Apple’s latest iPhone iOS update has gifted users with some very oddly specific emojis – but they’ve come with a cost.
A paint splatter, a seriously tired looking face and a leafless tree are some of the eight new emojis that came with iOS 18.4 yesterday.
Other emojis include a radish, harp, shovel, fingerprint and the flag of Sark, an English Channel island home to a few hundred people.
They were approved by the Unicode Consortium, an organisation which maintains the standards for digital text, last year.
iOS 18.4 rolls out an improved Apple Intelligence, the company’s answer to AI, as well as a raft of bug fixes.
Within hours, however, iPhone holders began flagging on Apple’s Community forums that their batteries were depleting faster than usual.
They said the same on X, too. ‘My battery health just jumped from 99% to 95% after the iOS 18.4 update?’ a user posted this morning.
Another added: ‘I know better than to update right away. But I updated to iOS 18.4 without thinking. Battery life used to be 89%. I can’t get it above 50% now.’
One X user shared a screenshot from the battery section on their iPhone’s settings, which tracks the mobile’s battery level and when it is charged. It shows the iPhone’s battery tumbling from 12pm.
X user @OldAppleTech had warned users as early as February about the battery issue. Having downloaded a beta version of the software update, he said: ‘Battery life isn’t just s**t in iOS 18.4 it’s utterly horrendous.’
Apple says that it’s normal for iPhone battery to be a little worse for wear immediately following an update, but should be fine in a few days.
‘Even though you can use your iPhone immediately after an update, certain tasks related to the update continue in the background and might affect battery life and thermal performance,’ the company says.
What should I do if my iPhone battery drains quickly?
Experts on the Apple Community forums told worried users that there are a fair few things they can do.
‘Apple recommends you get a new battery when the Battery Health reaches below 89%,’ one said. ‘So, see if it’s time for a new battery.’
iPhone owners can check this on the battery page of their settings. Tapping ‘Battery Health & Charging’ will bring up the battery health.
Battery drain can be caused by a few factors, such as the age of the battery itself and how the phone is used day-to-day.
But newer operating systems can overwork the power cell on older iPhones as the hardware can’t work as smoothly as the faster processors in newer models.
People can help make their batteries last longer by switching their iPhone to Low Power Mode, decreasing the brightness or switching off power-hungry functions like Background App Refresh and Location Services.
You can also consult the battery-usage screen to find the worst battery offenders – apps that consume the most power.
Community users also recommend people check out the ‘Maximum capacity’ section on the battery settings. It’s a measure of how long the battery juice will last today compared to when the iPhone was new.
If you need your battery replaced by Apple, the device will display a message saying: ‘Your battery health is significantly degraded.’
Users will then be given a link to Apple’s support webpage about getting the smartphone serviced.
Apple has been approached for comment.
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