If you are travelling without a charger or find yourself away from home with only 10% battery remaining on your Apple Watch, you do not have to let it die. Apple introduced a dedicated “Low Power Mode” to watchOS 9, which significantly extends your battery life by turning off background features while keeping core functions active.
How to Turn On Low Power Mode
Activating Low Power Mode takes only a few taps from your watch face.
- Swipe up from the bottom of your Apple Watch screen to open the Control Centre (or press the side button once if you are running watchOS 10 or later).
- Tap the Battery Percentage icon.
- Scroll down and toggle the switch next to Low Power Mode.
- A screen will appear explaining what the mode does. Scroll to the bottom and tap Turn On. (You can also tap “Turn On For…” to enable it specifically for 1, 2, or 3 days).
When Low Power Mode is active, you will see a small yellow circle at the top of your watch face.
What Features Are Disabled?
To save battery life, Low Power Mode turns off several power-hungry features:
- Always-On Display: The screen will go completely black when you lower your wrist.
- Background Heart Rate Measurements: Your watch will stop taking periodic heart rate and blood oxygen readings.
- Wi-Fi and Cellular (When iPhone is not nearby): If your phone is not near you, the watch will turn off its own Wi-Fi and cellular connections, meaning you won’t receive calls or notifications until you open an app that requires data.
You can turn Low Power Mode off at any time by repeating the steps above and toggling the switch back to the off position.