High Battery 'Usage' - Even when not using the phone.

[jimmyjoy]

So for the last few months my iPhone 7 Plus has been suffering from terrible battery performance.
I'm on the latest beta but it's been the same on all of the recent ones.

As of today my battery status shows 9hr 18min Standby and 8hr 38min Usage - I've had the phone unlocked for an maximum of an hour since it was taken off charge! I'm currently on 9% battery.

Occasionally it doesn't happen. It seems to happen more often when I'm at work than at home, although it's almost always on wifi. I've tried closing all apps, rebooting and then opening apps one at a time in case an app had a memory leak or was staying active but I can't find anything consistent. Only default iOS apps have been open today and it's still happening.

I'm aware I'm using things that will drain the battery such as being paired with an Apple Watch, having Geofencing active for Philips Hue, push notification for emails, IP Cameras and Find and Friend etc. but I've disabled background app refresh for most apps and I don't have the same issue everyday.

The battery usage by app, reported in settings, doesn't show anything particularly high. Also, the fact it shows % used in the last 24 hours rather than since last full charge makes it difficult to diagnose.

Any ideas?

 

[Stefan johansson]

Check settings. Turn off location services when not needed. If your location is in the maximum range of the router,wifi use consumes more battery. You can also set a longer interval for push notifications and updates of news feeds and mail.

 

[jimmyjoy]

Check settings. Turn off location services when not needed. If your location is in the maximum range of the router,wifi use consumes more battery. You can also set a longer interval for push notifications and updates of news feeds and mail.

Thanks for the reply. I've turned off all location services that I don't need and set them all to only be active when the app is in use. I need the push notifications for work email but it's never been an issue before.

The wifi could be a possible issue as I sit right next to the Ubiquiti access point. However I have no idea why the phone would report such high usage, rather than standby.

 

[kazmac]

^ Yes, WiFi does drain the battery. I shut my WiFi off whenever I am not using the phone (which frankly is most of the work day).

 

[Strelok]

How's your signal at work? If you consistently have low signal it will drain the battery quite quickly.

 

[jimmyjoy]

How's your signal at work? If you consistently have low signal it will drain the battery quite quickly.

Signal isn't great - probably 2 bars most of the day.

When I've seen other people with signal battery issues it's usually poor standby time rather than high usage.

 

[Strelok]

Does your work require you to use some kind of extra security app for wifi? It seems like something is actively draining the battery. Is there anything in your battery usage that seems to have a lot of time on "background activity"?

 

[jimmyjoy]

Does your work require you to use some kind of extra security app for wifi? It seems like something is actively draining the battery. Is there anything in your battery usage that seems to have a lot of time on "background activity"?

No, nothing at work for wifi. I set up all of the wifi and they're actually identical to the access points that I use at home.

Nothing suggests high background activity at all.

I can only think that there is a certain app that remains running even in standby but I can't work out what it could be. Most days the usage is very close to standby but occasionally it seems accurate and the battery lasts well. I'm stumped.

 

[Mlrollin91]

Does your carrier have WiFi calling? Enabling WiFi calling in low service areas will actually greatly reduce battery drainage from the cellular radio constantly searching for better service.

Additionally, apps like Facebook, Messenger and Instagram are notorious for causing usage time and standby time being near the same number. Even when force quitting the app out of the multitasking tray, these apps run services that cause the battery for usage to increase even when the phone is not being used. It might be worth a try of uninstalling for a few days and see if it changes. I got to the point where I only access FB and Instagram from Safari and Messenger on my computer.

 

[CTHarrryH]

Under settings - battery it should show you what apps are using battery. Does anything stick out - look strange like some app you didn't think you were use with a high percentage

 

[jimmyjoy]

Under settings - battery it should show you what apps are using battery. Does anything stick out - look strange like some app you didn't think you were use with a high percentage

No that's exactly the issue. The highest thing in the last 24 hours was facebook and that was used at night before it was charged.

I've recently noticed that doing a hard reboot fixes the issue for a while so I can only assume that an app or system service is not closing correctly and is eating the battery. I have no idea how to diagnose it but my battery currently has 72% left and it's been off charge for 10 hours so far.