Apple’s newest iPhones support wireless charging but the company has yet to roll out its very own wireless charging pads and charging bases. This means that users of the new iPhones including iPhone XS, XS Max and XR variants will need to use compatible wireless chargers from third-party manufacturers. When Apple introduced the iPhone X last year with its wireless charging capability, people were pleased to hear the great news as they’re already able to recharge their iPhone without needing to connect to a lightning cable. Although wireless charging isn’t the fastest way to recharge your device, many people would still prefer this charging method since all they have to do is to place their phone on top of the charger and wait for it to power up.
Nevertheless, wireless charging doesn’t always offer such flawless and hassle-free experience as random issues could still emerge. Among the common problems encountered by some iPhone users when charging wirelessly would include intermittent or on and off charging, slow charging and no charging at all. If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, then you can try some means to rule out software-related factors from the probable causes. These symptoms can be attributed to software errors, if not hardware damage like a bad battery, defective charger, incompatible charger, or other damaged components on the phone. Read on to find out what to do whenever you will experience intermittent charging problem on your iPhone XS.
How to troubleshoot iPhone XS with wireless charging issue
Before troubleshooting, verify and ensure that you’re using a compatible wireless charger for your iPhone XS. To ensure safe, smooth and flawless charging experience, it is highly recommended to use Qi-certified charging accessories.The new iPhones are designed with a glass back that works with Qi-certified chargers and accessories. Qi is open, universal charging standard created by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC). You can find a lot of Qi-certified chargers online with different functionality and performance. So all you have to do is pick the most credible and highly efficient.
Also ensure that you’re charging your iPhone the proper way. For starters here’s the standard way of charging your iPhone XS wirelessly:
- Connect your charger to the power source. Be sure to use the power adapter that came with your charging accessory or a power adapter recommended by the manufacturer.
- Then place the charger on a level surface or other location as recommended by the manufacturer.
- Position your iPhone on the charger with the display facing up and in the center of the charger, to ensure best charging performance.
After a few seconds, your phone should instigate charging wirelessly. Try and see if that fixes the problem. If not then, you may proceed and try any of these subsequent solutions.
First solution: Force restart while your iPhone is charging.
If this is the first time you encounter wireless charging interference or intermittent wireless charging issue on your phone, then it could be just a random glitch that can easily be remedied by a device restart. Often times, random glitches are triggered by background apps or services that became corrupted and went rogue. A simple potential solution to this would be force restart. It’s an alternative way of restarting your iPhone and at the same time clearing all corrupted apps and services that are inflicting troubles. Here’s how it’s done:
- Press and quickly release the Volume Up button.
- Press and quickly release the Volume Down button.
- Finally, press and hold the Side/Power button until the Apple logo appears.
Like the usual soft reset, a force restart doesn’t affect any saved data from the phone memory thus you wouldn’t have to worry about losing any personal information in the process.
Second solution: Install new updates available.
Software glitches and bugs can also trigger the same symptoms to occur when charging wirelessly. To get rid of these culprits, installing new updates for apps and iOS is recommended. New updates usually embed some fix patch or codes that will eliminate errors and flaws from random bugs. If your phone is sufficiently charged, has ample of storage space and stable connection to a Wi-Fi Internet, then you can check for and install over-the-air (OTA) iOS updates available. Here’s how:
- Tap Settings.
- Tap General.
- Then tap Software Update.
An update notification will show up if a new iOS version is available. Read the update details and system requirements then follow the on-screen commands to download and install new update.
Installing all pending app updates on your iPhone XS can also help if rogue apps are the culprits. Apps that are prone to going rogue are those that aren’t updated. If you didn’t set all your apps to auto-update, then there’s a chance that you’ve missed to install important updates for these apps. As a result, the apps are eventually becoming unstable. To rule this out, manually check for and install pending app updates on your iPhone XS with these steps:
- Tap App Store from the Home screen.
- Scroll down to and then tap the Updates tab to show the list of apps with pending updates.
- Tap the Update button next to the name of the app to update apps individually.
- Tap the Update All button on the upper-right to update all apps simultaneously.
After updating apps and iOS, reboot your iPhone to apply the recent apps and system changes.
Aside from installing new updates, it is also recommended to check your phone’s current battery usage. Doing so will help you determine if any of your apps is messing with the phone’s battery and charging system. You can view this information by performing these steps:
- Tap Settings from your Home screen.
- Then go to the Battery section.
- To view battery usage details in the last 24 hours, simply tap on the Last 24 Hours tab. Otherwise, tap on the Last 10 Days tab. You should then see the battery level over the last 24 hours in a graph.
- To view which apps are using the most of your iPhone’s battery life, scroll down and tap the option to Show Activity.
The information you see in this section can help you narrow in on which apps are using the most battery. If you see any unusual power consumption by certain apps, then you may need to manage those apps. Updating the rogue app usually helps but if that doesn’t help, then you may have to consider uninstalling bad apps from your phone.
Third solution: Reset all settings on your iPhone XS.
Your iPhone may also behave atypically when charging wirelessly if relevant settings weren’t configured properly. This is usually the case when the problem started after installing new apps, updates or customizing your phone settings. As possible solution, resetting all settings is recommended. This will erase all customized options and then restores the original options and settings configuration on the phone. Here’s how it’s done:
- Tap Settings from the Home screen.
- Tap General.
- Scroll to and tap Reset.
- Select Reset All Settings option.
- If prompted, enter your device passcode.
- Then tap the option to confirm all settings reset.
Your phone should restart when the reset is finished. You need to reconnect to your Wi-Fi network, Bluetooth devices and likewise re-assign themes and wallpapers. But unlike a factory reset, this settings reset doesn’t not affect any saved data on the phone so you can expect all your saved apps and files to remain intact.
Fourth solution: Calibrate the battery.
This would be an optional workaround and can be considered a possible solution if the problem is attributed to a bad battery. While this isn’t likely the case on your end given that what you’ve got is a new device, it wouldn’t hurt if you give it a try. Here’s how to calibrate your iPhone battery:
- Use your phone until it shuts down by itself. Again you can expedite battery draining if you want.
- Allow your device to sit several hours or overnight to drain the battery even further.
- Then charge your iPhone and wait for it to power on. Be sure to use a compatible wireless Qi charger that runs at the same wattage and amperage.
- Turn off your iPhone while it’s charging and allow it to charge up for a few more hours.
And when it’s completely charged, you can turn it back on. Wait until it’s finished rebooting, do a force restart.
Other options
If none of the aforementioned solutions is able to fix the problem and your iPhone is still charging intermittently using wireless charging base, then you can just switch back to wired charging and charge your phone using the Apple-supplied USB charger instead.
Alternatively, you can have your iPhone examined by an authorized technician from the nearest Apple-authorized service center in your area. The new iPhone XS Max is crafted to support wireless charging so it should charge wirelessly unless some damage components are present. And this can be only be ruled out by hardware damage assessment.
Should you wish to avail for warranties, then call your device carrier or Apple Support or the wireless charger manufacturer for further suggestions.
I hope that we’ve been able to help you fix the problem with your device. We would appreciate it if you helped us spread the word so please share this post if you found it helpful. Thank you so much for reading!