How to use Low Power Mode on Apple Watch

“The low-power mode retains many of the core Apple Watch features,” said Deidre Caldbeck, director of Apple Watch Product Marketing, at Apple’s September 2022 event. “Maximum battery savings with the least impact on user experience.”

Though not included in the original watchOS 9 betas, Apple surprised users by announcing the feature at their Apple Far Out event in September 2022.

Here’s the background on battery saver mode, the devices that support it with watchOS 9, and how to turn it on – and what it turns off – to maximize your watch’s battery life.

The battery saver mode on the Apple Watch works the same way as the battery saver mode on the iPhone. The function switches off functions in the background that are not important to you at the moment.

While it disables features that may be running in the background and consume power, Apple has ensured that features that remain related to core Apple Watch usage are still enabled and functional.

Salient features that turn off when you turn on battery saver mode are: the always-on display, automatic workout detection, background heart rate and blood oxygen measurements, heart rate and irregular rhythm notifications, Wi-Fi connection throttling, and incoming notifications are delayed too .

Complications update less frequently, a phone call may take longer, some animations and scrolling may seem less smooth, and Siri may also take longer to press requests.

While the Apple Watch can use your iPhone for Wi-Fi and cellular connections, when you’re away from your phone, the Apple Watch can wake up connectivity even when it’s in sleep mode to get the tasks you want to get done. This can lead to significant battery consumption.

Disabling these features while enabling Sleep mode extends Apple Watch battery life for up to 36 hours on a full charge.

Power saving mode is available on Series 4 and later models, they just need to be running watchOS 9.

Turning on the power saving mode is in a very monastic realm and is very easy to toggle on and off. How to turn on battery saver mode on Apple Watch.

1. swipe up on your Apple Watch to access it control center
2. Tap on battery percentage
3. scroll down under the battery percentage information until you see the “Power saving mode” Switch
4. Tap the Switch to turn on Low power mode
5. A message will appear indicating which features will be available temporarily unavailable to get a longer battery. Scroll down and tap “Turn on”.
6. You can also choose how long for which you want to activate the energy saving mode. you can choose between 1 day, 2 days or 3 days.

The low-power mode can also be performed during training. How to turn it on automatically.

1. open that settings App on your Apple Watch
2. scroll down down until you see Work out
3. turn on Power saving mode (it should be the first option)

While it’s on, your metrics like heart rate and pace will continue to be measured.

The energy saving mode can be switched off at any time. To do this, just tap the switch like you did when you turned it on.

The low-power mode was previously included in the software of every device. The feature promises longer battery life by disabling background features that may not be as important to you during those moments when you need to save as much battery as possible.

First revealed on the iPhone, Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, promised that enabling the feature would add “another 3 hours” to battery life. Low Power Mode was first introduced in iOS 9 in 2015.

Although it took a few years after that, the iPad and Mac also integrated the feature into their operating systems.

iPad got low-power mode in iPadOS 14 – which was released in fall 2020 – and can be enabled through the Settings app, much like you would enable the feature in iOS.

The Mac gained a low-power mode in macOS Monterey — released in Fall 2021 — that can be enabled in the Battery section of System Preferences.

Low Power Mode can be turned on manually, through preset automations, or by asking Siri to turn it on for you.

The biggest criticism the Apple Watch has received from the start has been its battery life. While Apple is touting all-day battery life on the Apple Watch, it depends on what you’re doing with it to see if it can hold up.

Power Saving Mode helps the battery in Apple Watch last longer by disabling features that may not need to be used at the moment. Meanwhile, Apple maintains safety features like fall detection even when the battery saver mode is on. It’s nice to see that the same core experience is still enabled regardless of whether the feature is on or off.

Anyone with a compatible device can now download watchOS 9 for free to access battery saver mode.