The Silent Battery Drain
By default, iOS allows applications to constantly run in the background. Features like “Background App Refresh” allow your social media apps, news readers, and email clients to silently wake up, connect to the internet, and download new data even when your phone is locked and sitting in your pocket. While this ensures your feed is instantly updated the moment you open the app, it is a massive, constant drain on both your cellular data plan and your physical battery. If you are struggling to make your iPhone battery last until the end of the day, you must completely terminate the background downloading engine.
How to Turn Off Background App Refresh Globally
You can permanently sever all background internet connections via the General settings.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap on General.
- Tap on Background App Refresh.
- At the very top of the screen, tap the master Background App Refresh button.
- Change the selection from “Wi-Fi & Cellular Data” to Off.
On-Demand Data
The change is instantaneous. The iPhone will completely shut down the background scheduling daemon. Your installed applications will no longer be allowed to wake up and download data while your phone is locked. To conserve maximum battery power, data will now strictly load “on demand.” This means your news feed or social media timeline will only consume internet bandwidth at the exact moment you physically open the application and stare at the screen.