15 Ways to Make Your Apple Watch Battery Last Longer

First, Understand Your Apple Watch's Battery Capacity

Just like any other device with a rechargeable battery, your Apple Watch's battery capacity will decrease over time. Of course, the better you take care of it, the longer it will last. But eventually, your Apple Watch's battery won't last as long as it used to.

Here's how to check your Apple Watch's current battery capacity:

1. Press the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch.
2. Go to Settings.
3. Scroll down and tap on Battery.
4. Scroll down again and select Battery Health.
5. Scroll down one last time, and under Maximum Capacity, you'll see the real capacity of your Apple Watch.

This means how much charge your Apple Watch can handle. The lower the capacity, the less charge it'll hold. Generally speaking, anything above 80% is okay, but if your percentage is low, you might want to consider upgrading to a newer Apple Watch — or at least getting the battery replaced at an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider.

Keep Your Apple Watch Up to Date

Software updates are important for several reasons. Not only can they fix possible performance issues, but they can even go as far as patching security risks you didn't even know you had.

And, of course, software updates can also potentially help your Apple Watch's battery life. If there was a bug that would consume the battery life faster, you need to update your Watch so you don't face these issues. 

Here's how to update your Apple Watch from your iPhone:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Tap on General.
3. Select Software Update.
4. If there's an update available, tap on Download and Install.

You can also update your watch by pressing the Digital Crown, going to Settings > General > Software Update, and installing the latest version available. 

Lower Your Display Brightness

The display is one of the biggest reasons why you may be losing battery life. The bigger the display and the more often it's on, the more energy it consumes. Moreover, if your display is too bright, your Apple Watch will lose battery more quickly.

Here's how to reduce the brightness on your Apple Watch:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Tap on Display & Brightness.
3. Drag the slider under Brightness down.

On your Apple Watch, you can also directly adjust the brightness by going to Settings > Display & Brightness and adjusting the brightness however you want.

Change Your Watch Face

Your Apple Watch offers dozens of different watch faces, most of which you can customize however you want. However, if you're using one of the brighter and more demanding watch faces, it's possible that you're consuming more power than you need to.

Instead of using a bright, colorful watch face, you can try using a darker, more minimal one to try to reduce battery consumption.

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Tap on the Face Gallery tab at the bottom of the screen.
3. Select a darker display from all the options available.
4. Customize it however you want, and when you're done, tap on Add to change your watch face.

Disable Always On Display

If you have an Apple Watch Series 5 or newer — except for the Apple Watch SE — you're probably rocking the Always On display, so it feels like you have an actual watch on your wrist.

This is a great feature, and it's actually not that demanding since the display stays dim and only updates once per second; however, it still takes some power, which can be a bit draining on an older Apple Watch where it helps to conserve as much power as you can.

Here's how to get rid of the Always On display:

1. Open the Watch app.
2. Go to Display & Brightness.
3. Tap on Always On.
4. Disable Always On.

You can also do it on your Apple Watch by going to Settings > Display & Brightness > Always On and disabling this feature.

Manage Background App Refresh

With Background App Refresh on, apps can keep working on the background so they can provide the most up-to-date information to you as soon as you need it.

While this sounds great, it can also consume a lot of power, shortening the battery life of your Apple Watch. How much impact this has depends on which apps are running in the background, but you can disable Background App Refresh entirely or just disable it for the apps you know you don't really need. 

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Go to General.
3. Tap on Background App Refresh.
4. Disable Background App Refresh or disable the apps that are using it.

If you want to do this on your Apple Watch, go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh.

Use Focus to Avoid Notifications

Getting notifications constantly is a pretty common way of draining your battery. After all, having your Apple Watch vibrating, making sounds, and lightning up all consume power.

You can either disable notifications for certain apps or start using Focus mode so your watch isn't constantly vibrating. 

To use a Focus mode, all you need to do is press the Side button on your Apple Watch and tap the Focus button (it's the one with the icon of a moon). Then, choose the Focus mode you want to use and tap on On.

Keep in mind that turning on Focus mode on your Apple Watch will also enable it on your iPhone and other Apple devices that share the same Apple ID.

Manage Your Watch's Notifications

If you don't want to have to use a Focus mode constantly, you're better off managing your notifications manually. You can disable the notifications for any app that's installed on your watch with just a few taps.

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Go to Notifications.
3. Scroll down and select the app you want to change.
4. Depending on the app, you'll need to select Notifications Off directly or select Custom and then select Notifications Off.

You can also do this directly from a notification that appears on your Apple Watch, which is a great way of dealing with it right in the moment. Swipe right to left on the notification on your watch, tap the three-dot menu, and choose Turn off.

Reduce Your Apple Watch's Wake Duration

With the right Wake Duration, your Apple Watch will stay on for a few moments, so you can go back to using it without having to wake it up again.

However, if you have a long Wake Duration, you'll be wasting battery life for no reason. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to adjust the time with a few taps.

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Go to Display & Brightness.
3. Tap on Wake Duration.
4. Select Wake for 15 Seconds.

Unfortunately, there are only a couple of options available, but it's still better to keep it to a minimum. 

And, just like other features, you can adjust the time on your Apple Watch, too. All you need to do is go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Wake Duration.

Reduce Motion Effects

Like most Apple devices, your Apple Watch has built-in effects to make all animations look smooth and satisfying. 

With that said, if you're trying to make your battery last as long as possible, you might want to reduce these motion effects. Here's how:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Scroll down and tap on Accessibility.
3. Select Reduce Motion.
4. Toggle Reduce Motion on.

To reduce motion on your Apple Watch directly, go to Settings > Accessibility > Reduce Motion.

Delete Apps You Don't Need

By default, your Apple Watch should automatically install all the apps that are on your iPhone (that have an Apple Watch app available). 

While it's a handy feature, you're probably not using all your iPhone apps on your Watch. Not only that but Apple Watch apps won't automatically disappear from your Watch even if you delete them from your iPhone. 

This takes up space, and if the app is constantly running in the background, it will also consume battery life.

To manage your apps, do the following:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Scroll down and select the app you want to delete. 
3. Tap on Delete app on Apple Watch.
4. Tap Delete.

To delete apps directly from your Apple Watch, you'll need to press the Digital Crown and then long-press your Home Screen until the apps start to jiggle. Then, tap any app that has an "x" on it and select Delete App.

Stop Listening for "Hey Siri"

"Hey Siri" (or just "Siri" if you have watchOS 10) is the perfect way to call for Apple's virtual assistant. 

With that said, having Siri constantly waiting for you to call for it is probably consuming some battery life. If you don't want that, you can disable Hey Siri like this:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Go to Siri.
3. Disable Listen for "Siri" or "Hey Siri."

Likewise, you can disable Siri from your Watch by going to Settings > Siri > Listen for.

Disable Heart Rate and Blood Oxygen Tracking

One of the biggest reasons to have an iPhone is how easily you can keep track of your heart rate during the day. 

However, on older Apple Watches, this feature — along with Blood Oxygen Tracking — can take a toll on your battery life. If you need your Apple Watch's battery to last longer, you might want to disable these features, even temporarily.

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Go to Privacy.
3. Diable Heart Rate and Blood Oxygen Measurements.

You can also disable any other feature that's available. When you need them again, you can repeat the same steps and enable them.

Stop Using "Wake on Wrist Raise"

By default, your Apple Watch will automatically "wake" when you raise your wrist. This makes it easier to check the information you need, like the time or notifications. 

With that said, if you're constantly moving your arm, your Apple Watch will wake up accidentally and waste some power. It's best to tap your Watch's screen when you actually need to use it.

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Tap on Display & Brightness.
3. Disable Wake on Wrist Raise.

And that's it. If you prefer using your Apple Watch, press the Digital Crown, go to Settings > Display & Brightness, and disable this feature. You can also use Theatre Mode if you only want to disable this temporarily.

Turn On Low Power Mode

When all else fails and you need some extra juice for the rest of the day, you can use Apple's new Low Power Mode. 

This powerful feature will disable all the most power-hungry Apple Watch features at once, including the Always On display, watchOS 10's new Time in Daylight feature, background heart rate and blood oxygen measurements, and workout reminders.

To turn on this feature, you need to press the Side button on your Apple Watch (or swipe up from the bottom on watchOS 9 or older) and tap the battery percentage icon. Then tap on Low Power Mode and scroll all the way to the bottom. Finally, select Turn On.

Make Every Second Count

As you can see, making your Apple Watch last as long as possible during the day isn't that hard. All you need to do is know which features you have to change in order to preserve some power.

You can use a couple of these tips or use all of them to make your Apple Watch last as long as possible.