I’ve been rocking an iPhone 8 for a few years now, and it’s usually pretty reliable. But after the recent iOS update, my battery life took a nosedive. It’s dropping from 100% to around 20% in just a few hours, even when I’m barely using it. I’ve tried the usual stuff like restarting the phone, closing background apps, and turning off location services, but nothing seems to help.

Also, I noticed the phone gets warmer than usual, which makes me wonder if some app is running wild in the background. I’m a bit hesitant to do a full reset since I don’t want to lose my photos and settings. Has anyone else experienced this with an older iPhone after an update? What did you do to fix it? Any tips would be great!

On 12/04/2025 at 4:20 PM, ThriftGuru said:

I’ve been rocking an iPhone 8 for a few years now, and it’s usually pretty reliable. But after the recent iOS update, my battery life took a nosedive. It’s dropping from 100% to around 20% in just a few hours, even when I’m barely using it. I’ve tried the usual stuff like restarting the phone, closing background apps, and turning off location services, but nothing seems to help.

Also, I noticed the phone gets warmer than usual, which makes me wonder if some app is running wild in the background. I’m a bit hesitant to do a full reset since I don’t want to lose my photos and settings. Has anyone else experienced this with an older iPhone after an update? What did you do to fix it? Any tips would be great!

Sounds frustrating! On my older iPhone, after an update, I found that checking Battery Usage in Settings helped pinpoint any rogue apps draining power. Sometimes, an app update doesn’t play nice with the new iOS, causing background activity and heating. If you spot a culprit, try deleting and reinstalling it or temporarily disabling background app refresh for that app.

Also, since you’re worried about losing photos and settings, backing up to iCloud or your computer before doing a full reset is a good safety net. A reset often clears out hidden glitches that build up over time, especially after major updates. If you want to avoid a full reset, you might also try resetting just the network settings or all settings (which keeps data but resets preferences) to see if that helps.

It’s definitely a bit of trial and error with older devices after updates, but hopefully one of these tips gets your battery back to normal without too much hassle!