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Splitrail

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 26, 2021
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With my iPhone 13 Pro, I use Google Chrome instead of Safari, which I deleted as an app months ago.
Today I notice that yesterdays battery usage under settings indicates 13 min and 34% for Safari.
Can anyone help me with why this would be and how can I eliminate it?
Thank you!
 
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I'm confused. Safari is a system app that cannot be deleted. It can only be removed from your Home Screen. I bet it's still on your phone and can be found in your App Library.

Also, all 3rd party browsers on iOS/iPadOS are basically just skinned versions of Safari, as Apple does not allow them to use their own browsing engine. I don't think that would account for your 34% use though. But considering it's a system app that can't be deleted, it will be difficult to eliminate its use entirely.

My guess is that some app may have opened a site in Safari and you didn't realize it. Is there any browsing history in Safari to show that it was indeed used at some point yesterday?
 
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I'm confused. Safari is a system app that cannot be deleted. It can only be removed from your Home Screen. I bet it's still on your phone and can be found in your App Library.

Also, all 3rd party browsers on iOS/iPadOS are basically just skinned versions of Safari, as Apple does not allow them to use their own browsing engine. I don't think that would account for your 34% use though. But considering it's a system app that can't be deleted, I don't think you're going to be able to eliminate its use entirely.
Thanks, I'm confused but always learning.
By "skinned versions", does that mean when I use Chrome as a search engine, it's really going through Safari and indicating as such under battery usage?
Coincidentally, Chrome doesn't show up in the battery usage list.
 
By "skinned versions", does that mean when I use Chrome as a search engine, it's really going through Safari and indicating as such under battery usage?
No, not quite. Safari uses WebKit to render websites. Chrome (desktop version) uses Chromium to render websites. However, on iOS/iPadOS, Chrome is required to use Apple's WebKit engine instead. Since it's using WebKit, it's basically just the same as Safari with a different look/UI. As for battery usage, whatever app you're using should show there.

Btw, Chrome is not a search engine...it's a web browser. (Google.com would be the search engine.) Safari even uses Google as its default search engine.

Coincidentally, Chrome doesn't show up in the battery usage list.
Chrome should be showing up in the battery usage list if it's being used.
 
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No, not quite. Safari uses WebKit to render websites. Chrome (desktop version) uses Chromium to render websites. However, on iOS/iPadOS, Chrome is required to use Apple's WebKit engine instead. Since it's using WebKit, it's basically just the same as Safari with a different look/UI. As for battery usage, whatever app you're using should show there.

Btw, Chrome is not a search engine...it's a web browser. (Google.com would be the search engine.) Safari even uses Google as its default search engine.


Chrome should be showing up in the battery usage list if it's being used.
Thanks for the explanation of the websites!
I'll use Chrome for a while today and see if it shows up in battery usage.
But I'd still like to know why Safari showed up in battery usage, as it's buried in the app library, and I don't use it at all.
And 34% is quite a lot! :oops:
This is gonna bug me! :rolleyes:
 
Thanks for the explanation of the websites!
I'll use Chrome for a while today and see if it shows up in battery usage.
But I'd still like to know why Safari showed up in battery usage, as it's buried in the app library, and I don't use it at all.
And 34% is quite a lot! :oops:
This is gonna bug me! :rolleyes:
Looks like I updated my initial post as you were replying, so might have missed it... You could check your browsing history in Safari to see if there's anything in there from yesterday. Perhaps some other app opened a site in Safari without you realizing it. I wouldn't expect it to show up in the battery usage if it wasn't being used.
 
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Looks like I updated my initial post as you were replying, so might have missed it... You could check your browsing history in Safari to see if there's anything in there from yesterday. Perhaps some other app opened a site in Safari without you realizing it. I wouldn't expect it to show up in the battery usage if it wasn't being used.
Thanks.
So I went to Safari in my app library and sure enough, it indicates 2 Youtube videos that I watched yesterday that had been sent to me by two different friends, both from iPhones.
So that explains the usage time and battery drain, but I'm still bewildered that it would show up under Safari in settings>battery since Safari has been in the library.
If an app is in the library it is still active?
Just gone from the home screen?
 
Thanks.
So I went to Safari in my app library and sure enough, it indicates 2 Youtube videos that I watched yesterday that had been sent to me by two different friends, both from iPhones.
So that explains the usage time and battery drain, but I'm still bewildered that it would show up under Safari in settings>battery since Safari has been in the library.
If an app is in the library it is still active?
Just gone from the home screen?
Correct. The App Library is just a list of all apps that are installed on your phone. Think of it as the 'Applications' folder on a Mac, or the Start menu on Windows. (One could remove all their apps from the Home Screen and only access them via the Application Library if they really wanted to.)
 
Correct. The App Library is just a list of all apps that are installed on your phone. Think of it as the 'Applications' folder on a Mac, or the Start menu on Windows. (One could remove all their apps from the Home Screen and only access them via the Application Library if they really wanted to.)
Thank you!
This 72 year old fart with his first smart phone is still learning by the day.
:D
 
You may like Brave or Mullvad browsers. I use Brave for college work to separate my work/school logins, and Safari for general browsing like shopping. Brave is essentially a lighter (less resource-intensive/privacy-invading) version of Chrome that also has its own Brave [edit] Search Engine. Safari can be good if you install a couple of layered Ad Blockers like Peace, WipR and/or AdBlock Pro/Ghostery. The main things (in my own experience) that will drain your battery are location-apps using GPS, long phone calls with low reception, overall screen brightness when above 75%, or watching "metered" video on 5G or Wi-Fi.

My Last recommendation: Try running your iPhone in Low Power Mode 100% of the time for a few days, and see which, if any, apps and features you miss. If it feels exactly the same, just keep it in that mode for a decent battery boost.

Good luck! There are lots of great sources on YouTube and here that can go into way more depth on individual features/settings.
 
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Thanks.
So I went to Safari in my app library and sure enough, it indicates 2 Youtube videos that I watched yesterday that had been sent to me by two different friends, both from iPhones.
So that explains the usage time and battery drain, but I'm still bewildered that it would show up under Safari in settings>battery since Safari has been in the library.
If an app is in the library it is still active?
Just gone from the home screen?
It's possible you played the videos inline in the Messages app and that counted as Safari usage. But yes, ultimately Safari is a system process and a lot of web-related things in the system may show up as Safari activity, even if you never opened the app.
 
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You may like Brave or Mullvad browsers. I use Brave for college work to separate my work/school logins, and Safari for general browsing like shopping. Brave is essentially a lighter (less resource-intensive/privacy-invading) version of Chrome that also has its own Brave [edit] Search Engine. Safari can be good if you install a couple of layered Ad Blockers like Peace, WipR and/or AdBlock Pro/Ghostery. The main things (in my own experience) that will drain your battery are location-apps using GPS, long phone calls with low reception, overall screen brightness when above 75%, or watching "metered" video on 5G or Wi-Fi.

My Last recommendation: Try running your iPhone in Low Power Mode 100% of the time for a few days, and see which, if any, apps and features you miss. If it feels exactly the same, just keep it in that mode for a decent battery boost.

Good luck! There are lots of great sources on YouTube and here that can go into way more depth on individual features/settings.
Thank you.
I'm not so concerned about battery drain as I was about the "what and whys" of it.
I like to understand how things work as much as I enjoy using them. :D
I like this place!
 
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