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Q. The battery on my phone used to be great, I would always have about 40% battery life left at the end of the day.
But suddenly I can’t make it through a day without charging my phone. A friend told me that an app might be to blame, but I haven’t added any apps to my phone lately. I haven’t changed any settings either though, so maybe my friend is right.
Is there a way to tell which apps are draining my battery?
A. Your friend is right, apps may be draining your phone’s battery. Even if you haven’t added any new apps to your phone, an update to an app may mean that the app uses more battery now.
Apps can drain your battery by finding your location, updating in the background, and by operating inefficiently.
Checking your apps to see how much battery they’ve been using is a smart idea, especially if you’ve noticed that your phone’s battery is suddenly draining rapidly. An update can certainly turn an app into a battery hog.
[tip] When you check your apps to see which ones are using the most battery, consider which apps you use most. For example, if you spend a lot of time watching YouTube videos, don’t be surprised if YouTube is using a lot of battery power.
If an app you do not use much is draining your battery, you may want to delete that app from your phone.[/tip]
How to Check Which Apps Are Draining Your Battery
— iPhone and iPad
On your iPhone or iPad, open the Settings app, then go to Battery.
Wait a few seconds, then you will see the percentage of battery each app has used lately. At the top of the list of apps you have a choice to view battery usage of the past 24 hours or 7 days.
You can also see whether an app has been using battery power to update in the background.
Tap on the clock icon next to the choices of Last 24 hours/7 Days to see how much time the app has been open on your screen and how much time it has spent working in the background.
Don’t miss => Background App Refresh – Make the Best Use of Your Apps to find out how to manage background activity for your apps.
— Android
Android phones can show you which apps have used the most battery recently.
[note] Note that different versions of the Android operating system may have different settings. [/note]
Open the Settings app. Tap Battery.
(In older versions of Android go to Settings => Device => Battery, or Settings => Power => Battery Use.)
You will see information about recent battery usage.
Scroll down to see which phone functions are using up your battery life, including a list of apps. Each app has a percentage to show you how much battery it has used lately.
You may see an app that has used a lot of battery power, even though you haven’t used the app much lately. You can force stop that app to prevent it from using more battery.
To force stop the app, tap in it in the list. You’ll be taken to a screen where you will see a button you can tap to force stop the app. You can also report the app to Google.
Below the buttons is a list of more information about how much power and data was by the app.
=> Also see, CBS News, These apps use the most data and drain battery life
Your Thoughts
Have you ever wondered which apps are using most of your phone’s battery life? Have you ever discovered an app that used too much battery? Which apps are your biggest battery hogs?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
* Phone Battery image (edited) courtesy of Martin Abegglen via Flickr and Creative Commons
Thank you! Have always wondered how to figure out which apps were draining the battery.
Hi Penny, You’re very welcome. I appreciate the question from The Wonder of Tech reader. Readers’s questions are always the best article topics.
Thanks for taking the the time to share your thoughts.
Hmm, now I know who’s draining my kids’ android tablet battery. Checking my kids tablet now and see if I can forcibly stop it.
Thanks for the tips Carolyn.
Nhick
Hi Nhick, I’m glad you’re checking your children’s tablets to help their batteries last longer. I hope that helps!
Hello Carolyn,
I guess whatsapp and dropbox is draining lot of battery in my mobile and I guess I always had to stop them in task manager.
Thanks for tips
Hi Mark, That’s great you checked to see which apps are draining your battery. I hope your battery lasts much longer now!
Very well written post. It’s amazing what comes up, apps that you don’t even use pulling battery life, getting rid of them will hopefully make some difference in the overall batery life of your device. Cheers!
– Dean
Hi Dean, Thank you. Yes, you’re right, apps can really drain your battery, even when you don’t actively use them. If you monitor the battery use of your apps you may be able to extend the battery life of your phone.