My wife’s family had a reunion last weekend.
One of her cousins was unplugging her phone from the charger when she complained out loud about her iPhone not being able to keep a charge the way it did when it was newer.
I asked if she knew about Apple’s new battery health options in the iOS Battery system preference. She didn’t.
First, I checked to make sure her version of iOS was at least at 11.3 or later — it was.
Her iPhone is a 6S Plus. The Battery Health information page will only show up if you have an iPhone 6 or newer phone or an iPhone SE.
Then I showed her how to check the health of her battery, which is a feature Apple introduced in iOS 11.3.
You’ll find the information in Settings under Battery and then touch Battery Health (beta). Because the Battery Health page is still in beta, the feature is still technically in a testing phase.
The Battery Health information page shows two pieces of information, your phone’s maximum battery capacity and its peak performance capability.
On my iPhone 8 Plus, which I purchased last September, my maximum battery capacity is 93 percent and my battery is currently supporting normal peak performance.
What do those things mean?
The maximum battery capacity is the percentage of the battery’s capacity compared with when it was new. It means my phone’s battery has lost 7 percent of its capacity in the last 10 months.
The peak performance capability will tell you whether your battery is causing your iPhone’s performance to suffer. The battery health page will tell you if your phone has experienced a battery-related shutdown.
According to Macworld.com, you’ll get one of five messages on the battery health page:
Performance is normal
Performance management (throttling) applied
Performance management turned off
Battery health unknown
Battery health degraded
The release of the Battery Health information came about after Apple announced it had instituted performance throttling on certain phones because of diminished battery capacity.
This issue also led to Apple announcing a $29 battery replacement program for the phones that were subject to throttling.
Fortunately, my wife’s cousin still had more than 90 percent of her iPhone’s battery capacity, and her phone was performing at peak capacity (not throttled). Her battery level really didn’t warrant a replacement, but if she wanted to have Apple replace her out-of-warranty battery, she could do that for $29 at any Apple store or through Apple’s support website.
I told her the battery was doing as well as it could be doing, but there were still a few things she could do to make that battery last longer.
I had her decrease her phone’s screen brightness. She had the brightness set at about 75 percent of the maximum brightness and she decided she could go down to 50 percent brightness and still be able to see everything she needed to see.
I told her the screen is the biggest power user and she’d find turning down the screen brightness would bring a nice little bump to her battery life.
The battery setting page will also show you what apps are using the most battery power on your iPhone. On my phone, the Facebook app is the biggest power hog. Take a look at your battery hogs and see what you can do to cut down on their usage.
Android phone users can find their battery health status on a secret menu accessed by opening the phone’s dialer and typing *#*#4636#*#*.
Once you type that last asterisk, you’ll see a few hidden menus, including one for battery status.
———
ABOUT THE WRITER
Jim Rossman writes for The Dallas Morning News. He may be reached at jrossman@dallasnews.com.
