Your phone was fully charged this morning, so why is it at 20% before lunch? The answer is often apps draining phone battery in the background, while you are not even using them. Social feeds refresh, maps track your location, and videos play on their own, and all of that costs power. The good news is that your phone already shows you which apps are guilty. In this guide, you will learn how to find them and stop them, on iPhone and Android, with exact steps.
Find the Apps Draining Phone Battery First
Start on iPhone, because the built-in battery screen does the detective work for you. Open Settings, then tap Battery. Below the battery chart, you will see Battery Usage by App, with a list of apps ranked by how much power they used. You can switch between the last 24 hours and the last 10 days, so a one-off spike does not fool you.
Now tap Show Activity above the list. Each app then shows two numbers: time on screen and time in the background. On-screen time means you were using the app yourself, so that drain is fair. Background time means the app worked while you were not looking, and that is where the waste hides. If an app shows high background time that you did not ask for, you have found a drain.
Also watch for the words “Background Activity” next to an app. That label means iOS noticed the app running off screen. For example, a social app with two hours of background time and ten minutes on screen is a clear suspect. On the other hand, a music app with high background time is normal, because it plays while the screen is off. So judge each app by what it is meant to do.
How to Check Battery Use on Android
Android has the same tool, and it works in a similar way. Open Settings, then tap Battery, then tap Battery usage. You will see a list of apps with their share of battery use. Tap any app to see its foreground and background figures side by side.
If background use is higher than foreground use, that app is your first fix. For example, a shopping app you opened once but which ran in the background for hours is wasting power. On Samsung phones, the path is slightly different: open Settings, tap Battery, then tap View details to see the same app list.
Before you change anything, look at the list for a full day if you can. A single busy morning can mislead you, but a pattern across days never lies. Once you know the worst offenders, the fixes below take only minutes.
What “Background Activity” Really Means
Background activity sounds sinister, but much of it is useful. Your mail app checks for new messages, your maps app updates traffic, and your photos app backs up new pictures. All of that happens in the background, and it is meant to help you.
The problem starts when apps do background work that you do not need. A game does not need to refresh while you are asleep, and a shopping app does not need your location every hour. So the goal is not to block all background activity. Instead, the goal is to cut the waste and keep the work that matters. The real target is apps draining phone battery without giving you anything back.
That is why the battery screen matters: it turns a vague feeling into a clear list of names.
Turn Off Background App Refresh on iPhone
Background App Refresh lets apps fetch new content while you are not using them. It is useful for mail and news, but most apps do not need it. To trim it, open Settings, then tap General, then tap Background App Refresh.
You will see a switch for every app. Turn it off for games, shopping apps, and social apps you check on your own schedule. Keep it on for mail, messages, and any app that must alert you at once. If you are unsure about an app, turn it off and see if you miss anything. You can always turn it back on, because nothing here is permanent.
You can also turn the whole feature off at the top of the same screen. That is the fastest fix, but it is a blunt one. A better plan is to switch off the worst offenders first, then check your battery screen again in a day or two. That is how you stop apps draining phone battery one switch at a time.
Restrict the Apps Draining Phone Battery on Android
Android gives you a per-app battery control, and it is the strongest tool in this guide. Open Settings, then tap Apps, then tap See all apps. Choose the app you want to limit, then tap App battery usage.
You will see Allow background usage with three choices. Optimized is the default, and Android manages the app for you. Restricted applies the heaviest limits, so the app can barely run in the background. Unrestricted lets the app run freely, and you should use it only for apps that must work at once, such as a security camera app.
Set Restricted only for the apps your battery screen flagged. Do not restrict everything, because restricted apps may deliver notifications late or not at all. For example, restricting your alarm app or your messaging app would cause real problems. So be picky, and restrict only the proven drains.
Location: The Hidden Driver of Apps Draining Phone Battery
Location tracking is one of the biggest hidden drains, because it uses GPS, Wi-Fi, and mobile data together. Many apps ask for your location when they do not need it. On iPhone, open Settings, then tap Privacy & Security, then tap Location Services. Look for apps set to Always, and change most of them to While Using the App. A weather app needs your location when you open it, but it does not need to follow you all day.
On Android, open Settings, then tap Location, then tap Location Services. Turn off Wi-Fi scanning and Bluetooth scanning, because these let apps and services scan for networks even when Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are off. Also check which apps hold location permission, and remove it from apps that have no reason to know where you are.
Maps and ride-hailing apps genuinely need location, so leave those alone. But a game, a photo editor, or a shopping app rarely does. Every permission you remove is power saved.
Silence the Notifications That Wake Your Phone
Every notification lights up your screen, and a busy phone can light up hundreds of times a day. Each wake-up costs a little power, and together they add up. So turn off notifications for apps that do not need your attention.
On iPhone, open Settings, then tap Notifications, then open each noisy app and turn off Allow Notifications. On Android, open Settings, then tap Notifications, then tap App settings to do the same. Start with games, shopping apps, and news apps that send alerts all day.
Your messages, calls, and calendar should stay on, because those matter. Everything else is a choice, and a quieter phone is a longer-lasting phone. Cutting noisy alerts is one of the easiest ways to slow apps draining phone battery.
Turn Off Video Auto-Play in Your Social Apps
Videos that start playing on their own are a quiet battery drain. They use the screen, the speakers, and mobile data at the same time. Most social apps have an auto-play setting in their own settings menu, so open each app you use and look for it.
Set auto-play to Wi-Fi only, or turn it off completely if the app allows it. You will still see every video you choose to play, but nothing will play without your say-so. This one change also saves mobile data, so it is worth doing even if your battery is fine.
Low Power Mode: Your Quick Fix for Apps Draining Phone Battery
When your battery is low and you cannot charge, Low Power Mode buys you time. On iPhone, open Settings, then tap Battery, then turn on Low Power Mode. It cuts background activity, mail fetch, and some visual effects until you charge again. You can also add it to Control Center for one-tap access.
On Android, the same tool is called Battery Saver. Open Settings, then tap Battery, then tap Battery Saver and turn it on. It limits background activity and slows some features down. Use it when you are travelling, or when your phone must last until the evening.
Low Power Mode is a bandage, not a cure. It helps today, but the fixes above solve the problem for good. So use it when you need it, then fix the apps when you have time.
Also turn on Adaptive Battery if your Android phone offers it. Open Settings, then tap Battery, then tap Battery Saver, then tap Adaptive Battery, and turn on Use Adaptive Battery. It learns which apps you use and cuts background activity for the ones you rarely open. Give it a few weeks to learn your habits, because the benefit grows over time.
When the Battery Itself Is the Problem
Sometimes no app is to blame, because the battery itself is worn out. On iPhone, open Settings, then tap Battery, then tap Battery Health. Look at Maximum Capacity, which compares your battery to when it was new. If it is below 80%, the battery is worn, and no setting will fix that. Apple designs iPhone batteries to hold 80% of their capacity after many hundreds of full charges, so an older phone will naturally hold less.
On Android, battery health tools vary by brand. Some phones show battery health in Settings under Battery, while others need the maker’s own support app. If your phone shuts down at 20%, or the battery drops in big jumps, that points to a worn battery too.
If the battery is worn, a replacement from an authorised repair shop will help more than any setting. But if the battery is healthy, the fixes in this guide should make a clear difference within a day. And if you want your next battery to last longer, good charging habits help too — our guide to Android battery charging tips explains how. Laptops suffer the same problem as phones, so see how to extend laptop battery life if your computer dies too soon as well.
So which of the apps draining phone battery surprised you most? Check your battery screen today and find out.
