Every iPhone user is familiar with the routine: when your battery reaches 20%, iOS displays a notification asking whether you want to switch to Low Power Mode. It’s a simple iOS option that prioritizes battery life until you locate an outlet and a battery charger by turning off certain functions and limiting others.

With iOS 9, Apple included a function that allows you to use your iPhone for as long as possible. What precisely does Low Power Mode accomplish, and why not use it always if it prolongs battery life?

See also: Is There a Problem with the iPhone’s Battery Aging?

If you want to understand how Low Power Mode impacts your iPhone’s battery, find out precisely what it disables, how to toggle it on and off, and how to keep it on permanently. See How to Charge Your iPhone Correctly for additional information.

What is Low Power Mode on an iPhone?

When the iPhone’s battery is low, the Low Power Mode iOS option turns off several capabilities to save battery life. When your battery reaches 20% and then 10%, your iPhone will ask you whether you want to switch to Low Power Mode.

An image of the iPhone Settings’ battery level graph
Your iPhone will be monitored in yellow while it is in Low Power Mode.
Screenshot via CNET/Peter Butler
According to Apple, Low Power Mode extends the life of your iPhone’s battery by lowering the amount of power it uses.

Your battery symbol will become yellow while you are in Low Power Mode, so you can know. When your iPhone’s battery is 80% charged, Low Power Mode is automatically turned off.

Which functionalities are turned off by iPhone Low Power Mode?

The following adjustments are made by Low Power Mode to preserve the charge of your battery, according the official Apple support page:

disables 5G (except from streaming videos).
causes the screen of your iPhone to shut off after 30 seconds of inactivity.
lowers the brightness of the display
reduces the iPhone’s display refresh rate with ProMotion
removes a few visual effects
halts the sync of iCloud Photos
halts automatic downloading
halts the email retrieval
prevents background applications from updating
In addition, Low Power Mode lowers CPU and GPU performance, turns off the always-on display on more recent iPhone models, disables video autoplay, and prevents HDR video watching.

How can I permanently maintain my iPhone in low power mode?

Putting your iPhone in Low Power Mode each time after charging it is the manual method of keeping it in Low Power Mode all the time. That being said, there is a simpler, automatic method to “set it and forget it.” You’ll need to get creative and create your own Personal Automation using the Shortcuts app if you want to keep your iPhone in Low Power Mode always.

Although there are several shortcuts for automatically setting Low Power Mode, I find that turning on Low Power Mode anytime the battery is below 100% is the simplest approach. In this manner, your iPhone is effectively always in Low Power Mode, but when it is hooked up and fully charged, it can also do backups, finish downloads, and get updates.

To access your App Library, go to the right on your iPhone’s home screen. Then, scroll down and choose Shortcuts. After the application has launched, hit the blue “Create Personal Automation” button after choosing Automation at the bottom of the screen.

Three iPhone screenshots demonstrating the creation of a custom shortcut
It just takes a few clicks to create a customized automation in Shortcuts.
Screenshot via CNET/Peter Butler
Choose Battery Level by scrolling down on the New Animation screen. To reach 100%, drag the slider all the way to the right after tapping the Falls Below option at the bottom. Click Next after that. Your condition has been configured to initiate an action.

To switch your iPhone to Low Power Mode, make the action now. Click the blue Add Action button on the Actions screen. After there, you can either hit Scripting and locate it under Device or put “Low” into the search box and choose Set Low Power Mode.

Three iPhone screen grabs demonstrating the addition of the Set Low Power Mode action
You may configure it to run automatically after adding the Low Power mode action.
Screenshot via CNET/Peter Butler
Following your selection of Set Low Power Mode, “Turn Low Power Mode On” will appear on your Actions screen. Press Next. Toggle Ask Before Running off on the next New Automation panel to enable automatic activation of Lower Power Mode. You may ask to get a notice each time the automation executes, if you’d like.

Verify “Don’t Ask,” then press “Done” to complete. You’re ready. Your iPhone will automatically enter Low Power Mode if your battery falls below 100%.

How much charge might be saved by using Low Power Mode?

Here, you won’t obtain a firm response. Since its inception, there has been discussion on the usefulness of Low Power Mode. According to some estimations, adopting Low Power Mode would extend battery charges by around 1.5 times; however, other studies indicate that battery use hardly changes.

You just need to experiment with Low Power Mode to observe the difference if you’re worried about extending the life of your iPhone battery.

How to disable Low Power Mode once again

Here are two screenshots of iPhones that demonstrate how to disable automatic Low Power Mode.
Disabling or removing the automation will turn off automatic Low Power Mode.
Apple
You may disable the automation by going into Shortcuts and turning off Enable This Animation if you discover that Low Power Mode isn’t saving your battery. On the main Automation panel, slide left on your Low Power Mode automation, then hit the red Delete icon to remove it entirely.

By adjusting your iPhone’s settings to implement some of the features that Low Power Mode offers, you may also make your own unique version of the feature. For instance, you may save a lot of battery life by changing your brightness settings or preventing background programs from updating.

Verify that your battery is still in good condition.

A snapshot of Battery Health from an iPhone showing a deteriorated battery
Maximum capacity evaluates how well your battery performs now compared to when it was brand-new.
Apple
You may want to try turning on Low Power Mode permanently, but if you discover that you need to keep it on constantly to obtain good iPhone battery performance, it’s likely that your battery is deteriorating or experiencing other issues.

Navigate to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging to examine the condition of your iPhone’s battery. The maximum capacity of your battery will be shown, along with settings for Clean Energy Charging and Optimized Battery Charging. An “Important Battery Message” alert will appear if the maximum capacity of your iPhone battery has dropped to 80% or less. This indicates that your battery needs to be replaced or repaired by an authorized Apple service provider because it has significantly degraded.