The Problem: Summer travel, heat exposure, and high photo counts leave phone batteries draining quickly.
Do This Instead: Run a quick battery health check.
Note: Turning this off for non-essential apps (like shopping or travel apps) saves battery without stopping push notifications.
iOS (iPhone)
- Open Settings and tap Battery.
- Scroll down to view the Battery Usage By App chart. Tap Show Activity to see which apps are spending the most time running in the background.
- Go back to main Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
- Toggle off any app that doesn’t need to update constantly in the background (e.g., games, retail apps, or streaming services). Keep essential messaging or navigation apps turned on.
Android
- Open Settings and tap Battery (or Battery and device care).
- Tap Battery usage to identify which apps consume the highest percentage of power.
- Return to main Settings > Apps.
- Select high-draining apps, tap Battery, and change the setting from Optimized or Unrestricted to Restricted (or turn off Allow background activity).