Apple Watch Gets a Power Saver Mode in watchOS 9
The Apple Watch already has a power save mode, but if you turn it on, you can’t do anything with it anymore. This will get better from watchOS 9, as Apple is working on a new Power Reserve mode.
Read on after the ad.
power save mode watchOS 9
Is your Apple Watch battery on its last legs, but do you want it to make it to the end of the day? Then you can choose to activate the energy-saving mode. That only limits the functionality very drastically, because the Apple Watch only shows the time in the power saving mode.
Fortunately, watchOS 9 improves this. At least this is what the usually well-informed Apple insider Mark Gurman reports from Bloomberg† Apple would introduce a power-saving mode that allows you to use some apps and functions without using too much battery.
Energy Saving Mode
This makes the new power saving mode more similar to the Energy Saving Mode as we know it from the iPhone. After activating this iPhone function (you do this via ‘Settings>Battery’), all kinds of background processes are temporarily reduced. For example, apps no longer refresh in the background and no emails are fetched. You don’t notice that much, but the battery lasts longer.
Furthermore, according to Gurman, Apple plans to refresh many watch faces in watchOS 9. There will also be a new atrial fibrillation feature, which tracks how often a person has had atrial fibrillation — a heart rhythm disorder — over a period of time.
Activate Apple Watch power saving mode
The latest Apple Watch Series models last about 18 hours on a single landing. Hopefully, with the new energy-saving mode, you can stretch this a bit in the future. So now there is already a saving mode, but you only see the time with it. You activate the saving mode as follows:
- Swipe up from below the Watch screen to open the Control Center;
- Tap the battery percentage button;
- Slide the slider at ‘Power Save’ to the right.
