Are We Going To Have To Go Back To Android?

[ITGeek]

After waiting and waiting for Apple to Get It Right, I we finally upgraded our two iPads and iPhone 6S' to iOS 11.3. All was well. Since Apple screwed the pooch for every 11.x up until then, and finally got it right, I stupidly assumed they wouldn't screw it up again on 11.4. So when it appeared we just went ahead and updated.

Big mistake

Both my wife's and my iPhone 6S' now go through battery like there's no tomorrow, now more than a week after the updates. Strangely: Mine was fine until about three days ago--then it started doing the same as hers.

E.g.: Her phone (battery health 98%), after being off the charger only four hours and being used only to make a couple very short calls (1st did not answer) was down to 23%. My phone, battery health 87%, is down to 91% after having been off the charger for only 50 minutes, with only 6 minutes of usage.

This is not acceptable.

If Apple does not address this soon I guess I'll have to assume they no longer know how to push a reliable mobile OS out the door and reluctantly, very reluctantly (you have no idea), return to Android I guarantee you: If we do that we will never again come back to Apple. (This is one of those times I can confidently say "never.")

And, yes, before you even ask: Already half-lobotomized both phones by disabling a bunch of stuff. Besides: This never used to happen.

 

[carolineM]

Don’t you mean your phone’s battery Health is down to 19%?
Maybe you both need new batteries. As you will have probably heard, Apple is replacing 6S batteries for £29.

 

[ITGeek]

Don’t you mean your phone’s battery Health is down to 19%?

No, I mean precisely what I wrote: Her phone's battery health is 98% and mine is 87%. Furthermore: Neither phone exhibited this kind of battery drain prior to iOS 11.4.

Maybe you both need new batteries. As you will have probably heard, Apple is replacing 6S batteries for £29.

I planned to take advantage of that before, just before, the year was out, anyway. But, again: Her phone: 98% battery health. My phone: 87% battery health. And neither phone exhibited this kind of behaviour before iOS 11.4.

(It's $29 here in the U.S., I believe?)

My phone's charge is down to 68%. Usage: 13 min, Standby: 2 hr, 19 min. That's ridiculous.

 

[carolineM]

Actually you did say your phone was down to 91%.

 

[ITGeek]

Actually you did say your phone was down to 91%.

Yes, I did. Down to 91% of full charge. I don't understand the cause for confusion.

 

[carolineM]

Sorry, didn’t see the comma!

 

[ITGeek]

Sorry, didn’t see the comma!

Two of 'em, actually, to set "battery health 87%" apart from % of charge remaining No worries.

Holy smokes! Standby: 3 hr, 50 min. Usage: 17 min. Charge remaining: 44%

 

[carolineM]

I must put my reading glasses on!

 

[NCzerniak83]

Are you sure your settings aren’t draining your battery? Are you constantly running things like Bleuetooth, WiFi (when driving, etc), cellular data when already connected to WiFi, leaving 20+ apps running in the background?

Almost every time I hear someone complain about battery drain, it’s because of how they’re using their phone. Another major mistake people make is how they charge their phones. Do NOT use cheap third-party chargers or cords. This will dramatically eat away at your battery. Also, don’t ever leave it plugged in all night. In other words, unplug it as soon as it hits 100%. Keeping it plugged in while already charged keeps the lithium ion in a high-tension state and also eats away at your battery (both short term and long term life span). Also, like I said, go through every setting and make sure you aren’t needlessly wasting battery on things like location services when you don’t need them, Bluetooth, 3D Touch, accessibility, blah blah blah. I’ve never had a battery drain problem with my iPhone, so could be any number of things I just mentioned.

 

[zstairlessone]

What apps are showing in your list?

Tap one and it will indicate time used as well as percentage. What are the offending apps?

 

[bear7962]

every time I do an update I have to check my settings as I find things toggled on that I had off before the update. Bluetooth is one, it’s a battery drainer for me so I keep it off. Also, they changed the way the toggle works in the Control Center, if you turn something off in the Control Center, it turns back on the next day. To turn something totally, you have to go into Settings.
And if you are planning on replacing the battery under the $29 program, don’t wait until the end of the year. They have to order the battery to be made and it can take 3 to 5 weeks. Come Fall, you will have the new iPhone crowd to deal with through the end of the year.

 

[Junior]

Too many variables to diagnose your specific problem.

 

[ITGeek]

Are you sure your settings aren’t draining your battery? Are you constantly running things like Bleuetooth, WiFi (when driving, etc), cellular data when already connected to WiFi, leaving 20+ apps running in the background?

We're using the phones the way we've always used them.

In my case: I leave BT, WiFi, cellular data, etc. enabled all the time. (Unless I have a particular reason to shut them off.) If I have to babysit a device then it's the wrong device for me.

Almost every time I hear someone complain about battery drain, it’s because of how they’re using their phone.

Like I said: No change in usage pattern. Just the iOS update.

Another major mistake people make is how they charge their phones. Do NOT use cheap third-party chargers or cords. This will dramatically eat away at your battery.

I don't ever use cheap anything. We have third-party charging cords for in the car, but, in the house they're all stock Apple cables that came with the devices.

Also, don’t ever leave it plugged in all night. In other words, unplug it as soon as it hits 100%. Keeping it plugged in while already charged keeps the lithium ion in a high-tension state and also eats away at your battery (both short term and long term life span).

That's entirely incorrect for modern mobile devices. That has not been true for years.

Also, like I said, go through every setting and make sure you aren’t needlessly wasting battery on ...

Addressed above.

What apps are showing in your list?

Thanks for the feedback and follow-ups, all.

Tap one and it will indicate time used as well as percentage. What are the offending apps?

It varies and makes no sense. "Photos?" Not likely.

every time I do an update I have to check my settings as I find things toggled on that I had off before the update.

I have not noticed this problem, but I keep they stuff my phone uses frequently on all the time, anyway, so I suppose I wouldn't.

And if you are planning on replacing the battery under the $29 program, don’t wait until the end of the year. They have to order the battery to be made and it can take 3 to 5 weeks. Come Fall, you will have the new iPhone crowd to deal with through the end of the year.

So not later than about October, early November, I guess. Thanks for the heads up.

Too many variables to diagnose your specific problem.

Yes. Wasn't looking for a diagnosis, per se. Was mainly looking to see if we were alone, in having this problem, and bitching

Anyway, the symptoms looked familiar, to me, after a few cycles. So I took a guess and let it run all the way down to retrain it on its capacity. When I saw it fairly rapidly plunge to under 10%, begin to slow, then hang on at 1% forever I was pretty sure I was right. Charged it up from dead yesterday morning and here we are: Usage: 1 hr, 34 min. Standby: 21 hrs, 30 min. 71% charge remaining.

This is typical for my phone. We'll see if my wife's phone reacts similarly to being retrained. (When we went to bed, last night, it'd been hanging on at around 3% forever.)

 

[bear7962]

Update of iPhone require the device to repopulate which can take a day or two and do drain the battery. Also, turn the iPhone off for a few minutes. It does help.

 

[Old Goat Ninja]

Mine drained extremely fast when I first went to iOS 11. After a week or so, it sorted itself out.