20 Ways to Improve Battery Life on Your iPod Touch

Have a draining battery? Here's what to do

There's nothing worse than a battery that dies too fast. A battery drain on your iPod Touch while in the middle of your favorite song, the most exciting part of a movie, or at a key point in a game is extremely frustrating. The iPod Touch packs a lot of juice, but heavy users can go through batteries quickly. There's a lot you can do for an iPod Touch battery that dies too fast.

You probably don't want to use all these battery-saving tips at once—you'd turn off every interesting feature of your iPod. Instead, choose the ones that work best for how you use your device and see how much more battery each gives you.

01
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Turn Off Background App Refresh

background app refresh screen on iOS 9

Your iPod Touch wants to be smart. So smart that it pays attention to what apps you use when and tries to make life easier for you.

For example, if you always check Facebook during breakfast, your iPod learns that and, in the background, updates Facebook with the latest posts before breakfast, so you see fresh content. Cool, yes, but it takes up battery. You can always update app content yourself.

To turn off the background app refresh setting on an iPod Touch, open Settings, and go to General > Background App Refresh. Then, disable the feature completely or turn it off for some apps.

02
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Turn Off Auto-Updating for Apps

itunes and app stores screen on iPhone

Another way the iPod Touch makes your life easier, which causes the battery to die faster, is how it automatically updates apps. Instead of requiring you to update apps to the new versions, this feature updates them for you as app updates become available.

That's nice, but those downloads and installs can use up battery life. To save the battery, wait to update all apps at once when the battery is charged or the iPod is plugged in.

To disable this from Settings, go to iTunes & App Store and turn off Updates next to Automatic Downloads.

03
of 20

Turn Off Motion and Animations

redcue motion screen on iOS device

One neat feature introduced in iOS 7 included animation and visual effects improvements, like fancy transitions between screens, and the ability for apps to float over the top of the wallpaper and move as you tilt the device.

These look cool, but when you're trying to conserve energy, these effects aren't essential. Later versions of iOS cut down on these animations, but you can still save battery without them.

To reduce this motion on your iPod to prevent it from draining the battery, go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Reduce Motion. Move the Reduce Motion toggle switch to green/on.

04
of 20

Keep Bluetooth Off Unless You're Using It

Control Center on iOS device

The battery dies a little each time you connect to other devices, and even when your iPod tries to connect but fails. This is especially true for Bluetooth, which you might not realize is on but can constantly be searching for devices.

It's best to turn on Bluetooth only when you're going to connect to a device. Otherwise, turn it off from Control Center by tapping the Bluetooth icon (to make it grey).

05
of 20

Turn Off Wi-Fi Unless You're Using It

Control Center on iOS device

Wi-Fi is one of the worst culprits when it comes to features that drain the battery of an iPod Touch. That's because when Wi-Fi is on, and if the iPod isn't connected, it's constantly scanning for a network to connect to. When it finds one it could use, it tries to join it, but this constant use is rough on the batteries.

Keep Wi-Fi turned off until you're using it. Like Bluetooth, you can disable Wi-Fi on an iPod Touch from Control Center. Tap the Wi-Fi icon to make it grey.

06
of 20

Reduce Screen Brightness

display and brightness screen on iPhone

The energy that it takes to light up the screen on the iPod Touch is something you can't avoid using, but you can control how much you use. That's because you can change the brightness of the screen.

The brighter the screen, the more battery life it needs. Keep the screen brightness low, and you'll quickly find that your iPod Touch battery lasts longer.

You can adjust the screen brightness of your iPod from Settings, under the Display & Brightness options.

07
of 20

Only Upload Photos When You Need To

iCloud photos screen on iOS device

Uploading things from an iPod Touch is a huge battery killer. Most people upload massive amounts of data in the form of images. iCloud is one example of this.

iCloud is a useful service that provides many benefits, but if you take tons of photos, it can also be a problem for your battery. This is because of a feature included in the iPod settings that automatically uploads photos to iCloud after you take them.

You can disable auto-uploads for iCloud in Settings. Go to Photos and move the iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream toggle switches to the off/white position.

Auto-uploads are supported by other apps, too. Google Photos is one popular backup tool for images and videos, and if left open in the background, it drains the battery as much as it has to until the files upload. You can disable auto-backup in that app, too.

08
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Disable Push for Email

fetch new data screen on iPhone

There are two ways to check email on an iPod: manually, when you open the Mail app, or automatically via having the email servers push new messages to you as messages arrive.

Push makes it easy to be on top of the latest communications, but since it's grabbing email more often, it's another reason your iPod Touch might have a short battery life.

Unless you need to be super up to date at all times, turn off push on your iPod Touch. Go to Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Fetch New Data, and move the Push toggle switch to the white/off position.

09
of 20

Wait Longer to Download Email

fetch new data screen on iPhone

Since checking email takes battery life, the less often you check for new messages, the more battery you'll save. You can control how often your device checks for emails to save the iPod Touch battery.

Here's how: go to Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Fetch New Data, and select an option from the list. Try a longer time between checking for the best results.

10
of 20

Turn Off Music EQ

music eq settings on iPhone

If you have an iPod Touch, you probably have a few songs on it. After all, the iPod did start out as the most dominant portable MP3 player in the world.

One aspect of the Music app is that it uses software to make sure everything sounds great. It does this by applying equalization to songs. This can boost bass in hip hop or echo in chamber music, for example.

It's not a requirement, though, so unless you're an audiophile, you can turn it off to reduce battery drain on your iPod. Go to Settings > Music > EQ, and tap Off.

11
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Avoid Animated Wallpapers

wallpaper selection screen on iPhone

Similar to how unnecessary animations burn up battery life on an iPod Touch, Live and Dynamic wallpapers can negatively impact how long an iPod can hold a charge.

Again, these wallpapers are nice to look at but don't do much. When you change the wallpaper, stick to a regular, static image (for example, don't choose something from the Dynamic area of the iPod settings).

12
of 20

Turn Off AirDrop When You're Not Using It

AirDrop Settings on iPhone

AirDrop is Apple's wireless file-sharing tool—and it's great unless it uses up battery life. Only turn AirDrop on when you need to use it and when the other person is close enough to take advantage of it.

To disable AirDrop to keep the battery from dying so fast, go to Settings > General > AirDrop, and tap Receiving Off.

13
of 20

Turn Off Location Awareness

location services screen on iPhone

Location services need to be enabled for an iPod Touch to be useful as a location-aware device. This means that if you want to find the closest Starbucks or get directions to a restaurant or gas station, it needs to use your location.

Like most things, having location services running all the time affects how often an iPod uses Wi-Fi, and thus impacts battery life. Turning off location services on an iPod might be one of the best ways to get more battery.

Here's how to disable all location services: go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services, and move the Location Services toggle switch to the off/white position.

14
of 20
system services screen on iPhone

Buried within the Privacy settings of iOS are other features that use your location for things that are helpful, but not essential. Turn all of these off, and you'll never miss them—but the battery will last longer.

Here's how to get there: Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services. Move the toggle switches for Diagnostics & Usage, Location-Based Apple Ads, Location-Based Suggestions, and Popular Near Me to off/white.

15
of 20

Lock Your Screen Faster

auto-lock screen on iPhone

Lighting up the Retina display on an iPod Touch requires power, so the less you use the screen, the better. The brightness controls can help conserve the battery, but that's only part of the equation.

You can also control how quickly your iPod locks the screen after going idle. The quicker it locks, the faster you can start saving battery life.

Manage the Auto-Lock option in Settings > Display & Brightness to take advantage of this battery life saver.

16
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Use Low Power Mode

low power mode option in iOS 10

If your battery is extremely low and you need to squeeze more life out of it, Apple has you covered with a setting called Low Power Mode. This is a one-touch feature to auto-adjust several settings on an iPod, potentially adding up to three hours of battery life.

Since Low Power Mode disables some features, it's best to use it only when the battery is draining fast, but you need to keep it on until the next recharge.

Go to Settings > Battery, and enable Lower Power Mode to turn it on.

17
of 20

Find Apps That Hog the Battery

iOS battery usage screen

Some apps are battery hogs, and iOS provides a way to identify these apps. Once you know which iPod apps drain the battery the most, you can delete those apps or see if the apps are outdated (updates sometimes resolve battery issues).

Go to Settings > Battery to view the apps based on battery usage over the last day or week. Delete the biggest offenders if you don't need those apps.

18
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Blocking Ads Can Save Battery

safari content blockers

Viewing ads when browsing the web can drain that battery. That's because animated ads and tracking codes that ads use to follow you around the internet take up battery life.

You'll need to install a content blocking app from the App Store before you block ads in Safari. Once you do, open Settings > Safari > Content Blockers, and move the toggle switch to the green/on position next to the content blocker.

19
of 20

Try a Battery Pack

techlink recharge

Techlink

If the battery saving tips listed above aren't enough, consider using a battery pack. These attach to the outside of an iPod and act as a second battery.

The great thing about battery packs for iPods is that all you have to do is charge these like you do your iPod, and they fit on your device like a sleeve. You don't need to bother with any settings; just attach and go.

20
of 20

Don't Quit Apps; It Won't Help

Apps open on iPhone X

Many people believe that shutting down open apps improves battery life. For example, if you have a few games open, along with a social media app and a web browser, that your iPod drains battery slower if you shut some of those down.

In reality, forcing those apps to close can cause a faster battery drain. You can read more about that.

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