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How to Prevent Your iPhone's Low Power Mode From Turning Off

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Apr 12, 2001
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Whether your iPhone or iPad is long overdue a battery replacement, or you just want to get more juice out of a single charge, here's a way to keep your device's Low Power Mode on all the time.

ios-16-battery-low-power-mode-beta-6.jpg

Most ‌iPhone‌ and iPad users will be familiar with the way their device throws up a prompt to turn on Low Power Mode when the battery falls to 20 percent. The special mode conserves what remaining battery life the device has left by limiting some features, but by default the mode automatically turns off when a charging iPhone or iPad reaches 80 percent. If that irks you, don't worry – there is a solution.

Perhaps you're running the latest version of iOS or iPadOS on an older device and you've found that the battery life is inadequate to get you through the day. Or maybe you just want to reduce the amount of times you have to charge your iPhone or iPad. Either way, you can keep Low Power Mode enabled regardless of the battery level with the help of an automation.

iPhone/iPad Features Disabled by Low Power Mode

Before you follow the steps in this article to create the automation, it's worth highlighting which of the features it disables to reduce your device's power consumption. According to Apple, Low Power Mode turns off the following:
  • 5G (except for video streaming) on iPhone 12 models
  • Auto-Lock (defaults to 30 seconds)
  • Display brightness
  • Display refresh rate (limited up to 60 Hz) on iPhone and iPad models with ProMotion display
  • Some visual effects
  • iCloud Photos (temporarily paused)
  • Automatic downloads
  • Email fetch
  • Background app refresh
If you're happy to live without the above features for as long as Low Power Mode is on, follow the steps below to create your automation.

Creating an Always-On Low Power Mode Automation

  1. Launch the Shortcuts app on your iPhone, then tap the Automation tab at the bottom.
  2. Tap the + button in the top right, then select Create Personal Automation.
    stop-iphone-low-power-mode-turning-off4.jpg

    Scroll down and choose Low Power Mode.
  3. Deselect the Is Turned On option and select the Is Turned Off option instead, then tap Next.
    stop-iphone-low-power-mode-turning-off3.jpg

    Tap Add Action.
  4. Tap inside the search field and search for the Set Low Power Mode script, then select it below.
    stop-iphone-low-power-mode-turning-off2.jpg

    Make sure the Turn and On options in blue are selected, then tap Next.
  5. Toggle off the switch next to Ask Before Running, then tap Don't Ask in the prompt to confirm.
    stop-iphone-low-power-mode-turning-off1.jpg

    Tap Done to finish.
Low Power Mode can be turned on and off manually at any time by going to Settings -> Battery and toggling on the switch next to Low Power Mode. Just bear in mind that if you want to turn it off, you'll have to disable your automation. You can do this in Shortcuts by selecting the automation and toggling off the switch next to Enable This Automation.

Article Link: How to Prevent Your iPhone's Low Power Mode From Turning Off
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/stop-iphone-low-power-mode-turning-off/
Last edited:
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Genuine question: given that low power mode restricts a lot of the background functions, what good does this do a majority of users that are frequently pulling out their phone to refresh social media?

How much extra time are you really saving?

Note: I'm an outlier, since I never use Low Power Mode, and my 13 mini goes from 100 to 80 typically throughout a work day before I dock it for the night.
 
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BrownyQ said:
Genuine question: given that low power mode restricts a lot of the background functions, what good does this do a majority of users that are frequently pulling out their phone to refresh social media?

How much extra time are you really saving?

Note: I'm an outlier, since I never use Low Power Mode, and my 13 mini goes from 100 to 80 typically throughout a work day before I dock it for the night.
Click to expand...
I'm an outlier too in that I keep low power mode on all the time and don't use socialist media.
 
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I love these automation/shortcut tutorials.

I used to have a site bookmarked that had all sorts of user submitted automations scripts and tutorials, but I lost it. I've scoured the interwebs, but no luck. 🥺

If anyone knows what I'm talking about, please share the link. I would be greatly appreciative. 👍
 
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Thanks for the tip!

I really can't tell any difference between regular and low-power mode, except for screen refresh. I have zero push notifications (other than iMessage), and have background refresh turned off for everything except my weather app, so I might try this out.
 
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Corefile said:
I'm an outlier too in that I keep low power mode on all the time and don't use socialist media.
Click to expand...
That’s it.
Keep the mind on a higher level then social media, and your phone will follow.

But I LOVE these tutorials from MacRumors.
Some I need, some not at all, but love them nevertheless.
 
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BrownyQ said:
Genuine question: given that low power mode restricts a lot of the background functions, what good does this do a majority of users that are frequently pulling out their phone to refresh social media?

How much extra time are you really saving?

Note: I'm an outlier, since I never use Low Power Mode, and my 13 mini goes from 100 to 80 typically throughout a work day before I dock it for the night.
Click to expand...
I'm probably an outlier, but I have a work iPhone whose purpose is only to be used as 2FA, the rare work call, and checking emails while I'm away from my computer during the work day. Having a permanent low power mode is great in that I don't have to always remember to charge the phone (I can barely remember to charge my personal phone!).
 
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I set up mine to turn on Low Power Mode when I unplug from the charger. That way, it can go past the 80% threshold and trigger downloads, backups, etc. for that short time.
 
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BrownyQ said:
Genuine question: given that low power mode restricts a lot of the background functions, what good does this do a majority of users that are frequently pulling out their phone to refresh social media?

How much extra time are you really saving?
Click to expand...

I keep my iPhone 13 in low power mode all the time and would prefer to not have to re-activate low power mode when I charge the phone.

I'm not a heavy user of my iPhone. I have multiple computing devices to keep me connected. The iPhone is only one of them and is used infrequently mostly to manage (read that as pay for) our family's Apple services.

Edit: BrownyQ, your question is perfectly reasonable. Implicit in every thread on Macrumors is that people have different lifestyles and choose to incorporate technology into their lives in different ways. Part of the reason we all decide to congregate here is to learn how people are incorporating technology into their lives to see if we can figure out a better way to incorporate technology into our own lives.
 
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BrownyQ said:
Genuine question: given that low power mode restricts a lot of the background functions, what good does this do a majority of users that are frequently pulling out their phone to refresh social media?

How much extra time are you really saving?

Note: I'm an outlier, since I never use Low Power Mode, and my 13 mini goes from 100 to 80 typically throughout a work day before I dock it for the night.
Click to expand...
Fortunately, the "majority" of users are not so addicted to social media. I think most people wait until their phone makes a noise before they think to look at it. Most people would be happy if their phone made these noises less frequently.

It is amazing how long a typical iPhone battery can be made to last. I can get maybe 4+ days on even my "SE" if I set it to "airplane mode" except when I want to check it for messages.

Sometimes I am in the mountains where there is no cell coverage the default case is the phone just turns up the power and runs its battery out very quickly. How stupid. The phone has GPS and should know there are no towers in the area and turn off the cell radio. Why bother to try to ping non-existent cell towers?

Software changes chould lkey quadrupple battery life for many users. "Shortcuts" allows normal users to write tiny little apps all on their own. It's a good thing. Now that this article gave my the idea, I ca think of many ways to extend it. Like going to airplane AND low power mode when there is no cell service.
 
I would like the total opposite… I don’t want to see that notification that suggests I switch low power mode on at all 😬
I seem to accidentally tap the notification then you have to dig into settings to take it off. I mean most of us are near power sources throughout the day!
 
cgs1xx said:
I would like the total opposite… I don’t want to see that notification that suggests I switch low power mode on at all 😬
I seem to accidentally tap the notification then you have to dig into settings to take it off. I mean most of us are near power sources throughout the day!
Click to expand...
Obviously you can have the total opposite simply by reversing the options in the shortcuts app
 
Fortunately, we won't need this tip for iPhone 15 because of the larger battery.

Oh, wait...
 
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️ said:
Excellent tips! Thank you!!

Question: Is there a way to set Automation feature for the iPhone not to charge pass 80% of the battery life? 🔋🔌
Click to expand...
Don’t think there’s a native feature built in (someone correct me if I’m wrong), but I believe (I remember reading it here in the forums before) that if you have a HomeKit compatible smart outlet and plug your charger there you can set an automation to turn the outlet off when your iPhone reaches 80%. Not optimal, I know, but it’s something 😋
 
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I have done this on two separate occasions separated by at least a year. Each time it has eventually murdered my iCloud photos library and rendered proper syncing impossible without all kinds of pain signing in and out of my devices. On the second occasion I even permanently lost albums. Not unlike when I disdabled Apple Music and it torpedoed my purchased iTunes library. You’ve been warned.
 
Sorinut said:
Thanks for the tip!

I really can't tell any difference between regular and low-power mode, except for screen refresh. I have zero push notifications (other than iMessage), and have background refresh turned off for everything except my weather app, so I might try this out.
Click to expand...
This will break background refresh in your weather app as well as may affect other widgets. The email checks are what kill it for me.
 
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