The Apple Watch Battery Drainer
If you find that your Apple Watch is struggling to make it through a single day without hitting the red battery warning, the culprit is rarely the screen; it is usually “Background App Refresh.” This feature allows the applications installed on your watch (like weather apps, news tickers, or third-party fitness trackers) to silently wake up in the background, connect to the internet, and download fresh data even when you aren’t looking at them. This ensures that when you do open the app, the information is instantly up-to-date. However, having dozens of apps constantly pinging the internet from your wrist is a massive drain on the tiny battery. If you prioritize battery life over instant load times, you should disable this feature.
How to Turn Off Background App Refresh
You can manage this setting directly from the watch, but it is much easier to do it via the companion app on your phone.
- Open the Watch app on your paired iPhone.
- Ensure you are on the My Watch tab at the bottom left of the screen.
- Scroll down and tap on General.
- Tap on Background App Refresh.
- At the very top of the screen, you will see a master toggle switch.
- Tap the switch to turn Background App Refresh completely Off.
A More Balanced Approach
Turning the master switch off completely maximizes battery life, but it means apps like Maps or Weather will take three or four seconds to fetch data when you open them. If you prefer a balanced approach, leave the master switch ON, but scroll down the page. You will see a list of every single app installed on your watch with individual toggles. Turn the toggles OFF for all the useless apps, but leave them ON for the one or two critical tools you need to function instantly, providing you with excellent battery life without sacrificing utility.