iPhone: Do you keep battery percentage on or off?

The subject of the iPhone’s battery life can be a surprisingly touchy one for some people, and nowhere is that demonstrated more than when it comes to displaying battery percentage. Some people love having battery percentage turned on, while others find it pointless and keep it turned off.

Should you keep battery percentage on or off? I think it very much depends on how much you use your iPhone.

Folks that tend to run their battery charge down each day seem to be a bit more conscientious about knowing exactly how much power they have left. So they tend to want the battery percentage displayed on their iPhones.

More casual users don’t worry about battery life as much, and seem to prefer having battery percentage off on their iPhones. They regard it as unnecessary information and screen clutter.

I keep battery percentage off on my iPhone

I don’t bother to keep battery percentage displayed on my iPhone 6s Plus for a couple of reasons:

1. The iPhone 6s Plus has a big battery, and I rarely worry about running out of juice. One charge can last me as long as 3 days, depending on how often I use my phone.

2. I wear a 38mm Space Grey Apple Watch, and using the watch has made me use my iPhone 6s Plus less. So the battery life of my phone seems to last longer since the Apple Watch lets me reply to text messages and do other things I previously did on my phone.

How to turn battery percentage on or off on the iPhone

If you decide to enable or disable battery percentage on your iPhone, here’s how you can do it:

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Tap on Battery.

3. Tap on Battery Percentage to toggle it on or off.

I’ve found that keeping battery percentage off just removes a little bit of clutter from the top of the iPhone’s display. It’s not really a big deal, but why bother having it on when it just takes up a bit of extra space?

What other folks are saying about the display of battery percentage on the iPhone

The issue of whether or not to display battery percentage on the iPhone came up in a recent thread on the Apple subreddit, and the folks there weren’t shy about sharing their opinions.

I’ll leave you with this selection of comments from that discussion thread:

Beckerola: “Off. The picture is good enough. People obsess too much over their batteries, I’ve noticed.”

CrankyWanker: “On. Why would I want to guess how much battery I have left? It’s extremely useful for knowing if I should be cutting down on casual phone use if I’m out and under 40% battery.”

Arontx: “I keep it off because having too much information gives me range anxiety even though I have a Plus..

Unless I’m traveling or have some other activity planned that will keep me away from an available power source for an extended period. In that case I’ll enable the percentage view just to make sure I don’t get too low and end up stranded.”

RomanticPrime: “This pretty much. I used to have it on, and like a few of the others in this thread I wouldn’t have dreamed of turning it off. Then I realized that I shouldn’t be obsessing over it. I worry about more useful things now.”

KClickD: “On, always thought I’d obsess over it but I don’t and it’s great for me to gauge my usage.”

Otetz: “Mine is also on. Wish I could turn off the battery icon instead.”

WMDMA: “On, because Low Power Mode inexplicably requires it be on.”

C1aO: “I wish Apple let us get rid of the little battery icon and just use #%. There is no reason to have that little icon when you have an exact reading right next to it. Anyways, I leave mine on.”

Ashdown: “Off. The exact reading means nothing to me, because my usage varies so wildly.”

Cyanletters: “Off.

Battery percentage automatically turns on when it goes into low power mode. Plus I can always just check the widget. It’s not information that I always need on the screen, unlike cellular signal, wi-fi strength, etc. which is constantly changing when you’re on the go.”

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