waters60

After a 5 1/2 hour ride yesterday I noticed my Iphone was down to 10% battery. It just sits, occasionally sending a text message to my Bolt but I have not seen this level of battery usage before. Is there anything on the phone that might have caused this much drainage?

Chuck M 

In the settings app, there is a way to tell what apps are using the most battery life. But if you were using it to track a ride with Strava or another cycling app I think 5.5 hours to 10% isn't bad.

TakingMyTime

Turn your WiFi off. If not it continues to search for a signal. Lower the brightness of your screen.

maartendc

I assume you have the phone paired to your Bolt, so it would maintain a Bluetooth connection with it. I also assume you are not using GPS or Strava to record your ride on your phone directly, and the phone is in your pocket with the screen off?

Not sure how much battery a bluetooth connection to Bolt would use, but 16% per hour seems like a lot, although not impossible.

As others have said, perhaps turn off wifi (turn completely off in settings, not just on the pull down menu, which just disconnects from current network). Turn on battery saver, which will limit apps fetching data in the background.

Obviously severing the bluetooth connection to the Bolt would help, but you wouldn't get notifications on the Bolt. Not sure if it would interfere with the Bolt's functions otherwise? As long as you have synced right before the ride, the Bolt should be able to do its own thing?

You could also check your battery health in the settings. Your battery might also be worn, causing it to hold less charge.

Good luck.

Litespud

how old is your phone? More than a few years old, the battery starts losing its mojo and the drop from 100% to 10% becomes precipitous. I run strava on my iPhone 6 - running an aftermarket battery, maybe 1 year old. Before you ride, close out all the apps, and shut off Bluetooth if you don’t need it. Also shut down WiFi - while it’s on, your phone will spend the whole time looking for networks to join, which eats power. Strava will tell you that shutting down WiFi will affect locating or something - ignore it. I’ll finish a century with 60-70% left on the battery

Sy Reene

I'd also perhaps look to see if you have any apps that are always sharing location data, even when the app isn't running.

Ogsarg

Going in/out of cell coverage or roaming can also suck battery. That is about the only thing that has caused my iphone 8 battery to drain that fast. I've done 6+ hour rides without going below about 50%.

rumrunn6

I had my battery replaced. also there are multiple settings that can reduce battery draw. I can't list them all but some googling might help you

Iride01 

Are you using the phone for anything while on the bike or is it just in your bag or pocket waiting for a text or call?

If you are navigating with it and it's having to download maps of where you are going and other info as you ride that takes some battery capacity away. And if you are using other apps for various things on your ride, then they all want a piece of your batteries capacity.

bblair

Maybe I missed it, but how old is your phone?

My Google Pixel would run out just like yours, but replacing a 4 year old phone with a new one makes all the difference. Now with a Pixel 5 I can do all day and still have 85% left. Batteries do wear out and new ones are much better. If you don't want a new phone, iPhone batteries can be replaced, I think.

eduskator

Well, something definitively sucked the electrons out of your battery's anode. Perhaps it's just too old or perhaps an application was consuming a lot of energy during these 5 hours.

I've used old iPhones with batteries at 80% of health, and never noticed a huge drainage even on 4+ hours ride with my Wahoo.

aliasfox

My phone couldn’t last through a 2hr ride near the end. It was 5 yrs old.

Put the phone in airplane mode if you don’t need the cell service (gps will still work), and don’t have the screen on - the backlight’s on full blast when you’re outside. Maybe even quit out of all of your apps and do a fresh reboot. If that doesn’t work, then it’s time for a new battery or phone. Or if you’re really concerned, a USB battery pack in your saddle bag to top up the battery when you’re stop for a break.