Battery draining problem is not only transpiring on iPhones and iPads but also manifesting among the common issues on the Apple Watch. Aside from a faulty hardware, rogue apps and software glitches are also found one of the usual triggers. Tackled in this post is a similar issue on the Apple Watch 4 battery that drains so quickly. Read on and utilize the outlined solutions to battery draining issue on your Apple watch.
Before moving on, if you have issues with your smartwatch and are trying to find a solution for it, visit our Apple Watch 4 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most common issues with this device. Find issues that are similar to yours and feel free to use our solutions. If you need more help, fill up our questionnaire so we can help you.
Dealing with battery draining issue on your Apple Watch 4
The following workarounds are used to rule out software-related factors that usually cause rapid power drain among iOS devices including the Apple Watch series. If none of these methods work and the battery draining issue continues, that’s when you should consider ruling out hardware-related issues that might have triggered your Apple Watch 4 battery to drain so quickly. Begin troubleshooting whenever you’re ready.
First solution: Manage screen brightness to fix battery draining issue on your Apple Watch.
Making adjustments to some of your Watch settings can help preserve battery life and reduce power consumption. Among these settings are screen brightness, text size, and sound. Hence you should consider these among the first workarounds to apply.
To adjust screen brightness of your Apple Watch 4, just follow these steps:
- Tap to open the Settings apps on your Apple Watch.
- Tap Brightness & Text Size.
- To adjust screen brightness, tap the Brightness controls or tap the slider then turn the Digital Crown.
- To adjust text size, tap Text Size, then tap the letters or turn the Digital Crown.
- To make the text Bold, tap the Bold Text switch to turn it on.
Display settings of your Apple Watch 4 can also be configured through your iPhone. Here’s how:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap My Watch.
- Tap Brightness & Text Size.
- Then adjust the screen brightness and text.
Aside from brightness and text, adjust the sound settings on your Apple Watch can also save some of its power. Just like when you set your iPhone to silent mode. To adjust sound on your Apple Watch 4, simply follow these steps:
- Tap to open the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
- Tap Sounds & Haptics.
- Navigate to the Alert Volume section then tap the Volume controls or tap the slider then turn the Digital Crown to save adjustments.
You can also do this through your iPhone settings. Just open the Watch app on your iPhone then tap Sounds & Haptics. From there you can drag the Alert volume slider to reduce or mute the sound on your Apple Watch.
Second solution:Turn off unwanted notifications.
Notification alerts are also among the solid power consumers, hence turning some of them can also help slow down battery drain. If you think it’s isn’t that important to get notified by some third-party apps, then better turn them off to save power. There are different ways to turn off notification on your Apple Watch. You may choose to hide notifications on your Apple Watch, turn off notifications across your Apple Watch and iPhone, turn off notifications for third-party apps and built-in apps on your Apple Watch. The notification settings on your Apple Watch match those found on your iPhone. This therefore denotes that if you get a notification on your iPhone, you’ll also get one on your Apple Watch. That’s how your Apple Watch was configured by default. To prevent these notifications from popping up on your watch, hide them through these steps:
- Go to your iPhone and open the Watch app.
- Select the My Watch Tab.
- Then tap Notifications.
- Tap to turn off the Notifications Indicator switch.
- Tap to turn on the Notification Privacy switch.
Turning Notification Privacy on prevents your watch from receiving alert pop-ups. However, you will still be able to receive notifications on your watch but may not notice them.
Hiding notifications will save some of your watch power. To save a lot more power, you can turn off notifications completely for built-in apps and third-party apps on your watch.
To turn off notifications for built-in apps on your Apple Watch 4, just refer to these steps:
- Go to your iPhone and open the Watch app.
- Select the My Watch tab.
- Tap Notifications.
- Tap to select the built-in app that you want to turn off notifications for. Built-in apps are usually the first 15 apps in this list.
- Tap the Notifications Off option for each of these apps to disable notifications.
You can also use some of the given options to manage built-in app notifications on your watch.
To turn off notifications for third-party apps on your Apple Watch, follow these steps:
- Go to your iPhone and open the Watch app.
- Select the My Watch tab.
- Tap Notifications.
- Then toggle the switch to turn off notifications for individual app.
- Do the same steps to turn off the rest of your apps notifications.
Third-party app notifications on your Apple Watch can be turned off only on your watch while remain enabled on your iPhone.
Turning of LTE connections on your Apple Watch when not in use can also help prolong its battery life.
ALSO READ: How to fix an Apple Watch 4 that won’t update, Apple WatchOS update error
Third solution: Update watchOS to the latest version available.
Software updates are not only pushed to bring in new features but also to offer dedicated patches and bug fixes to address widespread issues among Apple devices. This is likely what’s needed if the battery draining issue on your Apple Watch 4 is attributed to software bugs and malwares. The latest watchOS version released for Apple Watch series is watchOS 5.3, which was officially rolled out on the 22nd of July, 2019. The latest preview of watchOS 6.0 beta 5 was also pushed on the 30th of July, 2019. If you haven’t yet updated your Apple Watch OS, then installing the latest watchOS version could help fix the battery problem your dealing with.
Before updating your Apple Watch, be sure to keep it on its charger until the update is finished. Then follow these steps when you’re ready:
- Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
- Then tap the My Watch tab.
- Tap General.
- Select Software Update.
- If a new watchOS version is available, download the update.
- Enter your iPhone passcode or Apple Watch passcode, if prompted to continue.
- Wait for the update progress indicator to show up on your Apple Watch.
Keep your iPhone connected to Wi-Fi internet and positioned next to your Apple Watch so that they’re in range. The update could take several minutes or an hour to complete. Just wait until it’s done.
When the update is finished, reboot your Apple Watch and use it again to test how long the battery could last. If battery draining issue continues, then move on and try the next workarounds.
Fourth solution: Enable Power Reserve Mode to reduce power consumption.
While this can only be deemed a temporary solution, you may have to resort to enabling your Apple Watch 4 Power Reserve Mode just to keep it alive until it gets recharged. In this mode, smart features are temporarily disabled to lessen battery consumption. To get started, make your Apple Watch show a watch face/interface.
- Then swipe up from the bottom of the screen to launch the Control Center.
- From the Control Center, tap on the Battery Percentage icon/reading.
- Swipe from the left to right on the Power Reserve slider.
- Then tap Proceed on the next screen.
- A Power Reserve Mode confirmation screen will then appear.
Enabling Power Reserve mode disables all the smart features of the Apple Watch. Only the time will show up on the display when you tap on the screen, Side button, or Digital Crown. Notifications, activity tracking and other smart functions are also not available in this mode. If you wish to exit Power Reserve mode, just press and hold the Side button on watch until it restarts.
Fifth solution: Factory reset Apple Watch 4 to fix battery draining problem.
This can be regarded among the last ultimate (optional) solutions to eliminate complex software errors that might have triggered rapid battery draining issue on your Apple Watch 4. All your watch 4 data will be deleted and its factory default settings are restored. Tough bugs that trigger the battery to drain faster are likewise obliterated. If you wish to proceed, back up your Apple Watch data to iCloud or iTunes. Then proceed to these steps whenever you’re all set to factory reset your Apple Watch 4:
- On your Apple Watch, tap Settings.
- Select General.
- Tap Reset.
- Tap the option to Erase All Content and Settings.
- If prompted, choose to keep or remove your cellular plan.
- Then tap Erase All to confirm that you want to erase the watch.
- The reset process will then instigate. After the reset, your Apple Watch is restored to its factory default settings.
After the reset, you can set up your Apple Watch 4 as new through your iPhone. Major problems including battery draining that are inflicted by system bugs and erratic settings are then resolved unless hardware damage is present.
ALSO READ: How to reset Apple Watch
Still facing battery draining problem on your Apple Watch 4?
If nothing else works and your Apple Watch 4 battery continues to drain quickly, the next thing you must do is to take your watch to the nearest Apple service center for hardware assessment. Your watch might have obtained some sort of physical or liquid damage, which eventually resulted in battery depletion. If your watch is still covered by warranty, then you must avail for service warranty or new unit replacement, if necessary.
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