Yesterday, Apple released an iOS 8.2 update for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. While the feedback on the iOS 8.1.3 update is mostly positive, some users are still experiencing iOS 8 battery life issues. Considering the poor iOS 8.2 battery life, we’d like to offer some fixes that can help improve the battery life of your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
Last year, Apple moved the iOS 8.2 update to the beta program for developers. Apple quickly announced the arrival of the iOS 8.2 update at Monday’s Spring Forward Apple Watch event. Shortly after the event, Apple released iOS 8.2 to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, bringing improvements, bug fixes, and an Apple Watch app to the iPhone.
The company’s latest iOS 8 update is a major update for iPhone and iPad users, giving them a checkup of over 300MB. It brings improvements to the Health app, changes to key apps like Mail, and fixes some annoying iOS 8 issues. Among them is the GMT calendar issue and an annoying issue with Bluetooth in the car.
Apple’s iOS 8.2 update aims to fix iOS 8 issues, although it seems that iOS issues continue to linger for some iPhone and iPad users. iOS 8.2 users are starting to complain about various issues, including poor iOS 8.2 battery life.
I just restored my iPhone 6 to iOS 8.2 and the battery drain is ridiculous… uh
— Michael Camilleri (@MikeCam) March 10, 2015
They said update to iOS 8.2. What they say will be better. That’s right… battery consumption seems to have deteriorated. Great QA Apple.
— William McBee (@gerbick) March 9, 2015
iOS 8.2 consumes more battery than before. only 6 hours @AppIeOfflciaI — darkamon (@666darkamon666) March 10, 2015
Wow, the battery is dying like crazy. iOS 8.2 impact? #iphone 6 — Deepak Abbot (@deepakabbot) March 10, 2015
First night #ios 8.2. Battery drains 30% more than usual, usually wake up at 92-95%, today at 62%. What’s happening?
– mikealtmyer (@mikealtmyer) March 10, 2015
I downloaded the new IOS 8.2. 100% battery now 8%🔋😫#crapIOS8
— Ian (@078Ian) March 10, 2015
While battery life issues always seem to plague iPhone and iPad users after the release of new iOS software, most of the time it is not the actual update that is causing the problems. Instead, apps and other services are often the culprit.
For now, these iOS 8.2 battery life issues seem pretty isolated, but we expect them to grow as more users apply the iOS 8.2 update to their iPhone or iPad.
How to Fix Bad iOS 8.2 Battery Life on iPhone or iPad
With that in mind, we want to try and fix bad iOS 8.2 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 8.2 for the fixes it brings to iPhone and iPad.
Find Apps That Eat Your Battery
The first suggestion we always make after a new iOS update arrives is for iPhone and iPad users to check out third-party apps. Third-party apps tend to take a huge toll on iPhone or iPad battery life, regardless of what version of iOS you’re using. If you use an app a lot, it will drain your battery. However, there are also times when bugs or problems can cause an app to cheat and start draining the iPhone or iPad battery abnormally.
If you’re looking to fix your iOS 8.2 battery life, you’ll want to keep an eye on apps for potential issues first. To do this, you’ll want to take a look at the battery life usage tool that Apple included in the iOS 8 update. To start using this tool, go to see which apps are using the most battery life.
When you find an app that seems to be consuming 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.
Turn On Airplane Mode When Your Range Is Poor
One thing we noticed is that poor cellular coverage is often to blame for bad iOS 8 battery life. When your phone needs to look for a signal it will drain the battery faster, something to keep in mind when you are in spotty areas. You may need to turn on Airplane Mode when there is no strong 4G or LTE signal in the area. This will disconnect you, but it can save you terrible battery drain.
Disable iCloud Keychain
Some iPhone users claim that disabling iCloud Keychain helps them get rid of abnormal battery drain. Many iPhone and iPad users don’t use or need iCloud Keychain, so it’s worth disabling it to see if it produces positive results.
To disable iCloud Keychain first. If turning it off doesn’t increase battery life, you can always turn it back on.
Limit Background App Refresh
We strongly recommend that you limit background app refresh on iPhone or iPad. This feature updates apps in the background so data is available when you open an app. Many of you won’t need or need this feature, so it’s worth investigating if it restores battery life on your iOS 8.2-powered device.
If you don’t want to turn it off completely, you should instead find apps that use it a lot and close them one by one to see if that fixes your bad iOS 8.2 battery life issues. This way, you can keep the apps that are not using a lot of charge. It’s a tedious process, although it has had a positive effect on our iPhones and iPads in the past.
To get started, go to. It will take some time, but it’s worth a try if your device takes a hit after upgrading to iOS 8.2.
Stop Using Auto-Brightness
Both 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. This can potentially harm your battery life. If you want to manually change the brightness levels, we recommend turning this feature off to see if it helps with the battery.
To turn off Auto-Brightness, go to. When turned off, you will be able to manually adjust the brightness of your screen to help keep battery consumption to a minimum. Note that you can always increase or decrease the brightness on your own using the Control Center whenever you need it. For those unfamiliar, Control Center is the feature that pops up when you swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
Restart or Reset Your iPhone or iPad
If you start noticing strange battery drain or your device starts to get really hot, you should try doing a reset to see if it returns to normal. Most of you know how to restart an iPhone or iPad but we will remind you. Press and hold the power button, slide to turn it off, and then press and hold the power button to turn it back on.
You can also try to reset the iPhone or iPad by pressing and holding the home button and power button for about 10 seconds. This will not remove any of your data and may help restore your device.
reset all settings
The next set of fixes are the steps you should take if you encounter major battery life issues after installing iOS 8.2 on your iPhone or iPad. If you look at the iOS 8.2 battery usage in Settings and see the same usage and standby numbers, these are probably the steps you need to take to master your device.
The first step you should take is to reset your settings. Go to and enter your password when prompted. This process will take up to five minutes to complete and will reset all your settings to default. This will not remove any data or photos from your iPhone and iPad. This has worked for us in the past and this is the first step you should take if you are seeing massive battery drain.
Restore iOS 8.2 Update
If that doesn’t work, you should try reinstalling the iOS 8.2 update using a restore. You need to do this with iTunes installed on your computer. , this will completely wipe your phone or tablet, so consider this a last-ditch effort.
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 process takes some time to complete. Expect to spend 20 to 45 minutes for this process and longer if you restore from backup. It varies from device to device and person to person.
downgrade to iOS 8.1.3
For a limited time, you can revert to iOS 8.1.3. If battery life is good on iOS 8.1.3, this might be a step to consider. We’ve put together a step-by-step guide outlining how you can do this.
Apple will be shutting this down at some point, so if you want to make this move, you’re going to have to soon. It’s impossible to predict when Apple will shut this down, so you’ll have to decide soon.
Genius Bar/Replacement
If none of these fixes work, you should make an appointment with Apple and get an Apple Genius to take care of your phone or tablet. 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 if you have warranty they will replace the device. One year warranty by default, two years with AppleCare+.
A while ago, we were getting terrible battery life on iPhone 4s but we couldn’t figure out why. So we took it to the Apple Store to have it looked at. The Geniuses ran a diagnostic and determined that the battery had started to swell physically within the frame of the device. They replaced it for free and the device has been fine ever since. Moral of the story: Don’t overlook the Genius Bar as an option.
