Apple’s new iOS 8.1.1 update brings improvements and fixes for iOS 8 issues. It also brings battery life problems and abnormal discharge according to iPhone and iPad users. Here we will show you a few different ways to fix bad iOS 8.1.1 battery life and restore your iPhone or iPad to the way it was before you installed iOS 8.1.1.
Earlier this week, Apple released the all-new iOS 8.1. Issues plaguing iOS 8 and iOS 8.1. The update, as expected, came with various fixes and performance improvements for both iPhone 4s and iPad 2.
While the iOS 8.1.1 update aims to fix iOS 8 issues, the incremental update seems to cause some issues for iPhone and iPad owners. In particular, broken Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, poor performance, and of course, usual complaints about bad battery life. While battery life issues always seem to plague iPhone and iPad users after an update, most of the time it is not the actual update that is causing the problems. Apps and other services are often the culprit.
This morning’s iOS 8.1.1 update has been killing my battery life ever since! don’t upgrade.. #Apple @tim_cook $AAPL do something!
– Fahed Taji-Farouki (@ffarouki) 19 November 2014
iOS 8.1.1 battery life is terrible
— Ryan Huynh (@ryantheface24) 19 November 2014
I upgraded my iPhone software to iOS 8.1.1 today and my battery life is crap. I hardly used it all morning and by 12:30 it was 5% 😡 — vicky (@veev1989) 20 November 2014
How to Fix Bad iOS 8.1.1 Battery Life on iPhone or iPad
With that in mind, we want to try and fix bad iOS 8.1.1 battery life for you. This guide provides help to get better battery life on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. This guide will help with iOS 8 battery life, but assumes you’ve already upgraded to iOS 8.1.1 for the many fixes and features it brings to iPhone and iPad.
Find Apps That Eat Your Battery
The first thing you’ll want to do is start using the battery life utility that Apple rolled out in the iOS 8 update in September. This is an extremely useful feature and will help you isolate the apps that hurt you the most. When you find an app that’s using a lot of battery life, you can limit your use while it’s out of power, stop background activity, or remove it entirely from your iPhone or iPad.
The nice thing about the battery usage tool is that you also see where poor coverage is to blame for bad iOS 8 battery life. When your phone needs to seek a signal, its battery drains faster, so keep that in mind when you’re in spotty areas. You may need to turn on Airplane mode when you don’t have real cell signal.
To get started with this tool, go to see which apps are using the most battery life in the last 24 hours and the last seven days.
Limit Background App Refresh
Your devices can refresh apps in the background so data is available when you open the app. While this is a great tool for those who live on the iPhone and iPad, it’s also a great way to drain iPhone or iPad battery.
Instead of turning off Background app refresh entirely, you should find apps that are using it a lot and turn them off one by one to see if it fixes iOS 8.1.1 battery life issues. That way, you can keep apps that don’t use a lot of juice.
To do this, go to S.
Stop Using Auto-Brightness
Apple’s iPhone and iPad contain sensors that change the screen brightness based on the light in your current environment. Often times, sensors increase your screen brightness to unnecessary levels, killing your precious battery.
To turn this off, go to and that way you’ll be able to manually adjust your screen’s brightness to help keep battery drain at a minimum. Note that you can always increase or decrease the brightness on your own using the Control Center whenever you need it.
Restart or Reset Your iPhone or iPad
If you notice that the iPhone battery life is very short or the iPhone is getting hot, you need to restart or reset it. Press and hold the power button and slide to turn it off for a normal reboot. Believe it or not, this has fixed battery life issues in the past. It’s a simple fix, but worth a try if things start to go bad on your iPhone or iPad.
You can also reset iPhone or iPad by pressing and holding the home button and power button for about 10 seconds. This won’t remove any of your data, but sometimes this is enough to fix everything that is draining the device’s battery life. It has worked for us in the past and may start working for you if you decide to give it a try.
reset all settings
This is where you’ll start seeing iOS 8.1.1 battery life fixes that can fix major issues killing your iPhone or iPad’s battery life. If you look at the iOS 8.1.1 battery usage and see that the usage and standby numbers are the same, this is the step you need to do.
Go to and enter your password when prompted. This process will take 5-10 minutes to complete and will return all settings to defaults. This will not remove any data or photos from your iPhone and iPad. Again, this is the first step you should take if you notice massive battery drain on your device.
Restore iOS 8.1.1 Update
If nothing else works, you should try reinstalling the iOS 8.1.1 update using restore. You need to do this with iTunes installed on your computer. This will completely wipe your phone. You can try restoring from your backup after the update, but if the problem comes back you’ll want to do it again without restoring from backup. Here’s how to do this.
- Plug and .
- Turn off Find My iPhone – option.
- on iTunes.
- Follow the prompts and iPhone .
- When the process of putting your information back on iPhone is complete, or Select.
This is not a short process. Expect to spend 20 to 45 minutes for this process and longer if you restore from backup. It will vary from device to device.
Genius Bar/Replacement
If nothing here fixes your iPhone or iPad battery life in iOS 8.1.1, you should make an appointment with Apple. Before you go, back up your iPhone or iPad and ask them if your battery life is bad. They can test this at the store and replace it if it’s under warranty. One year warranty by default, two years with AppleCare+.
