Avoid Excessive Battery Consumption by Turning Off the "Wi-Fi Assist" Feature on Your iPhone

Wi-Fi Assist can drain iPhone power. (photo: doc. special)

JAKARTA - There's nothing more annoying than carrying around a fully charged iPhone only to find that within a few hours it suddenly turns off completely.

However, you may be surprised to know that the cause of battery drain is often exacerbated by so-called 'vampire settings' hidden within iPhones.

Despite its scary nickname, this life-sucking feature is better known by the less appealing name 'Wi-Fi Assist', and allows Apple users to switch to cellular data when Wi-Fi networks are poor.

Whether you're streaming Netflix on the bus or downloading files in the mountains, this feature comes in handy while on the go.

However, users should be aware that this feature can also quickly drain battery power, and is automatically activated on all iPhones. To see for yourself, go to the 'Settings' menu and tap on the 'Cellular Data' tab.

Here, you'll see personal hotspot information as well as insight into how data is used by different apps on your device.

The 'Wi-Fi Assist' toggle is located far below, so you need to scroll to the very bottom where you will find it just above 'iCloud Drive'.

If you want to turn it off, just tap the button once to change it from green to gray - this change will be saved automatically.

Wi-Fi Assist can be used for many applications including, but not limited to Safari, Apple Music, Mail, and Maps.

While this setting may affect battery power, it's important to note that this feature will not automatically switch to 'cellular' if you have data roaming enabled.

Data roaming generally occurs when using a mobile phone while on vacation, with the internet switching to the existing internet network in the country you are visiting.

Wi-Fi Assist only focuses on apps running in the foreground and doesn't activate background programs or third-party apps.

Those third-party apps can consume large volumes of data - costing not only precious battery power but also your money.

"There are two simple ways you can save battery power — no matter how you use your device: adjust your screen brightness and use Wi-Fi," said Apple, the tech giant.

"When you use your device to access data, the Wi-Fi connection uses less power than the mobile network — so make sure Wi-Fi is always on. To enable Wi-Fi, go to Settings > Wi-Fi to access Wi-Fi networks," he added.

iPhone owners can reduce the brightness of their screen by accessing the 'Control Center' which can be accessed by swiping down from the top-right corner of the screen on recent models.

Enabling 'Auto-Brightness' can also help - you can find this in the 'Accessibility' tab under 'General' in 'Settings'. Thus quoted from DailyMail.com.