1. Letting Your Battery Drain Past 20%
Many people want to use their phones for as long as possible throughout the day, so they wait to charge them until they're nearly at 1% battery life or already dead and unusable. While this might sound logical, constantly letting your phone drain past 20% battery can actually be harmful.
"Draining an iPhone battery all the way to 0% on a regular basis puts excessive stress on the battery," explains Steven Athwal, tech pro and owner of The Big Phone Store. "Lithium-ion batteries generally like shallow cycles better than full drains. Therefore, it is way more beneficial to maintain the charge between 20% and 80% if you want to protect the battery's health in the long run rather than using up every last percent of the battery."
2. Keeping Your Phone Plugged In Overnight
For most iPhone users, part of their bedtime routine is using their phone while they're in bed and then plugging it in before falling asleep, or leaving their phone plugged into their chargers on a nearby surface before drifting off. It's understandable, as most people want to wake up with a fully-charged phone. However, it's considered a battery-damaging common mistake.
"While it's super convenient, keeping your iPhone charged to 100% for long periods isn't the best for its battery health in the long run," explains tech and cybersecurity expert Bob Gourley. "Thankfully, iPhones have a feature called Optimized Battery Charging that helps slow down the charging process. However, leaving it at full charge for hours can still put extra stress on the battery. Over time, this can lead to a quicker decline in battery life."
3. Charging In A Hot Environment
Not many people consider just how much temperature can affect the way your iPhone functions. One of the main things to keep in mind is that heat is one of the worst things for an iPhone. Therefore, trying to charge your phone in a hot environment, like under blankets or in direct sunlight, can easily damage it.
"Heat is the factor that makes an iPhone battery age faster than anything else," adds Athwal. "Charging under a pillow, in direct sunlight, or in thick cases produces heat and, to a greater extent, the battery loses its capacity quickly. You should not allow your phone to get overheated while charging."