This iPhone hack helps your battery last longer — and barely any people know about it
Thanks to a little-known software update released six years ago, all you have to do is place your phone face down when you're not using it.
That's it — it really is that simple.
iPhone notifications cause the device's screen to light up, using battery. 'Facedown Detection' helps prevent that from happening.
Alpar – stock.adobe.com
Placing your phone face down will prevent the screen from lighting up every time a notification comes through, which will be a game-changer for those who get a lot of emails or are in multiple group chats.
If your phone is on vibrate or loud, you'll still have a clear way to know if you get a notification, but the screen won't light up and ultimately drain your battery.
This is due to a feature called Facedown Detection, which was first introduced in 2019 with iOS 9.
With Facedown Detection, the iPhone knows if its facedown on a surface thanks to ambient light and proximity sensors, which prevents the screen from turning on, even when a notification comes through.
This is the same technology that's used to turn your screen off when you hold your phone to your ear on a call so you don't accidentally hang up or press other buttons.
All you have to do is place your phone face down.
eremin – stock.adobe.com
One of the biggest drainers of battery life is when your screen lights up, so reducing this as much as possible will help keep it alive longer.
Additionally, you should try to limit the number of notifications you receive.
To check what you're being pinged for, go to Settings, select 'Notifications' then select the app's icon that you want to adjust. Turning off 'Allow Notifications' will stop notifications from draining battery.
You can also turn on the 'Scheduled Summary' which will send a collected summary of notifications from a certain time frame at an hour of your choosing. Just select the time you want to receive the summary and select the apps that you want included.
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