Your iPhone has a setting called Background App Refresh where apps that are running in the background will periodically check for new data. This is great if you want to make sure that your apps are always updated when you switch back to them, but it can also use data and battery life.
If you are looking for ways to extend your usage time on a battery charge, then this is a good setting to turn off. It may inconvenience you slightly as you will need to wait for the app to update when you open it, but it can give you a little extra usage time during the day.
How to Turn On or Turn Off Background App Refresh
The steps in this article were performed on an iPhone 7 Plus in iOS 12.2, but will also work on other iPhone models in most earlier versions of iOS as well.
Step 1: Touch the Settings icon.
Step 2: Choose the General option.
Step 3: Scroll down and select Background App Refresh.
Step 4: Tap the Background App Refresh button at the top of the screen.
Step 5: Select the Off option to disable Background App Refresh, or choose one of the other options to modify how it occurs.
Note that, in step 4 above, you have the option of individually controlling whether or not specific apps can update in the background, if you would prefer to keep this option enable for some or most of your apps.
Did you know that you can record a video of your iPhone screen? Find out about the screen recording option in the Control Center and see how you can add it to that menu and start using it to make recordings of what you see on your iPhone screen.
Matthew Burleigh has been a freelance writer since the early 2000s. You can find his writing all over the Web, where his content has collectively been read millions of times.
Matthew received his Master’s degree in Computer Science, then spent over a decade as an IT consultant for small businesses before focusing on writing and website creation.
The topics he covers for MasterYourTech.com include iPhones, Microsoft Office, and Google Apps.
You can read his full bio here.