Battery and charging
Low Power Mode
Most people call this battery saver.
Low Power Mode cuts background activity and visual effects to stretch the charge you have left, and turns the battery icon yellow while it is on.
This setting is present on your iPhone.
- We have this path on file but have not yet confirmed it against an official source.
Where to find it - iOS 9 and later
- Settings
- Battery
- Low Power Mode
What it does
It pauses or reduces background app refresh, automatic downloads, mail fetch, some visual effects, and on capable models it lowers the display refresh rate. The phone still makes calls, sends messages and runs apps normally.
It switches itself off once the phone is charged back to 80 percent.
What changes
When it is on
Background refresh, automatic downloads and some effects stop. The screen locks sooner. The battery icon turns yellow.
When it is off
Everything resumes, including the background work that was waiting.
Should you turn it on?
Good reasons to turn it on
- You need the phone to last until you can charge it.
- You do not need apps updating themselves in the background today.
- It is one switch rather than a dozen individual changes.
Good reasons to turn it off
- You rely on background email or app updates arriving promptly.
- You want the smoothest possible scrolling and animation.
- AirDrop and some background transfers behave less predictably while it is on.
Battery
Helps
Privacy
No real change
Performance
Costs you something
Cellular data
Helps
Storage
No real change
Out of the box: Off, with a prompt offering it at 20 percent and again at 10 percent.
Questions people actually ask
- Does Low Power Mode actually save battery?
- Yes. It removes real background work, and the effect is largest on a phone that has a lot of apps refreshing.
- Can I leave Low Power Mode on all the time?
- You can, but it switches itself off once you charge to 80 percent, so you have to turn it back on.
If it is not working
- It turns itself off at 80 percent charge by design, so it will not stay on across a full charge.
- Add it to Control Centre for one tap access instead of opening Settings.
- A Shortcuts automation can switch it on at a percentage you choose.