Close-app habit won't save your iPhone battery, these settings will

Swiping away apps you are not using feels like it should save battery, but it does not. Engadget's guide to iPhone battery life says other settings do far more, from how apps behave in the background to how your phone charges overnight.

Limit background activity

Apps you are not using are not the main drain. Still, some can keep working quietly. With Background App Refresh on, apps pull data from the internet and update themselves even while suspended. Turning it off stops that and saves power.

• Turn off Background App Refresh to stop apps updating while idle.
• In each app's settings, allow location access only while you are using the app.

Adjust the screen and connection

Apple suggests two first steps. Turn on auto-brightness so the phone adjusts itself as lighting changes, which beats fiddling with a slider. Also keep Wi-Fi on, because connecting to a cellular network uses more power than Wi-Fi.

A few display options can help too. Some are bigger wins than others.

• Turn off Always-On Display. It is nice, but it strains the battery constantly.
• Use Dark Mode if your phone has an OLED screen, which switches off black pixels.
• Try Limit Frame Rate, which drops the screen from 120 Hz to 60 Hz.

The frame rate savings may not be noticeable for most people. If you are used to 120 Hz, the change can feel jarring.

Let the phone manage power

Adaptive Power studies how you use your phone. It then adjusts things like screen brightness and background data to cut drain when you do not usually need full power. With it on, Low Power Mode switches on by itself when the battery hits 20 percent. Low Power Mode makes similar changes but hits performance harder, so use it only when you need it.

Protect the battery over the years

Batteries slowly lose their ability to charge well and hold a charge. Optimized Charging slows that wear by holding the charge at 80 percent until you really need the phone. You can also set your own charge limit so the battery never reaches 100 percent, which can shorten its life over time.

A simple rule helps. If you can keep the charge between 20 percent and 80 percent, rather than draining it fully or filling it completely, the battery can last noticeably longer, even before you try any other tip.

What to do

Start with the easy ones: auto-brightness, Background App Refresh, Optimized Charging and Adaptive Power. Add the display tweaks only if you can live with them.