Get Rid of Unnecessary Apps That Will Drain Your iPhone’s Battery
Credit: BestStockFoto | ShutterstockToggle Dark Mode
Everyone knows that the iPhone’s battery isn’t as big as many other smartphones in the same price range.
However, despite packing in a smaller battery, Apple has done a great job with both hardware and software to give nearly all of its iPhone models great battery life. Even if it’s still not the best out there, newer iPhones should be able to get you through a full day without too much trouble.
Still, if you want to make your iPhone’s battery last as long as possible, even after it begins aging, you need to take care of it. One simple way to do that is by getting rid of all the unnecessary apps that we keep on our iPhones in case we need them one day.
Spoiler alert: you probably won’t ever need them. Instead of being helpful, what these apps could be doing is draining your iPhone’s battery. There are plenty of unnecessary apps you can and should delete, but you can start with these ones that you may not be using.
Get Rid of Your Extra Mail App
Many of us have a third-party mail app that we love more than Apple Mail, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
The problem comes when you actually decide to keep more than one mail app on your iPhone. You don’t need to have more than one. After all, most mail apps let you log in to multiple accounts at once.
The problem is that all mail apps need to fetch your mail every now and then. All of these apps do this in the background, so you can get updates as soon as they happen. While this is helpful, it might drain your battery life if you aren’t careful, especially if you have more than one app fetching your mail at the same time.
The good news is that if you don’t like it, you can delete Apple’s Mail app without any difficulty.
You Should Also Delete Extra Maps Apps
Just like the Mail app, Apple also offers its very own Maps app to help you check for directions, avoid traffic, and find cool places near you.
With that said, that’s not the only maps app on the App Store. From Google Maps to Waze, there are countless apps you can use instead. If you’re using a different maps app, be sure to delete the ones you don’t use.
Many mapping apps do work in the background to get your location in real time. If you combine that with the use of your GPS, it means your iPhone is probably losing more battery than it should. If you do want to keep an alternative maps app around, be sure to disable features like Background Refresh and set Location Services to “While Using the App” to keep it from consuming when you’re not using it.
Since having two maps apps is usually unnecessary, be sure to delete the one that you aren’t actively using. If you really don’t use maps at all, you can get rid of all the mapping apps you have installed.
Apple Stocks Isn’t the App You Should Be using
Most of us average folks don’t worry too much about the stock market. Sure, it’s great to see if your investments are actually growing or if inflation is going to beat your return this year.
But for the most part, we don’t spend all day looking at the stock market. And even if you are, chances are you’re probably using another app like Robinhood to check your trades.
Because of this, Apple Stocks is pretty much useless on your iPhone. Not only that but since this app uses your iPhone’s Background App Refresh automatically, it is constantly getting updated in the background, draining your iPhone’s battery faster than it should.
Unless you actually love checking your watchlist or your investments with Apple Stocks, we recommend you get rid of it ASAP.
Delete Google Photos If You Aren’t Using It
If you’re someone who has a Windows computer or an Android phone, using Google Photos might be necessary.
On the other hand, if you’re a hardcore iPhone user, then chances are you’re using iCloud instead of Google Photos to store your pictures.
Whether you used to use Google Photos or just tried it out when it offered free cloud storage, Google Photos is pretty much useless for you if you’re paying for iCloud storage.
Not only that, but the app constantly checks your pictures so it can upload them to the cloud. While this might sound useful, it’s constantly consuming your battery without you even knowing about it.
Granted, Google Photos isn’t completely unnecessary, but if you’re not a fan of Google, it might be best to get rid of this app.
Location-Based Games Kill Your Battery Life
Remember when everyone was playing Pokemon Go back in the day? Sure, it was amazing to go out, catch your favorite Pokemon, and get together with friends to play outside.
Unfortunately, most of us don’t do that anymore. That’s not to say Pokemon Go isn’t extremely popular still, but if you aren’t actively playing it, you’re keeping a useless app that’s probably consuming a lot of your battery life.
This might seem like we’re taking a jab at Pokemon Go, but this goes for all those location-based games we all used to play before. Pokemon Go is just one of the biggest examples out there.
As you can probably guess, having a game that’s running in the background and constantly checking your real-time location consumes a lot of power out of your iPhone — not to mention it might be creepy to share your location.
As with other apps, you can help reduce this power consumption by tweaking Location Settings and Background Refresh, but it’s probably not worth the hassle; unless you really love Pokemon Go — or any other location-based game— it’s much easier to just delete it.
Bonus: Get Rid of Any App You Don’t Use Anymore
Generally speaking, you’d want to delete any app or game you don’t use anymore. While this doesn’t apply to every app, having unnecessary apps on your iPhone increases the chances that at least some of them may be running in the background or using other power-hungry features that will hurt your battery life — and they’re using up your storage either way.
To quickly find all the installed apps on your iPhone, you can go to your App Library by swiping all the way to the right from your Home Screen. Open the folders and check which apps and games you don’t use anymore.
Additionally, you can go to your iPhone Settings app and go to Screen Time. Then tap on See All App & Website Activity to check which apps you have used the least during the last few weeks. This will help you determine which apps are actually unnecessary for you.
Make Your iPhone’s Battery Last Longer
You could have Apple’s best iPhone, but what good would that do if you can’t use it because of low battery?
There are many ways to increase the battery life of your iPhone, but you can get started by deleting all the unnecessary apps on your iPhone.
Most apps make use of your iPhone’s Background App Refresh and even your location, which can drain your battery much more quickly. Be sure to get rid of any apps that you don’t use, especially those that you know are more demanding on your iPhone.
