Everybody prefers a fully charged iPhone. However, always keeping your iPhone topped up could reduce the lifespan of its battery. Learning how to maintain a healthy charging routine can help prolong iPhone battery life.
Expanding Your iPhone’s Battery Life
When we discuss the batteries of iPhones or other smart devices, we are actually discussing the science behind Lithium-Ion batteries. This kind of battery is used everywhere, from your smartwatch to your iPhone to electric vehicles. If you understand the way batteries work, it is possible to have your device’s battery working like new for years.
To prevent your iPhone’s battery from degrading over time, you must keep it from accumulating charge cycles. As those two conditions are the most harmful to a Lithium-ion battery, while keeping your battery level at 50% is best yet impractical The next sweet spot is between 20% and 80%.
Break the habit of keeping your phone constantly connected to a cable or a wireless charger. Additionally, aim to cut your iPhone’s battery usage as much as possible so that you don’t drag your iPhone into the “dangerous area” of 20% and below when you don’t have an available charger.
Let Your iPhone Notify You When the Battery Is at 80%
You can easily let your iPhone notify you when it reaches a particular battery level, such as 80% and 20%, by following the steps below.
- Launch the “Shortcuts” app on your iPhone. If you don’t have it installed on your iPhone, download it from the App Store.
- Navigate to the “Automation” section in the bottom bar.
- Tap on “Create a personal automation.” At this point, we are creating an automation that will launch a “then” condition: a notification.
- A list with many different options will open. Tap on “Battery Level” to continue.
- Choose the battery’s charge condition by dragging the white dot to the right until it reaches 80%, then select “Equals 80%” below.
- Tap on “Add action.” You can also choose from the suggested actions below.
- A prompt will appear, letting you choose from a vast catalog of available actions. You can let your iPhone play a music track by choosing “Play Music” or have your phone announce the notification via “Speak Text.” For this tutorial, we are choosing “Speak Text.”
- Tell your phone what you want it to say. For instance, you can make it say, “Your battery is at 80% … Unplug me!” or unleash your imagination and create your own phrase.
- You can tap the “Arrow” icon next to your text to customize it further, such as the speaking rate, pitch, and voice. If you leave the “Wait Until Finished” option enabled, your iPhone will continue speaking the rest of the text even after you unplug the cable.
- You’ll be asked whether you want this automation to “Ask Before Running” and “Notify When Run.” In our case, leave both of them turned off, as we need the automation to run automatically without permission and already set up the spoken text notification.
- When you navigate back to the “Automations” section in the “Shortcuts” app, you’ll see the new automation that you created.
Creating Another Notification for Battery’s 20% Charge
You need to also set up the opposite automation that tells you when your phone is at a 20% charge so that you can connect it to the charger as soon as possible.
You can do this by following the same steps aforementioned, but choose “Equals 20%” instead of “Equals 80.” By doing this, you will receive a notification once your iPhone is at a 20% charge.
Going back to the “Automations” screen, you’ll see that you now have two automations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What differentiates this method from the "Optimized Battery Charging" option?
Apple has added an option called “Optimized Battery Charging” since iOS 13, which you can enable by navigating to “Settings -> Battery -> Battery Health & Charging.” However, this option allows your iPhone to pause charging when the phone reaches 80% and is still left on the charger. This usually applies when you charge your device overnight.
Apple relies on your usage patterns and the device’s alarm to predict when you’ll wake up, and before that, it continues charging to 100%. This prediction may not always be correct, and the device may continue charging after 80%. You’ll need to decide which option suits you the best.
I've been using iPhones for years without battery issues. Is this workflow necessary for all iPhone owners?
The practice of keeping the iPhone’s battery within a 20% to 80% charged state isn’t for everyone, but you’ll know that your device’s battery will stay in good shape for much longer when you keep it between 20% and 80%. Doing this may buy you an additional year of healthy battery life, and not doing it will lead to a weaker battery performance earlier.
Should I set up an automation to run when the iPhone reaches 100%?
Yes, you should. This will prevent the phone from being connected to the power after reaching 100%, and it will not help you exceed your battery’s health, as charging the iPhone battery up to 100% is harmful in the long term. You can set up this automation by following the aforementioned steps and choosing 100% instead of 80% or 20%.
Does charging batteries to their full capacity hurt laptops, too?
Yes, and any Lithium-Ion battery in general. To avoid this manually, just remember to keep your device’s battery between 20% and 80%. Additionally, check to see whether your manufacturer provides a solution to prevent the battery from being fully charged. For instance, Lenovo laptops have a mode called “Conservation Mode.” When enabled, the device stays at 55% to 60% charge when connected to the charger. You can also monitor the battery’s health on Mac laptops.
Image credit: Unsplash. All screenshots by Mustafa Ashour.
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