X

iOS 11 battery woes? This might be one culprit

Check this setting to make sure Apple didn't inadvertently wreck your battery life.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
2 min read
customize-control-center-ios-11

Trying to solve iOS 11's battery problem? There's one place you should look first.

Chris Parker

Like many people, I noticed a decrease in battery life after I installed iOS 11 on my iPhone (a 6S Plus, if you're curious). What's the deal, Apple ?

This is actually pretty common; it seems like each new version of iOS brings complaints about faster battery drain. Some say it's because you're using the phone more, exploring all the new features and updates. I've also heard the argument that the new OS is doing a bunch of rewriting or caching or something, and that battery life will even out after the first couple days.

With iOS 11, however, there may be another culprit.

Mail fail

ios-11-mail-settings-fetch-2

Make sure iOS 11 didn't change your email settings to "fetch" from "manual."

Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

If you've ever searched for tips on prolonging iPhone battery life, you've almost certainly encountered this one: turn off email fetch. The reasoning: battery life suffers if your phone automatically checks for new mail every 15 or 30 minutes.

That's why I always kept my accounts set to "manual," as I prefer to retrieve mail when I want to retrieve mail.

However, after installing iOS 11, I noticed there were frequently new messages waiting for me each time I opened the Mail app. So I checked my email account settings (which, incidentally, are no longer found in Settings > Mail -- sigh) and, sure enough, all my accounts had been set to Fetch!

What. The. Heck, Apple?

Needless to say, as described in Matt Elliott's tips on extending battery life in iOS 11, you're better off disabling Fetch. Here's how: tap Settings > Accounts & Passwords > Fetch New Data and change it to Manually.

Watch this: How to improve iPhone battery life with iOS 11

Have you noticed a decrease in battery life post-iOS 11? If so, have you checked your mail accounts? I'm curious to see if others have encountered this unexpected (and most likely unwanted) change in mail-retrieval settings.