It's Not You — A Lot Of People Are Having Battery Issues With iOS 11

With iOS, Apple has done the unthinkable: It's managed to make software updates sexy to Apple groupies and everyday iPhone users alike. New phones aren't the only thing that gets people talking, anymore. Each operating system rollout is accompanied by a collective excitement about new features — photo scanning, control center customization, photo effects, oh my! — that rivals the joy of other buzzy annual releases, from Starbucks' seasonal frappuccinos to the latest Target designer collaboration.

But this year, that collective excitement has quickly given way to pull-out-your-hair levels of frustration. If you've been unhappy with your iPhone's performance since updating to iOS 11, 11.01, 11.02, or 11.03, know that you aren't alone: Twitter is abuzz with talk of poor battery life and frozen screens.

It's common for battery life to be slightly worse the first day or two after you've downloaded the new iOS, but many of the complaints reference battery issues that continue beyond that time span. Apple has not issued any official statement about iOS 11 problems, though the official Apple Support Twitter account has directed people to DM them with their grievances.

If you're among those feeling frustrated, there are few things you can do to make sure you're getting the most out of your battery. Start by going to Settings > Battery. Here you can toggle on low power mode, decrease your screen's brightness, and turn on True-Tone, which will automatically adjust the screen's brightness in different lighting.

More importantly, though, the Battery Screen will show you which apps are draining your phone's battery the most over the past day and week — for me, Instagram tends to be my downfall. Tap the name of an app to find out how much of that battery was used while you were actually in the app, and how much was used on background. Once you've identified the culprits, go to back to the main Settings menu and select General > Background App Refresh. Turn off refresh for those apps that are putting the biggest strain on your battery.

Take an additional measure towards power saving by only keeping location services on for the apps you use regularly. When my battery life is struggling and I'm nowhere near an outlet or a Mophie, I turn off location services for everything other than Google Maps. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and adjust each app's location permissions.

The same thinking applies to notifications. While I usually keep my notifications on for texts, I turn them off for every other app to save power. Go to Settings > Notifications to change which apps send notifications to your lock screen.

Apple also advises staying connected to Wi-Fi whenever possible to conserve power, though be sure the network you're connecting to is secure — coffee shops, subway cars, and other public Wi-Fi services are not the best options.

If all else fails and you find yourself missing the way things were on iOS 10, you can revert back to iOS 10.3.3 so long as you backed up your iTunes before downloading iOS 11. Just know that doing so won't give you access to the exploding head, adorable hedgehog, mermaid, and all the other new emoji coming with iOS 11.1. Though if an in-the-red battery is enough to make your head explode on its own, maybe it is worth it.