These simple little-known tricks will extend your Apple Watch’s battery life immediately
The worst part of any smart watch is having to charge it every day, but these Apple Watch tricks can help extend the battery life and let you use it for longer.
Unfortunately, the Apple Watch is no exception to this conundrum, and regardless of the model you're going to have to suffer the same single day battery life that requires a daily charge either while you sleep or while the sun's still out.
This can lead to sacrifices somewhere, as you either charge it during the day and miss out on health tracking and even features that help you find lost luggage, or you forgo at night and potentially miss that you might have a sleep condition that's notoriously tough to diagnose.
Thankfully there are a few simple tricks that you can do immediately to help improve your Apple device's battery life, as laid out by Gear Patrol, letting you have more freedom and keep it on your wrist for longer.
Disable Always On Display
One of the easiest things you can do right now is to turn off your Always On Display.
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This setting, when turned on, lets you check the time or any notifications without having to raise your wrist or manually wake up your watch.
While it is definitely handy to have on for ease of use, it does drain the battery as the name suggests - it's 'always on' after all.
To deactivate this setting, just head to the Settings menu, jump into the Display and Brightness section, and scroll down until you reach 'Always On'.
Stop Siri from listening in
Another useful thing that you can do for both your battery life and cybersecurity is to prevent Siri from always listening.
This won't make a huge difference to how long you're able to wear your watch, but every little bit helps along the way.
Much like the Always On Display, this stops your watch from needing to be 'active' all the time, saving it crucial power which it can then use to extend its life.
It also means that your watch isn't listening in to every word you say, which is definitely an important factor to some out there who want to stay as off-the-grid as they can.
Turning Siri off is as simple as heading into the Settings, scrolling down to the 'Siri' section, and then selecting 'Off' in the 'Listen For' area.
Turn off notifications from unwanted apps
Deactivating notifications for non-essential apps can also go a long way when it comes to your Apple Watch's battery life.
Every time you get a new notification your watch has to 'wake up' in a sense, expending power to deliver it to you.
Therefore, having fewer notifications pushed through will save precious battery juice, which can then be used to keep it alive for longer.
Of course, this only really makes a difference if you're getting lots of notifications in the first place - so it might not be one to consider for everyone.
If you do, however, get bombarded with push notifications though, make sure to head to the 'Apple Watch' app on your iPhone, navigate to the 'Notifications' section, and then de-select the apps that you no longer want to hear from.
Turn on Low Power mode
Last but certainly not least is Low Power mode, which is designed to save battery life by disabling a number of features.
You'll likely be familiar with a similar feature on your iPhone, but this version is specifically designed to help your Apple Watch last for longer.
Enabling the feature reportedly extends the typical 18-hour battery life all the way up to 36 hours, doubling your use time which can now likely stretch to two days.
It does, as mentioned, disable a number of key features however, which include:
- Always On Display
- Certain Wi-Fi and Cellular connections
- Background sensor readings (heart rate, measurements, etc.)
- Heart rate notifications
- Workout reminders
You can still use your watch as normal outside of these functions though, so if you don't find yourself handicapped while it's on then you've effectively doubled your battery life.
To enable Low Power mode, simply open up the 'Control Center' by pressing the side button, select the battery percentage button, then select turn on the 'Lower Power Mode' option.