If you experience terrible battery drain on your Apple Watch 8, there are some steps you should take before contacting Apple customer service.
The Apple Watch 8 is alongside Apple’s flagship smartphone, the Apple Watch Ultra. It arrived nine months ago with the company’s latest hardware and software. And while it boasts cutting-edge features, it is not immune to problems.
One of the most common Apple Watch 8 problems we hear about is excessive battery drain. This is an issue that affects every version of the Apple Watch, so it’s not surprising to see Apple Watch 8 users struggling with it.
Now note that most of these issues are related to watchOS 9, the operating system that powers the device. However, some users may have faulty hardware.
If you can’t solve your problem using the fixes in our guide, you may want to take your Apple Watch 8 to an Apple Store so they can run tests. Before you decide on that though, you’ll want to try solving the problem on your own.
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In this guide, we’ll outline fixes that have worked for us in the past, and they can help you fix your Apple Watch 8 battery life issues in minutes.
Restart Your Apple Watch 8
Try restarting your Apple Watch 8 before doing anything else. Restarting your watch can have a profound effect on its performance. And best of all, it takes very little time.
Turn your device off, wait a minute or two, and then turn it back on and see if the battery life improves. You may want to give it a day or so to let the device stabilize.
If you’re really in trouble, you can try to force restart your watch. If you don’t know how to do this, please check our walkthrough.
Update Your Watch
Apple will periodically release new software for your Apple Watch 8. Note that the device is currently running watchOS 9, but will migrate to watchOS 10 in the fall.
Apple’s (xx) updates are typically milestone upgrades that include outward features and enhancements, as well as bug fixes and security patches.
watchOS (xxx) upgrades are point updates and usually focus on making improvements (security patches, bug fixes) behind the scenes.
Even if no specific fix is listed in the changelog, both types of watchOS updates have the potential to fix your Apple Watch 8 battery drain issues.
If you’re running older software, try updating your Apple Watch and see if that helps.
Update Your Apps
You’ll also want to make sure your Apple Watch 8 has the latest app updates installed. Developers constantly upgrade their apps and keeping them up to date can help eliminate battery life issues.
To do this, make sure your watch is set to automatically download app updates. Here’s how you can check if this function is turned on on your device:
Also, you may want to close apps you don’t use just to be safe, especially Walkie-Talkie is one of them.
Use Low Power Mode
Apple Watch 8 is equipped with Low Power Mode, which saves battery life by limiting the sensors and Wi-Fi connection on your watch. It’s useful in an emergency, but if your watch’s battery is really struggling, you can leave it on.
You can turn on Low Power Mode from the Battery section of your Apple Watch 8’s Settings app. Low Power Mode is also available for workouts.
If you use your Apple Watch 8 frequently during workouts, it might be a good idea to turn it on for the duration.
Manage Screen
If you manage the screen of your Apple Watch 8, you help the device conserve battery life and prevent unnecessary battery consumption. Here’s how to do it right.
First, if the screen is constantly at maximum brightness, the battery will be drained. Therefore, you’ll want to make sure the screen is at an appropriate brightness level for your environment. There are several ways to adjust the screen brightness of your Apple Watch 8:
If you prefer to adjust the brightness from your iPhone, you can do this too:
If you don’t want your Apple Watch 8’s screen to turn on every time you move your wrist, try turning off the “Wake on Wrist Raise” function.
You may also want to turn off the device’s Always On display feature. Turning it off can extend battery life. Here’s how to do this:
Turn off Background App Refresh
Background App Refresh keeps your app data fresh in the background. It can also chew up your device’s battery life if not managed properly.
We recommend turning it off or limiting it to certain apps unless you really need it. You can do this like this:
Optimize Battery Charge
As your Apple Watch 8 ages, its battery starts to decline. If you want to slow this process down, you’ll want to turn on Optimized Battery Charging. Here’s how to do this:
Turning this function on will help reduce battery aging by learning from your daily charging routines.
Unpair your Apple Watch 8
If none of the above fixes work, you can try to unpair your Apple Watch 8 from your iPhone. This process is quite complex and will take time to complete. It should only be used as a last resort.
If you want to go with it, you will Check out Apple’s detailed guide.
