there's anyway I could possibly return this phone and get something with a bigger battery like a 10 or 11? I'm thinking it's probably too late to return it. i'm even thinking of doing a clean reinstall with DFU mode. This battery shouldn't be draining like this. does anybody else have this issue on an iPhone 8 running iOS 13.3.1?
battery draining much faster on iPhone 8 after iOS 13.3.1 update
I have an iPhone 8 running iOS 13.3.1. I am not experiencing the problem of excessive battery draining. If I were experiencing this problem, I'd be consulting with the folks at Apple to see what's going on.
could it be the haptics?
I thought of something a few days ago and it just came to my mind again today. iOS 13 has a lot more haptic feedback than 12.4.1. Could that be what's draining my battery? I have most Voiceover haptics turned off except for three or four of them, and I have some of the VO sounds turned off.
No
Most apps like facebook use battery even when you are not using it. Also seeing ai also does the same. Haptic does not but you can go to haptic and sound turn off during ring. It will work only when you put phone on mute.
Check apps running in background
I found there are some apps that really drain the battery if they're left in the task switcher. Most apps I can leave running, but there are a few I always remove after using them. I have an iPhone 8 running iOS 13.3.
Check apps running in background
Can you and others list apps? I as a general rule go into the app switcher and close what I am not using is that what you mean?
Yes.
Correct. I also think twitter does so, youtube, sometimes audible if you are downloading a long book.
background app refresh
i'm not sure what will happen if I turn off background app refresh. I know that the Alarmed Reminders and timers app needs background app refresh turned on to work properly. I don't use Facebook and Twitter but I do use Seeing AI but not as often as others might use it. The only app I run all the time in the app switcher is Alarmed because it needs to be running to badge the app icon when do not disturb is on for some reason. it's battery usage is negligible in the background.
background app refresh
Are they refering to backround app refresh or just closing the apps from the app switcher? if backround app refresh how do you turn it off?
Backgrown refresh
I have it setup only when using. I update manual in the morning to update my apps.
re: background app refresh
I couldn't find an option in settings to turn it on only while using the apps. Where do I find this option?
Mistake
That is privacy. Turn backgrown off. I always have it off. People suggest it off. If you want to update your apps go to app store and account. Privacy setting check to see of they are on while using app.
I've bad news for you, I'm afraid
Very sorry but the news is as follows: I had exactly the same issue with my iPhone 8 about a year ago when I updated from IOS12.4.1 to IOS13.1, last September I think this was. The battery drained remarkably quickly. A lot of people were having this problem at the time and Apple pushed out several software updates that fixed it for some, but not for me. No reset or restore worked either. It sounds like you're in exactly the same position and there is only one option that I found would work. You need to restore the iPhone and set it up as new. Prepare for the restore by writing down all your passwords just to be on the safe side in case anything goes wrong with setting up iCloud Keychain. Then erase all content and settings, and when you're presented with the welcome screen choose the option that requires you to download and reinstall apps manually. Your messages nd music should be put back automatically provided you have them backed up, but you will need to reinstall all your additional apps manually by going to the app store, my account, purchased, not on this iPhone and then clicking redownload for all the ones you want to keep. This doesn't take as long as I initially thought it would, but it still takes a while and is annoying. However, in my case it definitely worked and the battery went back to behaving normally.
set up as a new iPhone
I really don't want to have to do that unless I absolutely have to as a last resort. I think I'm starting to figure out where the problem is on this phone. it appears to be audio of any kind playing through the built-in speakers. The phone app also drains battery very quickly even in Wi-Fi only mode. today I am trying lower volume levels to see how much of a difference it makes. I also turned off background app refresh for all apps except for alarmed which needs it to work properly. I wish there was a quicker way to turn on and off location services for Siri and dictation because sometimes I need location tracking on and sometimes I don't. I have noticed that Siri and dictation is a big battery user. I have also noticed that if I listen to music through a Bluetooth speaker or headphones that my battery drains a lot less quickly.
DFU mode and restore from backup?
did you try using DFU mode then restoring from a backup? if that works then I would rather do that then set up as new. to clarify, DFU mode is different from recovery mode.
Battery Drain problem
I am running an iPhone 11 and I am having the same issue. I would disagree that Voiceover causes it because I do not use my phone when I am working except on very few occasions. Our company frowns on that kind of thing. I can start with a fully charged battery when I leave my house in the morning, and after using the iPhone for no more than 45-50 minutes, battery shows itself down to around 75%. Brightness is all the way down, screen curtain is on. All apps are closed in the app switcher. Very irritating.
i've lost up to 24% in one hour.
yesterday I lost 24% of my battery in one hour while on a phone call. Very irritating to say the least. It is also very concerning to me that my phone is getting warm just from using voiceover. there have been at least a couple times where I wondered if my phone would up and do a galaxy note 7 and explode in my hand. please keep in mind that yesterday when I lost 24% of my battery in one hour I had the phone in airplane mode and was using Wi-Fi calling.
Apple store
It is time for you to take it to visit the store and request a replacement or do a test on your phone. Unless you do what people suggest. Restore.
This happens a lot.
After every upgrade, the operating system has to reindex a bunch of things, this usually sucks battery for a day or two. If it has been longer than that, start watching cell or wifi signal strength, if either is low the phone is going to have to increase transmit power to stay connected.
Oliver Kennett posted this
Oliver Kennett posted this shortcut automation to keep phone in low power mode. I use this 99% of the time. Along with Battery Optimization turned off. My iPhone 11 can last most of the day with heavy use.
Easy to setup automation. Doesn’t hurt to try. https://www.applevis.com/guides/shortcut-automation-keep-your-device-constantly-low-power-mode
11 pro max
My last 2 days and I no longer need to charge everyday. It is nice. When I get to 10% it takes 2 hours to get to 4 5 %. Galaxy new phone is a 5000 MG which suppose to last 3 or more days if you setup like we blind people do. Sad that apple always is behind samsung. In software and tech samsung is better but accessibility. It I was sighted I be using samsung.
Re: Low power mode automation
I will try setting up that automation. It was a pain in the neck reading that guide because it was on an external site which was full of constant pop up ads which would cause the screen to refresh every second or so. I had to read the page with airplane mode turned on and Wi-Fi turned off. I posted a separate topic about DFU mode and I hope somebody responds to it. The low power mode automation may be able to hold me over until I can get my phone into DFU mode.
Low power mode does make a difference.
i've been doing some experimentation over the last few hours with low power mode and it does make a difference. The phone is no longer getting really warm during normal operation and the battery is draining quite a bit slower now. I went into settings and turned background app refresh completely off and I turned location services off for Siri and dictation. I also changed my wallpaper to a still with a solid black background. however, there is still a big difference between having low power mode on and having it off. I already had email fetch off so I'm not sure what else could be draining the battery when my phone is not in low power mode. The battery only drains when the phone is unlocked.
Privacy setting
Check setting and put them on only when using. Turn off time zone unless you travel you do not need it.
I personally think your phoen
I personally think your phoen is on thje fritz and will die. It is after all, an iphone 8. My 10 does not get warm nor does the battery drain as quickly. If I am in stand by I can get buy with maybe 24 or so hours maybe a lot more? Depending on what I'm doing. I think one time I got almost a week of not using the phone as it was in stand by. Lol! This was a 6, so maybe this is a lot better.
I would also take yoru phone to a shop and have them look for a new battery for said phone as it might also be dead.
Definitely set up as new
Okay I've read all the comments following my suggestion yesterday and, for the avoidance of doubt, I tried resetting all settings, resetting network settings, restoring from an iCloud backup, restoring from iTunes, restoring from several different iCloud backups, disabling haptics, turning off background app refresh, going to the Apple Store and getting a new battery, recovering the system from device recovery mode or whatever it's called, using low power mode all the time...I really did try everything I could think of. at the Apple Store, they had no constructive suggestions. They obviously didn't say this but they didn't have a clue why my battery was draining as fast as it was. believe me, when I set up as new, it really was a last resort after having exhausted every other avenue. You can go on playing with various settings if you like, and if you're lucky your battery might perform very, very slightly better, but if your problem is like mine then none of these solutiosn will work. I'm afraid setting up as new is the only thing that will.
retrieving my custom ringtones and voice memos using iTunes
if I do end up setting up as new, I will need to get my custom ringtones back, and I don't know how to do that in iTunes on my MacBook Pro running Mojave. iTunes has changed since the last version I had and when I try to import the ringtones the way I used to I get an error. same goes for Voice Memos.
Use imazing to import your
Use imazing to import your ring tones. It just works. I don't haveitunes on my system anymore as I'm running mac os 10.15 so ...
Battery Case
I have an iPhone 8 I've been using for about 8 months now, and it hasn't drained quickly at all. I'd recommend getting a battery case (Mophie and Apple make good ones), or a portable charger/power bank in order to lengthen battery life.
question about setting up as new
after a couple days I realize now that low power mode isn't doing much to fix my battery problem so it looks like I'm going to set my iPhone up as new, then restore from an iCloud back up afterwards. can this be done on the phone itself or will I need to plug it into my Mac?
I think yes
Make sure you do an update to iCloud in your iPhone. Go to setting, your name and iCloud and update to safe anything new. Even ringtones will be safe. I think.
Setting Up iPhone As New
I believe you can easily set up your iPhone as new without a Mac. Just back up your iPhone right before you erase all the data on it (so nothing gets lost), and then go to General, then Reset (I think), then Erase All Content And Settings. You will need to reenter your Apple ID password, then confirm a few times, then wait until your phone has booted up as new and log into your Apple ID and restore your data again.
looks like I fixed it
this is weird. Just putting my phone in recovery mode and letting it time out after 15 minutes appears to have fixed the problem. it doesn't appear to be using near as much power as it used to.My Mac was having trouble downloading the update for some reason but that apparently doesn't matter. I updated my Mac to Catalina last night and hopefully that will fix any future problems downloading updates for my iPhone. I won't really know for sure if the problem has been fixed for another day or two.
Good news
Just in time for iOS 13.4 which is coming soon. Youtube people are reporting battery is great with it. I just hope they fix the bug with VO and Siri. Whenever I use siri with the power button, VO starts talking and affect her. It is getting to be a pain. If I was sighted probably would go to samsun new phone or if I had the money for it and knew more about the accessibility.
I never had the siri bug, but
I never had the siri bug, but they fixed the annoying bugs other people had. I have ben testing iOs 13.4, we're on beta 4 and I have to say it is one of the smoothest experiences in my life.
IOS 13.4
Does it still have a issue when using a bluetooth keyboard and going into the notification center. it would crash.
Siri and dictation bugs
I have also been dealing with the Siri bug in 13.3.1. It is very annoying, but I have a workaround. I set up an activity called very quiet and turned the VO volume all the way down to 2%. With my Siri and dictation volume at 50%, There is no interference from VO. This workaround also works for a bug that I have been experiencing in dictation with VO since iOS 10 at least. sometimes when I go into dictation, VO says top of document, or bottom of document, and dictation picks it up. there was no easy workaround for this bug until iOS 13. The dictation bug is a lot worse now than it used to be.
update on my battery issue
I think my battery issue has been fixed, except for when I use Siri and dictation. I have noticed even before I put my phone in recovery mode that Siri and dictation was using a pretty good chunk of my battery in the battery section of settings. this is the case even if location services are turned off for Siri and dictation. I use dictation a lot.