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How disabling location tracking affects iPhone battery wear

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Disabling location tracking interferes with Optimized Battery Charging.

Many iOS users are surprised when they find out about iPhone location tracking tools. We already wrote that starting with iOS 7, the iPhone and iPad have tracking and collecting data on the movement of the owner.

iPhone generates a list of places visited by the iPhone or iPad user. It is displayed in the form of a movement history and contains the coordinates and time, when and how long the user was in any place. In short, the iPhone knows when, what time and where you were, as well as what mode of transport you get there and how long it takes, which is pretty scary, you say.

“Your iPhone and devices connected to iCloud will keep track of the places you’ve been to recently," Apple says, “as well as how often and when you’ve visited them, to find out the places that matter to you.

While Apple’s encryption and the fact that this data is only stored on devices definitely reduces security and privacy risks, many security experts advise disabling this feature as it does not provide meaningful benefits.

We think so too, but yesterday ZDnet talked about one significant side effect of disabling location tracking – it can lead to premature battery wear.

How disabling location tracking can drain your iPhone battery, you ask. Well, to answer this question, it is worth understanding why Apple collects this data at all.

They are used to provide you with personalized features, such as predicting your route home, or creating memories in photos.

All in all, this data makes your phone’s machine learning smarter. And one thing it’s used for, among other things, is to determine if your iPhone should enable Optimized Battery Charging when you plug your iPhone into a charger.

How disabling location tracking affects iPhone battery wear

Optimized battery charging in iOS 13 and later is designed to reduce battery wear and tear and extend battery life by reducing the time your iPhone spends fully charged.

When this feature is enabled, in certain situations your iPhone will stop charging after reaching 80%. iPhone uses machine learning to understand your daily routine so that optimized charging only kicks in when your iPhone predicts it will be plugged into a charger for an extended period of time.

That is, if you leave your phone at night, the algorithm predicts what time you usually go to bed in order to fully charge your iPhone during this time. And if you, for example, connect it for a small recharge during the day, it will charge up to 80% so as not to wear out the battery.  

How disabling location tracking affects iPhone battery wear

Thus, disabling location tracking leads to rapid battery wear.

You can check what location data your iPhone is collecting by going to Privacy → Location ServicesSystem ServicesSignificant Places. To access this data, you will need to authenticate with an iPhone passcode or with Face ID/Touch ID.

Once inside, you can see what data is collected, what it is used for, delete it and prevent it from being collected.

According to the company, this data is encrypted and cannot be read by anyone. The data is protected by your device’s security system, but it’s still there. And when it comes to data, there is no absolute privacy or absolute security.

But be aware that this data is used for many things in apps like Photos, Maps, Calendar, as well as system services like Optimized Battery Charging.

Cover image: Tyler Lastovich | Unsplash.

Based on ZDnet material .

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