iOS 16.4 code analysis suggests that you might soon be able to view precisely how much battery life is consumed when the iPhone’s Always-On display is used.
- What’s happening? The iOS 16.4 code indicates that the Settings app could soon detail battery consumption when the Always-On display is turned on.
- Why care? The Always-On display uses minimal power. Nevertheless, it would be awesome to precisely measure how much battery life the feature drains.
- What to do? Keep your eyes glued to iDB, as we’ll be making sure to publish additional pieces of information about this feature as they become available.
Does iOS 16.4 track the Always-On display battery drain?
The Battery section in iOS 16.4 may soon detail the Always-On display battery drain, according to evidence unearthed from the iOS 16.4 code by 9to5Mac.
Apple already provides battery drain readouts for system features like Personal Hotspot in Settings → Battery. You also get to see how much battery life was consumed when your iPhone tried connecting to a network in areas without cell coverage. Adding the Always-On battery drain would be the next logical step.
“It’s uncertain at this point whether the feature is already enabled in this beta since it will probably take at least a few hours before iOS has enough statistics to detail Always-On display battery consumption,” 9to5Mac notes.
Even though the Aways-On display uses minimal power, it still needs juice to render a dimmed wallpaper and refresh the screen. People like PhoneBuff have run tests claiming that this feature can consume up to twenty percent of battery life in 24 hours, or about fourteen percent with the wallpaper disabled.
Other Always-On display perks in iOS 16.4
iOS 16.4 includes other Always-On display perks. For example, there’s a new Focus Filter for turning the Always-On display on or off when a specific focus is active, such as Driving or Work. Also, you can now toggle the Always-On display in your automation shortcuts when triggered by a particular event or location change.
iOS 16.4 is launching around April
Apple restarted the beta cycle by releasing the first betas of what would become the iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, macOS Ventura 13.3, watchOS 9.4 and tvOS 16.4 software updates on February 16, 2023. These betas are available to both registered developers via developer.apple.com and public beta testers via beta.apple.com.
These software updates will be tested and perfected throughout the next few weeks, and we expect to see them released publicly around April.