How to turn on Apple Watch Low Power Mode

September 30, 2022 Abraham Smith

A valuable new feature introduced for Apple Watch Series 4 and later with watchOS 9 is Power Saving Mode. If necessary, this means up to 2x longer battery life for the wearables. Here’s how to turn on Apple Watch’s battery saver mode, plus additional details on how it works and anything you give up when using it.

Since the first generation, the Apple Watch has had what the company calls “all-day battery life” of 18 hours. With watchOS 9, this can be up to 36 hours with battery saver enabled.

While the Apple Watch Ultra gets 36 hours of battery life without a battery saver mode, it can also take advantage of the feature.

While the default battery saver mode is now available on the Apple Watch Ultra, Apple says a future update will bring “an additional battery saver setting that reduces the frequency of GPS and heart rate readings.” Power saving mode plus that offers up to 60 hours of extended battery life.

How to put Apple Watch in sleep mode

Make sure your Apple Watch is running watchOS 9
Swipe up from the bottom of your watch face to see control center
Tap the battery percentage
Tap the toggle next to power saving mode
Swipe down and select to turn on or switch on for 1, 2 or 3 days

Alternatively, on your watch, you can go to Settings > Battery > Swipe down to Power saving mode

Here’s how it looks to put the Apple Watch into sleep mode:

Each time you enable battery saver mode, your watch will display some (but not all) of the features that will be disabled.

You can just turn it on or turn it on for several days (up to 3).

How to turn off Apple Watch sleep mode

Swipe up to Control Center
Tap the battery percentage
Tap the toggle next to Low power mode

Apple Watch power saving details

What turns off in Apple Watch sleep mode?

Disables the always-on display
May delay incoming notifications
Disables background heart rate measurements
Disables heart rate notifications (irregular rhythm and high/low alerts)
Disables blood oxygen measurements
Usages of Start Workout Reminder
Wi-Fi and cellular will be disabled when the iPhone is not nearby – that means no calls and notifications

Low power mode also means:

A call can take longer
Background app refresh is less frequent
Complications are updated less often
Siri may take longer to process a request
Some animations and scrolling may appear less smooth

How does the energy saving mode behave?

When the feature is on, a yellow circle will appear at the top of your watch
- The battery percentage in Control Center and Nightstand mode is also yellow
Apple Watch will automatically ask if you want to turn on the power saver feature once you reach 10% battery
Power saving mode turns off automatically when you reach 80% charge

Another good option if your Apple Watch battery is consistently low is a compact charging puck like this one from Native Union, Anker, and others.

What do you think of the new battery saver feature? do you use it Do you have to give up too much for battery savings? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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