People are just realising iPhones have hidden setting that drains your battery

05 August 2023 , 09:21

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The hidden setting could be the reason you never have any battery (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Long gone are the days when your trusty phone battery would last you a whole week. There's nothing more frustrating than being out and about and getting the dreaded notification your battery is low as you watch it deplete by the minute.

As phones are advancing, there are more and more reasons for the battery to run down quicker than ever, but we rely on our phones for things like payments these days - so to see our devices running out of charge in front of our eyes can be stressful.

Social media scrolling, replying to WhatsApp messages, or Facetiming a friend are all certain ways to make your battery run dry, but there is a 'vampire' setting that's seeing people's phone batteries run down quicker than ever, and many people have no clue.

The setting nicknamed the 'vampire setting' because it drains the life out of your phone is called Wi-Fi Assist, and it involves making sure you always have quick access to the internet, something you may have never realised it does before.

When using the internet with a poor Wi-Fi connection, your phone will automatically switch to Wi-Fi assist, using your mobile data to keep up the speedy connection - but it drains the battery in the meantime and it can happen with all sorts of apps, including Safari, Apple Music, Mail and Maps.

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Explaining the feature on its website, Apple said: "For example, if you're using Safari with a poor Wi-Fi connection and a webpage doesn't load, Wi-Fi Assist will activate and automatically switch to cellular so that the webpage continues to load."

It is set to be on by default on all iPhones as it can be useful when your Wi-Fi is playing up and you have the loading circle of doom, but automatically switching to using mobile data can use up your data and eat away at your battery.

So if you want to make sure the vampire setting is turned off, all you need to do is select the Mobile Data section on your settings, scroll down to Wi-Fi Assist and you can use the toggle to turn it off. The only downside is that you might have to wait a little longer if your Wi-Fi dips out, but at least your battery will be healthier.

Niamh Kirk