Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Have you tweaked any settings on the Apple Watch side on the phone?
before I updated to watchOS 4, my watch settings were set so that no background apps could refresh, also, I turned off raise to wake and set the screen timeout to 15 Seconds. After updating to watchOS for beta-2, I turned off the auto detect gym equipment feature as suggested. That is the only feature I have changed since then but my battery life has continued to be disappointing whereas, before beta-2 it was consistently giving me all day battery life and I would arrive home with no less than 10% battery. I have A series 0 watch but it was replaced by Apple some months ago so the battery should still be fresh. i’ll run a diagnostic when I get home and post my findings.
 
before I updated to watchOS 4, my watch settings were set so that no background apps could refresh, also, I turned off raise to week and set the screen timeout to 15 Seconds. After updating to watchOS for beta-2, I turned off the auto detect gym equipment feature as suggested. That is the only feature I have changed since then.

It’s been hit or miss for me .....yesterday I did a 5k walk and was very active and when I got to bed I was at 22% . Today in my office job at 11pm I’m at 8 percent.
 
It’s been hit or miss for me .....yesterday I did a 5k walk and was very active and when I got to bed I was at 22% . Today in my office job at 11pm I’m at 8 percent.
if only... i would kill for that battery life, i leave home with 100% battery and when i arrive to work i’m already at 76%, it’s a 20 min commute and i’m using the maps app to give me directions with traffic updates. about 2 hours into my shift my watch either dies or has gone into a deep sleep and requires i force reset it by pressing the side button and digital crown.
 
After the another complete reset of the settings and re pair my Watch I got -5% per night and than I did some new settings (no background apps could refresh, set the screen timeout to 15 Seconds). And I got -9% per 4 hours.
Look further…
 
I don't really understand the battery life with BETA2. While at home on Saturday and Sunday the battery lasted all-day. It was still far worse than normal, it usually lasts two-days but still better than the 6-8 hours I got after updating to BETA2. And this was even with a three hour training session.

But today it's back to the same horrible battery life. It seems when I'm not at home the watch is doing something that completely demolishes the battery. I can't be at work for a full-day without the battery going dead. But as I said, during the weekend while being at home it lasted through a single-day, even with a workout session during the day.

Agreed. Repairing helped me immensely...for one day, then it was terrible again. I don’t understand how I can have the same use scenario and one day the battery lasts 2 hours, and another it lasts 12 hours.

I did a workout today, and for the first time it didn’t count calories. I’ve NEVER had that problem.
 
On next day i got the same battery drain. :( Repair helped for only one day. After night charge I got -45% per 3 hours. The same use scenario. Only turn on icloud music on my iPhone.
Maybe this is the case. Turn Off all items in Music on Apple Watch.
 
I lost 5% in 5 mins have tried everything... even airplane mode and low power reserve doesn’t work... I could put my watch in LPRM at 50% 2hrs later it’s Dead with the Red lightening bolt asking for a charge...
 
I don’t have any third party apps too. I made Bluetooth OFF on my iPhone and battery drain is gone.

Also I saw on my iPhone Bluetooth loses and found a connection with the Watch.
Very strangely.
 
Is the poor battery on beta 2 the likely reason Apple didn’t release a public beta at same time as all the others yesterday
 
So I am having a much different experience....

On wrist at 5:30 am, multiple alerts through the day, using music app etc and steps etc and now at 5pm and still have 62% battery left
 
After days of barely making it through the day my watch has been at 100% for four hours. Has to be a bug!
 
Mine was dead again shortly after 1pm, even after removing all 3rd party apps.

I charged it and put it in airplane mode, so at least it can now track activity and tell the time!

Thnakfully battery life in airplane mode is what it should be!
 
The issue is with location services, and I found my issue with battery drain.

Seems when I do an outdoor run with the workout app and using outdoor run to track my run the gps gets turned on when I finish the run and end the workout the gps is still on!

I then did a other workout using the workout app this morning and my battery stopped draining. Prior to the other workout this morning I was draining fast. So seems the other workout turns off the gps.

Anyone else notice this?
 
  • Like
Reactions: iMel
The issue is with location services, and I found my issue with battery drain.

Seems when I do an outdoor run with the workout app and using outdoor run to track my run the gps gets turned on when I finish the run and end the workout the gps is still on!

I then did a other workout using the workout app this morning and my battery stopped draining. Prior to the other workout this morning I was draining fast. So seems the other workout turns off the gps.

Anyone else notice this?

It’s definitely location services, but I haven’t been able to find THE fix. Removing third party apps didn’t fix it because one of the stock apps (probably Maps or Weather for me) was still using LS. Going into airplane mode stops the drain but makes the Watch pointless.
 
Mine is acting super strange. Series 2, has been on every beta after I got it on launch day. Beta 2 was fine for me since it came out June 21st. Today I put the watch on charge and went to take a shower. When I came back the watch was going nuts. The first thing I noticed was it was making the connecting to charge sound, then it would reboot, then repeat. I removed it from the charger and it would not restart. I found a apple support note that tells how to force a hard reset ( hold down the side button and the crown until it resets) this at least brought it back to life again. Now I have the locations services arrow up on the status screen all the time and of course battery life sucks. I am trying to repair and see if that helps. Anyone with any other ideas please share, they are welcome.
 
The issue is with location services, and I found my issue with battery drain.

Seems when I do an outdoor run with the workout app and using outdoor run to track my run the gps gets turned on when I finish the run and end the workout the gps is still on!

I then did a other workout using the workout app this morning and my battery stopped draining. Prior to the other workout this morning I was draining fast. So seems the other workout turns off the gps.

Anyone else notice this?

Yes, I noticed the same thing. After going on runs with gps, my watch would drain way faster. THe green lights on the bottom would stay on longer. I can't figure out how to resolve it. I thought it was the gym detector that everyone was suggesting but that didn't resolve it.

I reset my watch and went to a backup, and this resolved it for a short time, only until I ran again and now it's back to draining my batter within hours.
 
It’s definitely location services, but I haven’t been able to find THE fix. Removing third party apps didn’t fix it because one of the stock apps (probably Maps or Weather for me) was still using LS. Going into airplane mode stops the drain but makes the Watch pointless.

Try going into workout app select other start the workout and end it immediately.

This should stop the drain.
Yes, I noticed the same thing. After going on runs with gps, my watch would drain way faster. THe green lights on the bottom would stay on longer. I can't figure out how to resolve it. I thought it was the gym detector that everyone was suggesting but that didn't resolve it.

I reset my watch and went to a backup, and this resolved it for a short time, only until I ran again and now it's back to draining my batter within hours.

Looks like only solution is to start other workout app and stop it. Then delete the other workout. A pain but at least this will stop the battery drain till beta 3.

One other thing I did was change the current location (this uses location services) for weather to a fixed location, as weather is on my watch face.
 
Last edited:
You guys realize this is a beta right? These bugs are bound to happen and if you have a dev account you can report it to Apple.
 
It’s rare to have such a regression from beta 1 to beta 2 though. Battery life for a lot of us is less than 1/3 of what it was on beta 1.

I completely agree as I’m on the same boat but can’t count it out it’s buggy. :) hopefully the next build will be better.
 
Turn OFF Bluetooth on iPhone not working. The same battery drain after 1 hour. I tried run and than stop workout.
Let’s see further.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.