battery drain

A small number of early Apple Watch users are reporting problems charging the device, as well as excessive drain of the paired iPhone’s battery, according to posts on Apple’s discussion forums and Twitter. According to training documents received by 9to5Mac, Apple is already aware of the issues, and offering solutions that may help affected users.

Users with charging problems have explained that the Apple Watch will physically connect to its charger and say that it’s charging properly, “but in reality the power diminishes as if no charger was plugged in.” In some cases, the issue appears to be in software, where one of two several-step tricks may enable the Watch to recharge:

1. Turn off and reset the Watch, first holding the side button, swiping to power off, then holding the Digital Crown and side button at the same time until the Apple logo appears. This alone may solve the problem.
2. If that doesn’t work, restart the connected iPhone, open the Apple Watch app, then Erase All Content and Settings using General > Reset. Set up the Watch again and see if charging works.

Some users have noted that their issues appear to be hardware defects, which are being resolved by AppleCare using either replacement Watches or charging cables. However, one user noted that what appeared to be a hardware problem may have been caused by not removing protective plastic on the Watch’s rear charging surface, and was resolved by restarting the Watch. These types of problems, as well as “super quick” iPhone battery drain issues are in the process of being addressed by Apple, as explained below…

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In the days following the launch of Google’s predictive ‘Now’ feature now baked into its Google Search iOS app, some users complained of experiencing noticeable battery drain due the app’s process of accessing location data. Today, Google has weighed in with an official response to LifeHacker calling reports of battery drain “incorrect”:

Reports that Google Now drains battery life are incorrect. We understand people’s concern about seeing the Location Services icon stay on when they use Google Now. Many apps that keep the icon on actually do drain the phone’s battery because they require very accurate location. (For example a navigation app has to run your GPS all the time to keep you from missing your turn.)

Google explained that Now is “built very differently” than other apps that utilize Location Services by using “cell towers and wifi hot spots for much lower battery impact.” 

Google’s response continues by noting it didn’t receive any reports of battery drain during its extensive month of testing the feature on iOS and encouraged users to contact them if they continue to see a problem:
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