I Was Tired of Charging My iPhone All Day So I Changed These Settings

I Changed 10+ Settings on My iPhone to Significantly Extend Its Battery Life (iOS 26 and Older).

I didn’t adjust my iPhone battery settings since I adore changing menus.

I did it because I was weary of the same routine: leaving home with a full charge, using my phone regularly, and still feeling worried by late afternoon. Not heavy gaming. Not infinite video. Just normal usage—messages, browsing, notes, and a little music.

At some time, it became clear: the battery wasn’t the issue. The defaults were.

So over time, over numerous iPhones and various iOS versions (including iOS 26 and older), I began making subtle, purposeful modifications. Nothing excessive. Nothing that broke the phone. Just changes that decreased waste.

The outcome startled me more than I anticipated.

I Stopped Treating Low Power Mode Like an Emergency Button.

The first change was psychological.

I stopped waiting until 20% to switch on Low Power Mode. Instead, I began using it purposely—during long days, vacations, or nights when I knew I wouldn’t charge soon.

The phone didn’t feel handicapped. Messages still got through. Apps are still functioning. What vanished was superfluous background activity.

That alone affected how predictable my batteries felt.

Background App Refresh Was Doing More Harm Than Good

This was one of the greatest concealed drains.

I noticed most applications didn’t need to reload frequently while I wasn’t using them. Social applications, commerce apps, and even some work tools were gently waking up during the day.

Turning Background App Refresh off—or restricting it to Wi-Fi—didn’t damage anything. Notifications still come. The phone abruptly quit operating behind my back.

The battery loss slowed considerably.

Location Services Needed Boundaries

Location access was another quiet difficulty.

I didn’t turn it off fully. That would be impractical. Instead, I went app by app and posed a simple question: Does this app really need to know where I am all the time?

For most applications, “While Using” was more than enough. Precise location wasn’t important for many either.

Once tightened, my phone ceased continually checking up on the environment around it.

Notifications Were Waking My Phone More Than I Realized.

This one startled me.

Every notification lights up the screen. That signifies power, even if you don’t engage with it. Multiply it by dozens of applications, and the depletion builds up rapidly.

I didn’t turn alerts off altogether. I simply got selective. Messaging applications remained. Everything else has to earn its spot.

Fewer screen wake-ups had a greater effect than I thought.

Dark Mode Wasn’t a Gimmick After All

I utilized Dark Mode for comfort at first, not battery life.

But with OLED iPhones, it actually helps. Dark pixels utilize less electricity. Over a full day, particularly during night usage, the savings were obvious.

It wasn’t dramatic—simply steady and constant. Which turned out to be the subject of all these developments.

I Stopped Force-Closing Apps.

This went against years of practice.

I used to swipe away applications regularly, figuring I was “saving battery.” In actuality, reopening applications takes more power than letting iOS handle them in the background.

Once I quit battling the system, performance smoothed out and battery drain normalized.

Charging Habits Started to Matter

I also altered how I charged my phone.

Not excessively—just sensibly. Avoiding continual 0% to 100% cycles. Letting Optimized Battery Charging do its job. Keeping the phone cool whenever feasible.

Over time, battery health dropped more slowly. And it translated into improved everyday endurance.

I Learned to Ignore the First Day After Updates.

iOS upgrades typically get blamed for battery difficulties.

Sometimes such criticism is justified—but frequently it’s premature. After upgrades, phones re-index, sync, and settle. Battery depletion at such a time is typical.

Giving it a day or two saved undue worry—and unnecessary setting tweaks that made matters worse.

What Changed Most Wasn’t the battery—it was my trust.

After all these modifications, the largest difference wasn’t raw screen-on time.

It was confidence.

I stopped checking my batteries every hour. I stopped bringing a charger everywhere. I stopped handling my phone like it was delicate.

The phone just lasted—consistently.

The Honest Truth

None of these tweaks instantly quadrupled my battery life.

What they did was eliminate garbage.

And when you eliminate garbage, everything feels better.

If you’re using an iPhone running iOS 26 or older and feel that the battery should be lasting longer than it is, you don’t require severe steps. You simply need to quit allowing unneeded stuff to go unchecked.

That’s when the iPhone battery finally feels like it’s working with you, not against you.