Does iOS 10 have a battery problem on iPhone 6S? I beta tested iOS 10 with a 6S Plus, so I didn’t notice any battery drain. However, in the weeks after the iOS 10 launch, I’ve started to hear ample anecdotal evidence. Everything from phones dying a little quicker than they used to, all the way to batteries draining from full in just hours. I’ve reached out to Apple to see if they can confirm the issue.
In the meantime, if you have a 6S and are dealing with frustratingly short battery life since upgrading, there are a couple of things you can do to diagnose and possibly improve your battery life.
First off, head to settings and see what’s burning through your battery. Open the Settings app, scroll to Battery, and click through. It will take a few seconds; but the Battery Usage section will populate with the apps that are using the most battery life on your phone. If you see something unexpected, then try uninstalling and reinstalling the offending app. At the very least, make sure that you have the latest version of the app. If it’s been a while since you checked the App Store, launch it and go to the Updates section. Waves of updates have been rolling in since the iOS launch and any battery leak issues may already be addressed.
Type it, "Share" it, and you're done! (Image Credit: Anthony Karcz)
For instance, Facebook got one of its frustratingly generic “We’ve improved things” updates today. Does it improve battery life? Does it tweak something else? Who knows. But, if your rogue app in the Battery Usage list is Facebook, there is another, better way. Delete the Facebook app altogether and install a shortcut to the mobile site on your Home Screen. Navigate to Facebook in Safari, then click the sharing icon. Scroll to the right and select the Add to Home Screen button. The mobile site is just as capable as the app and doesn’t suffer from the frequent battery issues that make the Facebook app Battery Enemy #1.
Think a Widget could be behind your battery woes? Take it off your Lock Screen! (Image Credit:... [+]
But what if the issue is the new Home and Lock Screen? One user I talked to said that it accounted for over half of his battery usage since the update. The most likely culprit in this case is one of the widgets on your lock screen that’s running harder in the background than it should. It’s a bit difficult to diagnose, since third-party widgets can live on the Lock Screen as well and those are at the whim of developer updates. However, at the bottom of the Lock Screen, there is an Edit button. Clicking that brings you to a list of all the widgets that are currently enabled (as well as a ton more that aren’t). If you’re feeling scientific, disable one, wait a few hours, and see if battery life improves. If it’s a widget for a third party app, then keep an eye out for an app update and don’t re-enable the widget till then. If it’s an Apple widget, just keep it disabled until the next iOS update. If you’re not feeling that patient, however, you can just disable the entire list and wait a month or so for things to shake out (though you’ll be missing out on the great stuff the new Lock Screen has to offer).
When I hear back from Apple, I’ll update this article. Hopefully the culprit will be discovered quickly and everyone’s phones will go back to lasting for the whole day (unless you’re like me and blow through your battery playing Pathfinder Adventures). Let me know what you discover in your battery investigations and good luck!
