Significant Battery Improvement - Turned Off Background Refresh for Most Apps

Hardware
1

I’ve noticed a substantial improvement in the battery life of my M4 13-inch iPad Pro by disabling background app refreshes for almost all my applications. Currently, I only have three apps that are automatically refreshing in the background, and I’ve discovered that I don’t require them to constantly refresh. It appears that almost every time you install an app, it sets the app refresh by default.

I suspect that the potential for battery life improvement will depend on how frequently one switches apps. More frequent switching may minimize or even negate the gains from disabling background refresh, but in my use case, it has improved battery life.

4 Likes
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Good tip. I had not reviewed my background refresh settings recently, and even found some apps that I no longer use.

1 Like
3

Turning on low battery mode disables all background refresh. I have an automation that turns on low battery every time I unplug the device from charging and it’s easy to enable them all with the flick of one setting in control center. Here is the Apple support KB - link

3 Likes
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For sure, I’m really careful about what few apps I allow.