The not-so-secret iPhone setting that millions of social media users are only now learning can make their battery last longer

A hidden iPhone setting is being hailed as a game changer on social media as millions of users are just now discovering that it improves battery life – even though Apple released it last year.

Called ‘Optimized Battery Charging’, this feature is designed to reduce wear and tear on your battery and improve its lifespan by shortening the time your smartphone is fully charged.

Apple says it slows down an iPhone’s charge by more than 80 percent, using machine learning to learn your daily routine so that Optimized Battery Charging kicks in at the right time.

Charging stops at 80 percent because the battery ages chemically if it always reaches 100 percent power — and social media users are urging others to “always enable optimized battery charging when charging your phone.”

Beneath those shiny, sleek surfaces, your iPhone battery is full of a complex chemical paste that undergoes an energy-rich reaction every time you charge your phone and every time you use it.

So, of course, there are ways to wisely put all that electrochemical energy into your iPhone’s battery — and plenty of ways to charge your phone recklessly, slowly degrading your battery’s performance over time.

“A battery’s chemical age is the result of a complex combination of several factors,” Apple said, “including temperature history and charging pattern.”

“All rechargeable batteries are consumables that become less effective as they chemically age,” the company says.

Fortunately, the iPhone maker has a feature tucked away in your phone’s settings that helps manage how your battery charges, tailoring it to your own charging habits so your battery undergoes as little electrochemical “wear and tear” as possible.

Here’s how to start optimizing your iPhone battery.

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Here you will find optimized battery charging on your iPhone. Open Settings on your home screen, then click Battery > Battery health and charging > Optimized battery charging

First, find the Settings app on your home screen.

Open Settings, then click Battery > Battery health and charging > Optimized battery charging.

Once set, Optimized Charging limits the amount of time your iPhone’s battery is fully charged. It slows down charging after your phone reaches 80 percent.

In other words, it reduces the time your battery is filled to the gills with energy, some of which inevitably makes it much more likely to trigger chemical reactions that decompose the battery internally.

If you’re in a hurry and your phone needs a quick charge, don’t worry, just tap the Optimized charging notification on your lock screen and tap Charge now

Note that according to Apple, Optimized battery charging takes at least two weeks to fully learn your charging habits. So it takes a while to get into gear.

That also means giving your phone permission to track “Points of Interest” where you usually leave your iPhone plugged in to charge.

To allow that, go to the Settings app again and enable these geolocation permissions: Privacy and Security > Location Services > System Services > Significant Locations > Significant Locations.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to worry about being tracked with these permissions.

None of the location information used for optimized battery charging is sent to Apple. It’s all exclusively stored on your iPhone.

Once your device has undergone at least nine charging sessions of five hours or more, the feature is ready to go and extend the life of your battery.

Users with iOS 13 and above will notice that this optimization is enabled automatically. But for those with an older iPhone or someone who has location services turned off, this dive back into Settings to check could be a lifesaver.

What Optimized Battery Charging does is temporarily suspend charging your device overnight, extending the time it takes to get that much-needed full charge by the morning when you wake up.

It also makes the same calculation as when you charge your phone at the office or where you usually leave your device docked.

Or as Apple puts it: “Your iPhone uses on-device machine learning to learn your daily charging routine so that Optimized Battery Charging only activates when your iPhone predicts it will be plugged into a charger for an extended period of time. The algorithm should ensure that your iPhone is still fully charged when it’s not plugged in.”

So if you find that your iPhone is struggling to maintain its power, this trick can help you stay charged longer without further weakening the battery.

And if you’re in a hurry and want to charge your phone quickly, don’t worry, just press the Optimized charging notification on your lock screen and tap Charge now.