iPhone owners turn off this setting to save battery

Despite the fact that Apple has pushed its iPhones to incredible heights in recent years, battery issues remain a perennial problem. Whether you’ve stuck with your iPhone 17 or are wondering if it’s worth upgrading to the iPhone 18, going a full day without charging can seem like a real challenge. One of the main causes of rapid battery drain is a feature running silently behind the scenes; it still pulls data from the internet, even when you’re not actively using your phone.

However, by turning off this specific setting, you’ll see your battery life improve significantly, and it won’t force you to limit your screen time or use your apps differently. The functionality in question? Background app refresh. This tool keeps your apps up to date with the latest information before you open them.

This means your weather app may constantly need to pull up the latest forecasts to be ready to show them to you, or your social feeds may download new posts while your phone is idle. While it’s convenient to have apps updated instantly, constantly retrieving this data is one of the many things that drains your phone’s battery; it’s a lot of work, after all. Simply put, every time an app refreshes this content, it consumes battery and processing resources. Disabling this feature doesn’t stop your apps from working; it just means that they will be updated after they are opened.

Disabling background app refresh is very easy and only takes a few moments. You also have several ways to disable this feature in the settings menu. To get started, go to the Settings app, scroll down slightly and tap the General menu. From there, find the menu option labeled Background App Refresh and tap it. At the top of this page, you will see the main switch that controls the behavior of the feature.

Tapping on it brings you three options: Off, Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi & Cellular Data. Selecting “Off” completely disables the feature on your entire phone; this will give you the biggest boost to your battery every day. Choosing “Wi-Fi” limits background updates only when you’re connected to Wi-Fi, which saves mobile data but still uses power. The last option allows apps to constantly refresh, regardless of how they are connected; This is the default setting and is responsible for this extra power consumption.

If you’re looking for the biggest improvement in battery life, turning that master switch off is the way to go. Once this option is disabled, the system immediately prevents apps from running unnecessary background tasks, keeping them dormant until you open them. Very easy.

Although turning off background app refresh provides the best battery savings, you can customize it per app. Technically, iOS allows granular control over single apps, meaning you can keep the feature active for some apps, but not all. If that’s what you want, the main Background App Refresh settings page lists all your apps requesting background access. Each app has a dedicated toggle next to it for this, and all you have to do is disable any apps you don’t want to use this feature.

For what it’s worth, social media apps are some of the worst when it comes to killing your battery, because there are so many new messages to view; you should definitely consider revoking their background access. These types of apps are constantly pinging servers for new content, which will drain your battery even when these apps are closed. Conversely, leaving the feature enabled for navigation apps, for example, is beneficial for anyone who wants timely updates and accurate location tracking.

Ultimately, it’s worth refining this feature on an app-by-app basis. This way, you can create a good balance between keeping your phone useful and its battery plentiful, even later in the day. It’s a surprisingly simple trick to get the most out of your iPhone.