Creating conditions that drain your phone’s battery isn’t always about the big mistakes you make — because the small ones add up, too. When it comes to charging your iPhone, it’s very common to fudge up and make missteps each and every day. Over time, these little errors put a dent in your battery and can cause it to slowly, but surely, show signs of degradation. You’ll know your iPhone’s battery is wearing down and reaching its last days when your phone slows down more often, shuts down unexpectedly, heats up more often, and refuses to hold a charge for very long.
When your battery dies, there’s not much you can do but replace it or swap your phone for a new model. Before you reach those costly options, you can help prolong your battery by avoiding these five everyday mistakes that could be draining your battery life.
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1. Using Your Phone While it Charges
We all do it. We get impatient while our phones are charging and use them to quickly look up something or send a text. Doing this once in a while won’t cause major strain on your battery, but when it becomes a habit, you are contributing heat to your phone’s battery with the usage. Your phone is already heating up with each charging session, so it’s a good idea to not add more heat that can wear your battery down.
2. Using Cheap, Off-Brand Cables
Cheap, off-brand charging cables will save you some money. But you’ll be using them at the expense of your phone’s battery, and that can end up costing you more money when all is said and done. Cheap cables aren’t always designed to suit your iPhone and its model, which means they can deliver a too-fast charge that compromises your battery.
3. Letting Your Phone Battery Dip to 0 Percent
Letting your phone battery routinely drop down to 0 percent puts unnecessary stress on your battery and it can then take longer for your phone to charge back up again. You’ll receive a Low Power message when your battery dips below 20 percent. Take this notice seriously and find a charger — you can also enable Low Power Mode on your phone to conserve battery power until you can get to a charger.
4. Charging Your Phone in Extreme Temperatures
According to Apple, the ideal temperature for charging your iPhone is between 32°F and 95°F (0°C to 35°C). If you charge it when your surrounding are hotter or colder than this, you risk damaging its battery.
5. Leaving Your Phone Plugged Into Its Charger
Newer iPhone models won’t face the same battery degradation as older ones when you leave your phone plugged into its charger for too long, but this practice isn’t ideal. This constant charge can continue to add heat to your phone’s battery, leading to faster degradation over time. It’s always a good time to remove your phone from the charger when it reaches between 30 to 80 percent charged.
