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Do you know how much time you spend on your phone each day? How about each week? Do you know which apps you’re using the most? Do you know which apps are using most of your battery power?
You may not know exactly how much time you spend, and you might be able to guess the apps you use the most. You may also wonder which apps are battery hogs.
The good news is that your phone can tell you this information, if you know how to check.
You can see:
- which apps are using most of your battery power and
- how much time you’ve spent on each app.
Discovering this information is different for iPhone/iPad vs. Android devices. Learn how to find out this important information for your devices.
How to See Which Apps Are Using the Most Battery Power
Settings can show you which apps are using the most battery power. It’s important to check this statistic every so often to make sure that a rogue app isn’t using more battery than it should.
Check Which iPhone/iPad Apps Are Using the Most Battery Power
To check which apps are using the most battery, go to:
Settings => Battery
Wait a moment and the phone will show you which apps have been using the most battery power in the Last 24 Hours. Tap the button at the top of the list to switch to the Last 7 Days.
You’ll see a list of apps and the percentage of battery each app has used. You can also see whether the app has used battery power for background activity.
How to Turn Off Background Activity in Apps for iPhone and iPad
If the app is using battery for background activity, that means the app is using battery life even when the app is closed. The app may be active and using battery in order to download information to your phone or to track your location.
You may want the app to continue to work in the background, even when the app isn’t open. This comes in handy for music, podcast and audiobook apps.
Or you may not want apps running in the background. You can turn off this setting to save on battery life.
To turn off background activity, go back into Settings and scroll down to the app. Tap on the app and turn off Background App Refresh.
[note] You can also turn off Location services by choosing Never or While Using the App. If you don’t see “While Using the App” as an option, be sure to update your iPhone or iPad to iOS 11 and update the app in the App Store.
See, How to Know Which Apps Are Tracking Your Location.
[/note]
How to See How Much Battery Your Android Apps Are Using
For Android phones, go to:
- Settings => Battery or
- Settings => Device => Battery or
- Settings => Power => Battery Use.
Scroll down to see how much battery power each app has used.
How to See Which Apps Are Taking Up Most of Your Time
You can check out which apps you spend the most time on. These apps may be different from, or the same as, the apps which use the most battery power.
iPhone/iPad
To see which apps you spend the most time on, and how much time you spend on each, go to: Settings => Battery.
Wait a moment, then you’ll see the list of which apps have been using the most battery power. At the top of the list, to the right of Last 7 Days, you’ll see a clock. Tap the clock to see how much time you’ve spent using each app.
Settings will show you how many hours and minutes you’ve used each app. You can see the time you’ve spent with the app on your screen and how much time the app has spent running in the background.
This information is available to show you the time you’ve spent for both the Last 24 Hours and the Last 7 Days.
Android
The information about how much time you’re spending on apps isn’t available in Settings on Android, but you can download the free App Usage app from Google Play that can show you this information.
The app gives you:
- app usage history: see how much time you spend on each app
- phone history: see how many times you checked the phone
- activity history: see how much time you have apps open
- over-use reminder: get reminders when you are on the phone or apps for a long time
- most used apps: see most used apps on widgets or a notification
- track all app installs: keep track of all installs and uninstalled apps
- app install reminder: get notified when apps are installed and a summary of daily installed apps
- manage apps: single tap to uninstall apps, sort apps by various options
After you download the app, you’ll need to give it access to your app usage data to work.
The developer’s Privacy statement in Google Play says: “Your privacy is very important to us, we understand this problem and won’t collect/sell your usage data.”
Other similar free apps available in Google Play are:
Your Thoughts
Have you checked to see which apps are using up most of your battery and time? Were you surprised by what you saw? Are you brave enough to share which apps are taking up most of your time?
Share your thoughts, and your app usage information, in the Comments section below!
*Image of iPhone (edited) courtesy of JESHOOTS via Pixabay and Creative Commons
Hi
Thanks for sharing the information about how we can save the battery life of mobile phones
Hi Melbin, You’re right, preserving our battery life is very important. We can see which apps are using the most battery life. If those apps are different from the apps we are using the most, then we can identify battery hogs. We can stop them from running in the background or delete them from our phones if we don’t need them.
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for sharing the information about how we can save the battery life of mobile phones, these apps really consume your smartphone battery and drain it quickly.
regards
Hi Isabella, I’m so glad you found this article to be helpful.
I just heard from a Wonder of Tech reader who was having battery problems with her iPhone and couldn’t figure out why. I suggested that she check out this article and she discovered that one of her apps that she wasn’t even using was draining her battery. She deleted the app from her phone and now isn’t having battery issues any more.