iPhone Battery Percentage Stuck Not Updating on 6s or 6s Plus? Here’s a Fix

Jan 31, 2016 - 13 Comments

iPhone battery percentage indicator not updating or stuck, possible fix

Some iPhone users have discovered their devices battery life percentage indicator within the status bar is stuck and not updating, only to then have the percent jump way down, sometimes to the point where the iPhone is about to run out of battery. This seems to primarily impact the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, but a group of users with other devices have seen the issue as well, where the battery gauge doesn’t update.

The cause of the battery charge indicator being stuck and/or the percentage jumping dramatically issue is usually a software bug that Apple has acknowledged, with a fix coming in a future release of iOS software. But in the meantime there are three possible solutions which should remedy the issue if you happen to encounter this.

Fixing Battery Percentage Not Updating on iPhone 6s & iPhone 6s Plus

  1. Be sure the iPhone has cellular service or a wi-fi connection
  2. Open the Settings app in iOS and go to “General” followed by “Date & Time”
  3. Flip the switch for “Set Automatically” to the ON position
  4. Set the iPhone date and time automatically through the internet

  5. Next, restart the iPhone by holding down the Power and Home button until you see the  Apple logo

There are some reports that toggling the display of the battery percentage indicator on, then off, and back to the on position again can also force the indicator gauge to update, but that seems to offer a temporary resolution only.

When the iPhone powers back up, the battery percentage gauge should update as it typically would, without jumping around all over the place after a sustained period without changing.

In some situations, the above steps (which are actually offered by Apple), does not work to fix the battery indicator being stuck, and in that case Apple asks that you contact them directly, or wait for the upcoming software update fix with iOS, which is assumed to be iOS 9.3. iOS 9.3 is currently being tested, but there are mixed reports as to whether or not it has resolved it yet.

According to Apple, this bug is usually encountered by users who change time zones with their iPhone, or who don’t have the devices automatic date & time feature enabled. Nonetheless, there are some users who aren’t traveling time zones or setting their clocks manually that can still happen upon the problem. In the worst scenarios, the device will jump from around 90% to 5% after many hours of not changing, and then the device wants to shut itself down due to little remaining battery life.

As usual with troubleshooting iPhone issues, remember to update iOS system software when it becomes available, which often includes bug fixes and improvements to many issues like this.

.

Related articles:

Posted by: Paul Horowitz in iPhone, Troubleshooting

13 Comments

» Comments RSS Feed

  1. Enginear says:

    Just had this happen to my 6S. The battery percentage showed 92% for the past 12 hours and then when I decided to power it down and restart it, the battery was completely dead, showing the empty battery image on the screen.

  2. iOS sucks says:

    This is still a problem in iOS version 11.4.1

  3. Gabrielle says:

    My phone’s battery percentage won’t change from 100% no matter what. I’ve tried everything listed here and nothing seems to work. I took my phone to get fixed recently and I still have this problem. All they did was fix the screen.

  4. Alexa says:

    I did everything and restarted my phone 4 times updated it and still the battery percentage is at 100

  5. Rahul Zalte Iphone says:

    Guys I have IPhone 6 the device is fully premium but in some case like battery it’s drop down the hearts . In my case the battery indicator keeps on flucktuating like when u turn on n turn off the charger twice then while it will show you the correct info or status of battery I jus asked apple team to diagnose the device they told that its working properly but there a software issue in my phone so they suggested me to do a restore and update once after u get a fresh files on your iPhone 6 jus remember that you set it as new device . It helped me out perfectly now m happy with apple . So guys do a a restore and update via iTunes and set it as new device ❤️

    • Junaid says:

      How can I do a restore? (Could you link me to a website, or suggest steps to do the restore)

      And is restoring the same as factory resetting?

  6. Halo says:

    This is why people leave iOS Apple and call it a crappy product. I am getting this problem and it’s absurd! Why make such useless products? That’s why Android always wins, I swear to God as soon as I save up I’m switching to android and throwing this junk in the dumpster.

  7. Muzza says:

    From complaints I have read this has nothing to do with time-zone changes. Every single person that has reported this problem has used a back-up for their new phone, backing up information from a previous iPhone. It cracks me up that they say to insure you install the new updates. These updates NEVER fix outstanding issues with phones. This is simply a ploy to get consumers to do updates. why? Because their technology has come to the end and they cant improve it any more. The only way to get people buying new stuff is to do “upgrades” which serve to downgrade performance and make you think you need the latest and greatest.

  8. Vozzie Bear says:

    I have also been getting the same issue on my iPhone 6 but it seems linked to the cold weather in my case. As the phone is exposed to the frigid temperature, the battery indicator will drop from as high as 90% to 1% in almost a minute. I have a case on my phone and while it doesn’t shut off while it is in my pocket, it does within a few minutes of exposure to the air. I know batteries and their charge is affected by temperature but this is pushing absurdity.

  9. Wharf Xanadu says:

    Happens to me sometimes on every iPhone

Leave a Reply

 

Shop on Amazon.com and help support OSXDaily!

Subscribe to OSXDaily

Subscribe to RSS Subscribe to Twitter Feed Follow on Facebook Subscribe to eMail Updates

Tips & Tricks

News

iPhone / iPad

Mac

Troubleshooting

Shop on Amazon to help support this site