Why is My Apple Watch Battery Draining So Fast
In this article, I’ll explain why Apple Watch battery drains so fast and show you how to fix the problem to enjoy great battery life.
Author:Daniel BarrettMay 30, 202223330 Shares897299 Views
Compared to other smartwatches, the Apple Watch does not have a particularly robust battery life.
An Apple Watch lasts for just 18 hours, which means you need to charge it daily. Most people charge it overnight, which is why it doesn’t have a built-in sleep tracking app like many other smartwatches and fitness bands.
Why your Apple Watch battery dies so fast, and how to fix it
If your watch isn’t lasting all the way through the day, it’s likely that you are using the watch’s battery a lot more aggressively than the average user. But there are several things you can do to extend the battery life.
How Much Battery Life Should I Get With My Apple Watch?
Apple claims you can get up to 18 hours of battery life with your Apple Watch. Unlike other Apple products like iPhones, this has been consistent from the Apple Watch Series 1 until the present model.
You can see a lot of factors determine Apple Watch battery life, unoptimized settings, heavy apps, and other features, and you can get wildly different everyday results. Beware, that it’s extremely rare for hardwareproblems to cause battery life drain. In 99% of cases, it’s a software issue that will be the source of these problems.
Here are the seven best ways to improve your Apple Watch battery and get more out of a single charge.
Reduce The Wake Screen Time
When you raise your wrist to see your watch or tap the screen, it “wakes” the display for a short time.
If you have the wake time set to 70 seconds, that will drain the battery quickly. You should set it to 15 seconds instead.
- Start the Watch app on your iPhone.
- On the “My Watch” tab, tap “General.”
- Tap “Wake Screen.”
- Tap “Wake for 15 seconds.”
You can also turn off the Wake Screen on Wrist Raise feature, so your watch will only wake the display when you tap the screen or turn the Digital Crown.
Simply disable the “Wake Screen on Wrist Raise” option at the top of the screen.
Re-pair Your Apple Watch And iPhone
If your battery is running out faster than it should, it’s possible that there’s something wrong with how your watch and phone are paired.
You can resolve a lot of issues by un-pairing your watch and then re-pairing it as a new watch, which should wipe out any of the corruption that caused the battery glitch.
Here’s how to do it:
- Start the Watch app on your iPhone.
- On the “My Watch” tab, tap your watch at the top of the screen.
- Tap the little “i” to the right of your watch information.
- Tap “Unpair Apple Watch” and then confirm your choice.
Now that your watch is no longer paired to your phone, follow the instructions in our article “How to pair an Apple Watch with your iPhone” to set up your watch as a new device.
Resetting and Restoring
If all else fails to improve your battery life, you can restore it to factory defaults. Beware when you do this, it will erase all your settings and content, including apps, music, and workout histories. It’s like starting from scratch with your phone. So make sure to backup to iCloud beforehand.
To restore your Apple Watch to factory defaults, open the Settings app and tap General -> Reset and tap Erase All Content and Settings.
Turn Off Background App Refresh
Background App Refresh ensures your Apple Watch always has current data. You have the same feature for apps on your iPhone as well. This can significantly affect battery life as it constantly sending and receiving data and turning on the radios. You can either choose to turn off this feature entirely or use it only on specific apps:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
- On the “My Watch” tab, tap “General.”
- Tap “Background App Refresh.”
- Choose to either disable the feature or select specific apps, so only the most important ones to you get automatically refreshed.
Exercise Mode
If you use your Apple Watch to exercise, Power Saving Mode is a great way to save battery life. It turns off the heart rate sensor while also not recording calories as accurately. Fortunately, most gyms have these metrics built-in to their cardio machines, and they’re nearly as accurate as the sensors in your Apple Watch.
To enable Power Saving Mode for the Workout app, go to the Settings app on your Apple Watch, tap General -> Workout, and turn on the switch next to Power Saving Mode.
Make sure you also end all workouts after you complete them. Sometimes your Apple Watch may still leave this feature on which uses additional battery life.
Turn Off Some Push Notifications
Many apps give you the option to mirror the same notifications for your iPhone or to customize the notifications you receive. Dave Johnson/Business InsiderSending a lot of notifications to your watch can also seriously drain your battery. You should only enable the most essential notifications.
- Start the Watch app on your iPhone.
- On the “My Watch” tab, tap “Notifications.”
- For each app listed on the Notifications page, tap the app and specify whether it should be allowed to send notifications. Some apps default to “Mirror my iPhone.” If that’s the case, change the setting to “Custom,” and you will be able to fine-tune the notifications.
Turn on Reduce Motion
You can turn on “Reduce Motion” in the “Accessibility” tab of your Watch app. This feature controls some graphical effects and animations which can drain the battery.
- Start the Watch app on your iPhone.
- On the “My Watch” tab, tap “General.”
- Tap “Accessibility.”
- Tap “Reduce Motion.”
- Turn on “Reduce Motion” by swiping the button to the right.
Contact Apple Customer Support
If you have tried all these tips and your Apple Watch is still unable to last all the way through the day, it’s likely that there’s a hardware problem with your Apple Watch — the battery may even be defective. Contact Apple customer support for servicing.
Jump to
Why your Apple Watch battery dies so fast, and how to fix it
How Much Battery Life Should I Get With My Apple Watch?
Reduce The Wake Screen Time
Re-pair Your Apple Watch And iPhone
Resetting and Restoring
Turn Off Background App Refresh
Exercise Mode
Turn Off Some Push Notifications
Turn on Reduce Motion
Contact Apple Customer Support
Daniel Barrett
Author
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