The Apple Watch is an impressive smartwatch that keeps getting better, but battery life remains a pain point for many users. If finding a charger midday is a familiar frustration, this comprehensive guide will help you unlock more usage time between charges.
As a tech specialist and Apple device enthusiast, I‘ve discovered helpful ways to conserve battery life without compromising the Apple Watch experience. From adjusting settings to limiting power-hungry features, these tips will help you optimize battery usage.
Enable Low Power Mode
The simplest way to save battery life on your Apple Watch is to turn on Low Power Mode. Introduced in WatchOS 9, Low Power Mode works similarly to the iPhone feature, suspending select functions to extend battery.
To enable:
- Swipe up from bottom of screen to open Control Center
- Tap the battery percentage icon
- Slide the Low Power Mode switch to the right (green)
With Low Power Mode on, your Apple Watch will turn off the Always On display. It also pauses heart rate measurements, irregular rhythm notifications, blood oxygen monitoring and Wi-Fi/cellular connections.
This helps save power because even when unlinked from your iPhone, the Watch attempts to retrieve alerts around once per hour. Low Power Mode breaks this constant connectivity.
One thing to note – Low Power Mode automatically disables when battery reaches 80% charge.
Turn Off Wake on Wrist Raise
A key battery-saving adjustment is to turn off Wake on Wrist Raise, which uses the accelerometer to light up the display whenever you raise your arm.
While convenient for checking the time hands-free, this feature keeps the screen waking up unexpectedly with routine movements. The accumulated display wake ups drain battery unnecessarily.
To disable Wake on Wrist Raise:
- Open the Watch app on your paired iPhone
- Go to My Watch > Wake Screen
- Toggle off the switch for Wake on Wrist Raise
You can also limit the Wake screen time before sleep to 10 seconds instead of disabling it completely. This still allows glancing at the screen without excessive battery drain.
Disable Always On Display
The Always On display keeps the watch face visible at all times. While easier for quick glances, keeping pixels lit continuously consumes additional battery.
Unless you absolutely need the convenience, consider turning off Always On display:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone
- Go to My Watch > Display & Brightness
- Toggle off the switch for Always On
An always-on screen drains battery quicker than one that sleeps. Save power by only waking the display deliberately with wrist raises or screen taps instead of keeping it persistently on.
Minimize Health Monitoring
Workout mode is another battery drain culprit. Constant heart rate tracking, GPS and overall enhanced monitoring works the Watch harder compared to casual usage.
Relying too much on automatic workout detection instead of manually starting and stopping exercises leads to overlooked background drain. Get in the habit of manually ending workouts once your exercise is complete.
To end workout mode manually:
- Swipe right on Workout screen
- Tap the red End button
This prompts the Watch to exit the enhanced monitoring of exercise mode, preserving battery.
Reduce Notifications
Excessive notifications and haptic buzzes also impact battery, signaling the taptic engine and lighting up the display. Audit your apps allowed to send notifications and trim the selection down to the essentials only.
To customize notifications:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone
- Tap Notifications
- Review the apps listed and toggle off non-essentials
Save battery by limiting notifications to only necessary alerts instead of keeping everything activated.
Use Simple Watch Faces
The default modular watch face is useful but taxes battery with its rich complications. Switch to simple faces with low power draw. Faces like X-Large, Numerals and Numerals Duo display the time clearly without heavy graphics.
To change watch faces:
- Long press the display to bring up customization
- Swipe left or right to browse faces
- Tap your preferred simple face
- Customize color/style if desired
The X-Large watch face displays time clearly without expensive graphical effects
Animated faces like Motion, Timelapse and Bloom may look great, but stick to static backgrounds to reduce battery drain.
Use Dark Mode and Reduce Brightness
The Apple Watch uses OLED screen technology where each pixel self-illuminates. Black pixels draw very little power compared to white.
Enable Dark Mode under Brightness & Text Size settings so interface elements use more black and dark colors. Additionally, reduce the overall screen brightness.
To activate Dark Mode and reduce brightness:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone
- Go to My Watch > Display & Brightness
- Turn on Dark Mode
- Drag brightness slider left to reduce
Less bright screens tax the battery less. Find your lowest comfortable brightness setting to save power.
Turn Off Animations
The intuitive animations in watchOS look slick but use extra resources. Limiting motion effects associated with opening apps helps conserve CPU and thus battery:
To minimize fancy visual effects:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone
- Go to My Watch > Accessibility
- Toggle off Merge Transparency and Motion
With animations disabled, interactions still work but now drain less battery when performed.
Limit iPhone App Mirroring
In addition to native alerts, the Apple Watch can display notifications from iPhone apps. Receiving alerts on both devices often leads to redundant notifications.
Disable mirroring iPhone apps on your Watch that don’t require alerts on your wrist such as Mail. Focus only on vital apps to stay productive while saving power.
To stop mirroring apps:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone
- Go to My Watch > Notifications
- Review the Mirror iPhone Alerts From section
- Toggle off apps like Mail, Calendar etc
By limiting alerts in this way, you reduce unnecessary buzzes and screen wake ups that tax the battery.
Conclusion
Getting the most battery life out of your Apple Watch involves tailoring settings and app notifications to suit your personal needs instead of keeping everything activated. Follow the tips outlined here to help optimize your usage, retaining only battery-hungry features that are absolutely necessary.
Restrict notifications, streamline watch face complexity, disable Always On and limit sensor usage to go longer between charges without compromising essential functionality. But if battery continues draining abnormally fast even after these adjustments, it may be time to replace the aging battery via Apple or an authorized service provide
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