How To Save Battery On Apple Watch, Top Tips (With Photos)

The Apple Watch is one of the most impressive and popular devices today. However, compared to other smartwatches, the Apple Watch falls short in its battery life.

With all the new upgrades Apple has rolled out, the most popular smartwatch has mostly stayed the same in terms of hardware since it came out in 2015. All things considered, it is no surprise that Apple devices struggle with their battery life.

Although the battery life isn’t the best, it’s certainly not that bad. There are also a few ways to extend the battery life to give you a better experience and more usage time. This guide discusses some of the very best ways to save battery life on your Apple Watch.

Tips to Save Battery on Apple Watch

According to Apple, the Apple Watch‘s battery life goal is 18 hours after an overnight charge when you consider using apps, looking at the time, getting notifications, and completing a 60-minute workout. Also, note that everyone will use Apple Watch differently.

While 18 hours might seem like a lot, we realize that for a device as functional as this, many users sometimes have to charge their devices during the day with heavy usage.

If your watch requires charging during the day, this article is definitely for you. Following these tips will get you more use out of a one-time charge. Keep reading to find out how to save battery life on your watch.

Turn on Low Power Mode

Low Power Mode is a simple way to save battery life on your Apple Watch. It works similarly to the feature on your iPhone and helps when you are on a long trip or do not have your charger with you for the night.

Apple introduced this feature with WatchOS 9.

To turn it on, slide up to open the Control Center, press the Battery % button, and turn on Low Power Mode. You can also find it by going to Settings and then Battery.

The Low Power Mode saves battery life on your Apple Watch by turning off the Always On display. It also limits cellular and Wi-Fi connections and turns off background sensor readings like heart rate measurements and notifications for high and low heart rates, irregular rhythm, and measurements of blood oxygen.

This is helpful because even when unlinked from your iPhone, the Apple Watch will try to get alerts from it about one time every hour. 

It’s also important to note that the Low Power Mode automatically turns off when the Apple Watch’s battery is 80% charged.

Turn off Wake on Wrist Raise 

The Apple Watch’s “Wake on Wrist Raise” feature senses hand movements and turns on the display every time you raise your hand. This allows you to check the time without pressing any buttons by simply raising your wrist.

However, every time your screen comes on, the battery is in use. You do not want the display to come on every time you move your hand, even if it is just to get a cup of coffee, adjust your glasses, or during a workout. So, you should turn off Wake on the Wrist Raise.

If you don’t want to turn off the Wake on Wrist Raise feature completely, you can limit the time the screen stays awake. Ten seconds is enough time to check the time or spot any notifications.

Turn off Always On Display

The Apple Watch Series 5 and 6 have an “Always On” display option that allows you to use your smart watch like a traditional watch by keeping your watch’s face on and having the clock on display. It also helps you monitor your alerts and exercise progress without raising to wake or pushing buttons. 

Additionally, Apple took it a step further by making the screen 2.5 times brighter on the Series 6, enabling you to see better in sunlight. However, this leads to more battery use, especially when you activate the Always On display.

Although the display dims when your wrist is down, it’s sometimes not enough to conserve your battery as much as you’d want. So, the best option would be to turn it off completely. 

If, after turning off the feature, your battery drains much faster than it should, there might be a problem with your watch and phone connection.

Follow these steps to fix your iPhone/iPad and Apple Watch connection:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone/iPad.

2. Go to the My Watch page and click the All Watches button in the top left corner of the screen.

3. Click the information button after choosing your Apple Watch from the list of devices.

4. Choose the menu item that says “Unpair Apple Watch.”

5. Finally, pair your iPhone/iPad and Watch again.

Minimize Health Monitoring

When the Apple Watch is set to exercise mode, it constantly checks your heart rate instead of just once every few minutes. This is one feature that significantly uses more battery power than normal mode.

Typically, the “End Workout Reminder” is an automatic reminder that notifies you to end a workout if it looks like you’ve finished up. But if your watch does not notice that you are done working out at the end of a workout plan, it may keep working at a higher power level, running down your battery.

Hence, it is a good idea to make it a habit not to rely on the End Workout Reminder, but to end your exercises when you’re done.

To do this, swipe on the right side of the workout screen, then tap the End button.

Reduce Notification Alerts 

When your iPhone is locked, your Apple Watch will display any alerts sent to it from your phone. So, the number of times your watch buzzes is directly related to how much battery this feature consumes.

Indeed, some notifications are essential, but others are not, and the importance of each one varies for different people. To conserve your battery, consider turning off less relevant notification alerts. 

To do this, start the Watch app on your iPhone. On the My Watch tab, click the Notifications button. You will first see a list of all the iPhone and Apple Watch apps, starting with the watch’s apps.

You can turn off notifications for each one individually by selecting them and tapping the button.

Use Simple Apple Watch Faces

The Apple Watch has several impressive face options. However, many interesting and colorful ones, like Time-lapse and Motion, need more power than a simpler face with less detail, like the Numerals Duo option or the X-Large with a gray tint.

Hold down the screen for a while to set any of the faces. Then use the Digital Crown to move to the “New” option. Scroll over the face options to find the Numerals Duo or X-Large options. You can also long press and hold the screen for color options, including gray.

You can change the face of your watch by tapping and holding it on the screen. Afterward, you may either scroll left or right to choose the option you want or hit the plus symbol (+) to add a new option.

To get rid of a face you aren’t using, swipe up and tap “Remove Watch Face.”

Use a Dark Watch Face and Reduce Brightness

Your Apple Watch has an OLED screen, which uses self-emitting technology. This means every pixel is responsible for producing its light.

An OLED, displaying black, turns off the individual pixels and reduces power consumption. However, one showing white and solid colors uses more pixels and more power.

Do some tests to see how much this changes things, and then tell us what you found. If you have a Series 5 or later device and use the Always On display, you may see a significant drop in power usage.

Reduce Movements

The WatchOS has many sophisticated graphical effects that make transitions seem as natural as possible. However, these effects require more power from the CPU, which in turn needs more life from the battery.

To save power, you can turn off features like the cool merging motion to the app home screen and the transparency effects when you slide down on the notification panel by going into the Accessibility menu in the Watch app.

Modify the iPhone Mirroring

Your watch can mirror some phone apps like Mail, Messages, and Calendar. This is useful but sometimes unnecessary.

You don’t need the same email notifications on your iPhone and Watch. It drains your battery.

You can save battery on your Apple Watch by going to the “My Watch” section of the watch app and turning off messages and phone alerts. Here, you can choose your mailboxes to send you Watch alerts.

Apple Watches have various cool features, and they all have pros. Nevertheless, not all features are necessary for everyone depending on preferences, especially if you are particular about saving battery life.

It’s important to tailor your watch to suit your needs while optimizing its battery power. This way, you get the best of all the important features and can use your watch for longer without worrying about constant charging.

Lastly, if your watch loses significant battery power after following these simple steps, you might need to look into getting a replacement battery through Apple or an authorized service provider.

For a recap of these tips and more, check out this helpful video:

The image featured at the top of this post is ©charnsitr/Shutterstock.com.