iPhones are fantastic devices with great battery life but can you use an iPhone while charging or does it damage the device? Let me explain.
It is safe to use an iPhone while charging, but the iPhone charging speed will slow down and divert the power between charging the battery and powering what the iPhone is being used for, The more intensive the task, for example gaming the less the iPhone will charge if not at all.
I use my iPhone and charge all the time, however, you should always use an MFI (made for iPhone) charging cable and power brick, or a reputable third-party company like Anker to correctly charge your iPhone without damaging it.
However, if the back of your iPhone where the battery is gets warm to the touch whilst charging STOP using the iPhone as your iPhone needs to release heat.
Keep reading to know if it’s okay to play games while charging an iPhone and what happens if you play games whilst charging the iPhone, could the device possibly overheat?
Is It Okay to Play Games While Charging An iPhone?
It is not recommended to play games as the iPhone will heat up while charging, this damages the iPhone’s battery worse than playing unconnected to a power source. The charging rate will be slower. as the power will be diverted between charging and playing the game, and the CPU will be throttled due to excessive heat generated.
If you’re doing light web browsing or watching YouTube videos it is fine to use your iPhone while charging, but playing games is a very intensive process for the iPhone CPU, It is better to leave your iPhone alone to let it charge before playing.
However, if you really want to play while charging, please use the following tips to prolong your iPhone’s battery life whilst playing your favorite games.
5 ways to keep your iPhone’s battery healthy while playing games
1. Turn off Siri
Playing games is very demanding for your iPhone, whilst Siri allows you to stay connected to the iPhone without lifting a finger it drains the battery and does not stop working as you play games. Turning off Siri is a great idea to prolong your battery’s health.
How to turn off Siri
- Tap on Settings.
- Tap on Siri & Search.
- Toggle off Listen for “Hey Siri,” Press Side Button for Siri, and Allow Siri When Locked.
- Tap on Turn Off Siri in the popup.
To turn off Siri, go to Settings, followed by Siri and Search and disable options that do not serve your purpose at the moment.
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2. Turn off location services
If you’re not using Apple or Google maps location services, be smart and then it off as it’s very battery intensive. Aside from special circumstances like Pokémon GO, games do not require location services to be turned on to work.
How to turn off location services
Go to Settings > Privacy, then select Location Services. Select an app, then turn Precise Location on or off
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3. Turn on low power mode
Low power mode usually activates when you’re iPhone’s battery is lower than 20% manually turning it off whilst gaming will improve the phone’s battery life.
Remember turning off low power mode turns off notifications from apps and reduces functions including email fetch “hey Siri’ background app refreshing and automatic downloads.
While Low Power Mode allows your iPhone to save battery, some iPhone functions will be reduced when in Low Power Mode, including email fetch, “Hey Siri,” background app refreshing, and automatic downloads. If you low power mode on Siri is automatically deactivated
How To Turn On Low Power Mode
- Tap on settings
- Tap on battery
- Tap on lower power mode and switch it to ‘off’
You can also turn Low Power Mode on and off from Control Center. Go to Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls, then select Low Power Mode to add it to Control Center.
4. Reduce iPhones volume
The higher volume makes the iPhone work harder which drains the battery quicker, as a gamer I know how important sound is to get a great gaming experience but if you use Bluetooth headphones like AirPods(Amazon) this saves the iPhones battery as the power is coming from the headphones.
5. Keep the brightness down
iPhones displays are gorgeous but the higher the brightness levels the higher toll it has on the iPhone’s battery.
I recommend setting your brightness to your environment by using the auto-brightness feature do this by heading to Settings > Accessibility. Tap Display & Text Size, then turn on Auto–Brightness.
Or use the brightness slider bar to adjust the brightness level to levels you are happy with.
Other tips to improve iPhone battery while gaming
- Don’t put your iPhone in vibration mode
- Keep iOS and All Apps Up to date.
- turn off Bluetooth when not in use
- Turn off Airdrop when not in use.
- Turn on airplane mode
- Do NOT game on your iPhone while charging in direct sunlight
Everyone loves gaming on their iPhone but please be careful as the iPhone’s lithium-ion battery does not like the extreme heat caused by gaming.
If you don’t follow the previous tips your iPhone battery will quickly degrade, needing to be replaced.
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What Happens If You Play Games While Charging Your iPhone?
As a whole playing games while charging an iPhone reduces the iPhone’s maximum capacity and runs a risk of overheating especially when using non-Apple-certified charging cables and/or batteries.
So, what could happen to your iPhone if you play games while charging?
1. Your iPhone will heat up
Games are resource-intensive applications. If you ever notice the back of your iPhone is hot to touch, immediately stop playing, put the iPhone on to sleep and let it cool down. , otherwise, you risk serious damage to your device.
Your iPhone is likely to heat too much when playing games, especially HD video. Usually, the iPhone dissipates
2. Your iPhone’s maximum charge will go down.
Playing games especially whilst charging will reduce your iPhone’s maximum capacity any iPhone with a battery capacity of 80% or above is considered by Apple to be in good health.
Apple provides a 1-year warranty that covers any battery at 80% capacity or more. It is not uncommon that an iPhone after one year will have a battery capacity of 95% or above, but playing games while charging will certainly make this very unlikely.
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3. Playing games slow down the charging rate
Have you ever measured the time taken by your phone to charge when switched on and off or when you use it? It charges faster when switched off.
If you use the iPhone whilst charging power is used for operating the iPhone as well as charging the phone, this dramatically reduces charging speed as not all the iPhone resources are used to charge the phone.
4. Playing games might loosen the USB Port
Some games like Fortnite and PUBG require you to move the iPhone whilst aiming this excessive handling possibly could damage the USB port, a damaged USB port can cause issues when charging or even make charging impossible.
Some games require movements and operations and handling like PUBG, and honor of kings, among others. Movement, processes, and handling can affect the USB port or damage it. A damaged USB port can have issues when charging and can even fail to charge completely.