iOS 26’s redesign of the battery section of settings utterly useless?

[FeliApple]

If you want it, you can have it, folks: Feedback submitted.

 

[FeliApple]

It's understandable that the information may or may not seem useful, but the new display method is so inefficient that it leads to displaying data as realistic as "I used 105% of my energy today," haha.
Aside from going against Apple's own tutorials for detecting battery drain, they themselves recommend tapping on the hourly bars where we've detected the drain to see if any app is responsible. This is impossible today, and I think they'll end up adding some more features to filter information, because the current one seems more designed to inflate screen time than to show actual device usage statistics. You know, to say that the iPhone gives you 20 hours of screen time with less battery than any Android. And I can almost say they'll do it for sure, because otherwise they risk any user who detects an unexpected drain contacting Apple support because they have no effective way of seeing what's happening on their phone themselves. And believe me, this is more common than many people think, so they run the risk of overwhelming support with trivial problems that the user themselves could solve with a little information.

I can’t see internal Apple support logs… but I can see public ones. Apple Support has a Twitter account that replies to people. It’s FULL of users who upload that screenshot to show issues with battery drain.

This change, like I keep saying, accomplishes nothing and destroys battery statistics for no reason.

 

[Paddle1]

Hopefully this isn't the final state. There are a few things that are clearly out of place/incomplete in these early betas.

 

[P_Watt]

In my opinion, the relevant battery statistic is one and one only: screen-on time since last full charge. That’s what most care about.


Okay, so, Settings’ battery section has seen two significant changes: iOS 12, when it changed “usage time since last full charge” to “screen-on time in last 24 hours”.

The issue before iOS 12 was that usage time included everything: screen-on time, screen-off time like music, and system activations on standby. That meant that the usage time that appeared was oftentimes inflated: a heavy music listener could have, on an iPhone 6s, 8 hours of “usage time” with 50% remaining, and getting 8 hours of SOT on an iPhone 6s is impossible.

iOS 12 fixed that, adding screen-on time. But it has one large flaw: to obtain the relevant number, you have to add the individual bars after unplugging, because the “screen-on” number shows the last 24 hours’ SOT. Which brings about an issue: if your cycle lasts more than 24 hours, you have to manually track the SOT before it disappears.

iOS 26 obliterates everything. This is iOS 12 on my iPhone Xʀ: View attachment 2522615

Obtaining SOT is very easy: unplug time: 16:00. Add individual bars from 16:00 to the point when the screenshot was taken. You can estimate remaining battery from the upper segment (because iOS 12 doesn’t have a battery percentage). The result is 2h 45 minutes of Screen-on time from 100% to the current 91% remaining. Note that SOT of the current cycle is NOT the 3h 34 min that appears below, as that includes SOT from the previous cycle.


iOS 26 destroys everything. These are MacRumors’ screenshots: View attachment 2522616

As you can clearly see, now the upper section of the screen shows battery consumption since 00:00. The bottom segment of the screen shows... battery level (so, remaining battery percentage, NOT screen-on time) per hour. The SOT number is now presumably the SOT accumulated over the present day since 00:00.

But there is NO indication of partial screen-on time. The only SOT indicator is the full 00:00-current time, so we can no longer determine screen-on time since last full charge. Before we had to add it manually, but now we can’t even do that.

A hypothetical: I plug my phone in after using it until 2am. I unplug it at 7 am. I plug it back in at 8 pm after using it. The SOT number 00:00-23:59 would show SOT from THREE different cycles: the end of the first cycle (00:00-02:00), the whole-day cycle (07:00-20:00), and the usage that I add while charging (20:00-23:59), with NO possibility to ascertain SOT per cycle.

How is this change useful? It destroys battery statistics for no reason!

I like to look at a high ~60 minute column, tap on it, and see what was using battery for that one hour.
They took that away (iPhone SE3)

 

[UliBaer]

Maybe this change is to somehow conceal the real battery drain of the new UI and "AI" in the background? 🤔

 

[FeliApple]

Hopefully this isn't the final state. There are a few things that are clearly out of place/incomplete in these early betas.

Yeah, I’m just not truly hopeful about this one specifically. Apple’s iOS 12 change had (has) a glaring oversight: battery life statistics were changed from “since last full charge” which is useful, to “last 24 hours”, which is not as useful.

People did complain during that initial beta release. A LOT. Apple doesn’t care. It seems like these kinds of decisions are final.

Hopefully I’m wrong, and unlike iOS 12’s change, which had a VERY clear goal (provide screen-on time rather than “usage time” which encompassed foreground and background tasks, system usage, and anything else, and I welcomed that specific aspect even if it wasn’t since last full charge like it should’ve been), this one seems just hollow. Like I said, it tears the whole segment apart and offers nothing for it.

 

[FeliApple]

Maybe this change is to somehow conceal the real battery drain of the new UI and "AI" in the background? 🤔

Apple has never really cared about battery life on older devices. Currently the situation is MUCH better than it was with older devices, especially early 64-bit devices. If they didn’t try to hide impact back then, they surely have no reason to do so now.

 

[01cowherd]

I like to look at a high ~60 minute column, tap on it, and see what was using battery for that one hour.
They took that away (iPhone SE3)

This is about the only view in the Battery page I cared about. Shame they removed it.

 

[huanbrother]

I think they simply don't want users to see the "since last charge" usage. The 24-hour usage metric can be misleading, especially when the device has been charged multiple times—without necessarily reaching 100%—during that period.

 

[P_Watt]

Maybe this change is to somehow conceal the real battery drain of the new UI and "AI" in the background? 🤔

It never did show Process usage (Photos curation, Search indexing etc) only app usage. Now there's even less app usage detail shown too.

 

[FeliApple]

I think they simply don't want users to see the "since last charge" usage. The 24-hour usage metric can be misleading, especially when the device has been charged multiple times—without necessarily reaching 100%—during that period.

Yes, but the question is why they don’t want users to see the “since last full charge”. It’s the most useful metric.

 

[Parowdy]

Most just care that their phone lasts through the day.

Outside of these beta forums, most never even look at this screen.

Most people also don’t use ProRes Raw. Some people depend on it.

 

[UliBaer]

Yes, but the question is why they don’t want users to see the “since last full charge”. It’s the most useful metric.

Because then Joe Average could easily see, that Apples battery life claims are bollocks, especially on the latest iOS.

 

[I7guy]

Because then Joe Average could easily see, that Apples battery life claims are bollocks, especially on the latest iOS.

Right because that is the only way in the world to measure battery life.

 

[FeliApple]

Yeah, I’m just not truly hopeful about this one specifically. Apple’s iOS 12 change had (has) a glaring oversight: battery life statistics were changed from “since last full charge” which is useful, to “last 24 hours”, which is not as useful.

People did complain during that initial beta release. A LOT. Apple doesn’t care. It seems like these kinds of decisions are final.

Hopefully I’m wrong, and unlike iOS 12’s change, which had a VERY clear goal (provide screen-on time rather than “usage time” which encompassed foreground and background tasks, system usage, and anything else, and I welcomed that specific aspect even if it wasn’t since last full charge like it should’ve been), this one seems just hollow. Like I said, it tears the whole segment apart and offers nothing for it.

As I said… iOS 26.1 incoming with no improvements. These decisions are sadly final. Hopefully they eventually fix it rather than make us wait six years.

I don’t have iOS 26 anywhere though, so I’m good for the time being.

The people who are responsible for that part have no clue.

 

[Aoligei]

Right because that is the only way in the world to measure battery life.

Screen on time is the single most important metric for battery life, most of interaction with phone is when the screen is on. So if you care about battery life, I think SOT is very important.

I have iPhone 15 Pro Max with 83% battery health. It doesn’t last whole day, I am trying to figure out SOT to determine if I should have battery replacement. SOT is what I am tracking for past weeks, and I think iOS 26 makes tracking SOT harder.

 

[I7guy]

Screen on time is the single most important metric for battery life, most of interaction with phone is when the screen is on. So if you care about battery life, I think SOT is very important.

Everybody who has rechargeable batteries in a device cares about battery life. And most people use their devices and recharge them when necessary. The question is do you really need to know screen time to the second or will having your device last your a day suffice. I’m in the latter.

I have iPhone 15 Pro Max with 83% battery health. It doesn’t last whole day, I am trying to figure out SOT to determine if I should have battery replacement. SOT is what I am tracking for past weeks, and I think iOS 26 makes tracking SOT harder.

I have a 15PM with 94% health. The phone for my usage continues under iOS 26 to last me a day. If my phone didn’t last a day when it used to I would take it into Apple for a battery replacement.

 

[FeliApple]

Everybody who has rechargeable batteries in a device cares about battery life. And most people use their devices and recharge them when necessary. The question is do you really need to know screen time to the second or will having your device last your a day suffice. I’m in the latter.

You’re missing the point entirely. The issue is not whether we need the information. The problem is that it was pointless to remove. The information was there. Apple removed it with a useless redesign that achieves nothing lacks the information that most people (if not all) who care about this like to have.

You’re framing it as if it were a fundamental need. It isn’t. But the change was pointless.

Honestly your blind defense of anything and everything Apple does venture into the utterly ridiculous sometimes. This time is a glaring example.

 

[I7guy]

You’re missing the point entirely.

No I didn’t miss the point.

The issue is not whether we need the information. The problem is that it was pointless to remove.

Apple made a determination for their own reasons.

The information was there. Apple removed it with a useless redesign that achieves nothing lacks the information that most people (if not all) who care about this like to have.

Clearly some care about the information. Maybe not enough to justify keeping the info as it was.

You’re framing it as if it were a fundamental need. It isn’t. But the change was pointless.

Honestly your blind defense of anything and everything Apple does venture into the utterly ridiculous sometimes. This time is a glaring example.

My only measure of battery life is does my phone last me through the day with my usage. And that’s it. I’ve been honest and upfront about it since the beginning of MR time.

 

[FeliApple]

No I didn’t miss the point.

Apple made a determination for their own reasons.

Clearly some care about the information. Maybe not enough to justify keeping the info as it was.

My only measure of battery life is does my phone last me through the day with my usage. And that’s it. I’ve been honest and upfront about it since the beginning of MR time.

As I said… utterly ridiculous.

 

[I7guy]

As I said… utterly ridiculous.

Yep and that doesn’t change anything.

 

[Aoligei]

Everybody who has rechargeable batteries in a device cares about battery life. And most people use their devices and recharge them when necessary. The question is do you really need to know screen time to the second or will having your device last your a day suffice. I’m in the latter.

Regardless what you think, screen on time tells you lots of information, not just battery endurance, but also how apps behaves.

I have a 15PM with 94% health. The phone for my usage continues under iOS 26 to last me a day. If my phone didn’t last a day when it used to I would take it into Apple for a battery replacement.

My iPhone 15PM with 83% health doesn't even last half days. Last time, I checked 1 hour 30 minutes screen on time, and I am on 47% battery left.

I have battery ordered from Amazon and I will put it on when I have time.