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In iOS 26, users are increasingly concerned about battery life (i.e., battery health/maximum capacity/cycle count) and daily battery consumption. Apple has also added new features in iOS 26, such as "Battery Health," "Charge Cycles," and "Adaptive Power Mode."

For developers, in addition to instructing users to check battery health in "Settings → Battery Health," it's important to establish a multi-tool approach to systematically monitor battery life during development, testing, and release, and identify app behaviors that affect battery consumption or aging.

I. Key Dimensions for Monitoring Battery Life

To effectively monitor battery life in iOS 26, focus on the following dimensions:

Maximum capacity percentage (Battery Health → Maximum Capacity) and number of charge cycles.

Battery Drain Rate: Whether the battery drains abnormally quickly under normal use, with active apps and background activity.

Device Temperature and Power Load: High temperatures or high power consumption often accelerate chemical aging of batteries.

Year/Cycle Comparison: Older vs. newer models, high vs. low battery cycle counts, and battery life performance. App Behavior Correlation: Does an app cause excessive resource consumption or background activity, thus affecting battery life?

System Version Impact: After upgrading to iOS 26, system rebuilds, background indexing, animation effects, or new features may have a short-term impact on battery status.

These dimensions form the starting point for our assessment of battery life.

II. Multi-Tool Combination Solution: Clear Role Definitions

To cover these dimensions, the following tool combination is recommended, with each tool playing a clearly defined role:

By combining the above methods, you can establish a "battery life monitoring" system from the device layer to the App layer.

III. Practical Workflow: Viewing and Monitoring Battery Life in iOS 26 Apps

Below is an executable workflow suitable for development or testing environments, helping you view and monitor device battery life and correlate it with app behavior.

Step 1: Baseline Data Collection

Select multiple representative device models (new and old, different usage years) and upgrade them to iOS 26.

On each device, go to "Settings → Battery → Battery Health" and record the maximum battery percentage and charging cycle count.

Use a professional diagnostic tool to export a detailed battery status report (cycle count, temperature, charging history).

Install KeyMob on the devices, enable the battery and resource monitoring module, and record the following for one day: battery drain rate, peak resource usage, and background activity count.

Step 2: App Behavior Trigger Test

Trigger key app behaviors (high frame rate animation, background refresh, image/video caching, network polling, etc.) using automated scripts or manual guidance.

During execution, KeyMob monitors resource usage, background activity, temperature, power consumption trends, and battery drain rate.

Monitor device power consumption during this behavior using Instruments' Energy module.

Step 3: Observe Battery Life Changes

Several days after triggering the test, revisit "Battery Health" to check for any abnormal decrease in maximum capacity or increase in charging cycles.

Use KeyMob to export the battery drain rate trend within the cycle: If the battery drains faster under the same operation, it may indicate battery life or cycle impact.

Compare across multiple devices/versions: For example, on iOS 26 vs. older systems, or older models vs. newer models.

Step 4: Correlation Analysis between App Behavior and Battery Life

Correlate KeyMob-recorded app behaviors (such as background refresh counts, resource loading counts, high-power animation trigger counts) with battery drain rate, cycle count changes, and temperature peaks.

If an app is found to be active in the background frequently and the corresponding device's battery drains quickly, its background logic should be further optimized, wake-ups reduced, and resource usage lowered.

Find the behaviors corresponding to power consumption/temperature peaks in Instruments and apply optimization measures (such as limiting background tasks, reducing frame rate, and reducing resource synchronization).

Step 5: Continuous Monitoring and Reporting

Deploy KeyMob to test devices or select user devices to continuously monitor battery health, cycle count, battery degradation rate, and resource behavior.

Generate periodic reports, such as "Monthly Changes in Cycle Count for Device A," "Battery Degradation Rate Change Graph," and "Comparison of App Background Activity Count and Battery Degradation."

After each app update or system patch release, repeat the measurements and compare them with baseline data.

Optimization Recommendations:

Monitoring tools should have low load: Oversampling or frequent monitoring may actually increase power consumption; monitoring frequency should be set appropriately.

Battery status may temporarily decline after the upgrade: After the iOS 26 upgrade, the system may perform indexing, migration, and cache cleanup in the background, causing a temporary drop in battery health.

Don't just look at the maximum capacity percentage: Also consider comprehensive indicators such as cycle count, rate of battery degradation, and peak temperature.

Older devices require more focused monitoring: Devices used for many years or with many charge/discharge cycles are more prone to declining health.

App behavior optimization is crucial: High frame rate animations, frequent background refreshes, and frequent file read/write operations can all accelerate battery aging.

Continuous monitoring is more important than a single check: Battery life is a long-term process and should be tracked regularly.

Version differences must be covered: Patches/sub-versions of iOS 26 may affect battery health display or background behavior; multiple versions should be covered.