# What's Apple's 'official' excuse for no audible battery low warning? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923 "2010-11-25T21:59:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/1 "2010-11-25T21:59:31Z")
I’ve googled this but the answers are all tldr and more often than not either out-of-date, wrong phone model, or just plain don’t answer the question. On the basis that the SDMB probably contains a lot of iphone owners, and some of them might already know the answer to this, I figured there’s actually less effort involved in just asking, at the expense of a tiny bit of effort expenditure for the answerer… So, what, if any, is Apple’s official reason for the iphone not having such a _basic_ feature? And if I’m somehow being dumb, and it does - why doesn’t my phone do it? And if it can, how do I _make it_? My phone isn’t jailbroken. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/2 "2010-11-25T22:40:33Z")
I’m pretty sure that when it gets down to \<20%, it does a pop-up notification that should make a sound like any other pop ups that you have. Same thing for \<10% I think. If your phone is on silent I think it’ll just vibrate briefly. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/3 "2010-11-25T22:46:30Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > I’m pretty sure that when it gets down to \<20%, it does a pop-up notification that should make a sound like any other pop ups that you have. Same thing for \<10% I think. If your phone is on silent I think it’ll just vibrate briefly. My phone isn’t on silent. I don’t get a sound for those popups. The problem with no sound is that if the phone is in my pocket I have no idea the battery has died when it dies. And Edit: I forgot to mention something more important than _battery low_ - A sound for _“I am turning off now”_. This would be very useful. I use my phone as my alarm. If it dies in the night I don’t get an alarm!! (To get around this I set my ipod’s alarm if my phone’s battery is low… but if my phone ‘told’ me when it was switching off due to low battery I could simply plug it in - assured that it will be on for the alarm. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/4 "2010-11-25T22:56:16Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > The problem with no sound is that if the phone is in my pocket I have no idea the battery has died when it dies. I keep my phone on vibrate all day at work; even if it was on, I don’t know if I’d be able to even hear such a tone. The iPhone doesn’t have the world’s best speaker in that regard. > [@](#): > > And Edit: I forgot to mention something more important than _battery low_ - A sound for _“I am turning off now”_. This would be very useful. I use my phone as my alarm. If it dies in the night I don’t get an alarm!! (To get around this I set my ipod’s alarm if my phone’s battery is low… but if my phone ‘told’ me when it was switching off due to low battery I could simply plug it in - assured that it will be on for the alarm. It would never occur to me to not plug my iPhone in to charge each night. I was under the impression that such an act was SOP for 99% of cellphone users. Even with an “I am turning off now,” I know I’ve trained my body to sleep through anything but my specific alarm ringtone. Such an alert would be useless to me. ☹ ETA: As far as an official Apple response for why these features aren’t included, I don’t think they’ve ever addressed them. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/5 "2010-11-25T23:11:52Z")
> [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > I keep my phone on vibrate all day at work; even if it was on, I don’t know if I’d be able to even hear such a tone. The iPhone doesn’t have the world’s best speaker in that regard. The iphone 4’s speaker is quite loud (for normal ‘sensible’ usage such as playing a game or watching streamed video I have the volume slider way down at 2 or 3 on a scale of 1-10) > [@](#): > > It would never occur to me to not plug my iPhone in to charge each night. I was under the impression that such an act was SOP for 99% of cellphone users. I can’t shake the feeling that constantly trickle-charging and charging-when-not-drained is adversely affecting my battery life. maybe 99% of cellphone users have been conditioned to be _used to_ the every-port-in-a-storm lifestyle of device charging. I am not convinced that it doesn’t shorten your battery’s lifespan. And I HAVE tested this with my phone. If I give it ‘typical’ battery charging the day-to-day life of the battery becomes somewhat pathetic compared to when I regimentally charge-only-when-empty and take-off-charge-when full. > [@](#): > > Even with an “I am turning off now,” I know I’ve trained my body to sleep through anything but my specific alarm ringtone. Such an alert would be useless to me. ☹ Not me ☹ My body wakes up if fly farts in australia. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@Mister\_Owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Owl)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/6 "2010-11-25T23:22:32Z")
Not to be snarky, but shouldn’t you ask Apple this question? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/7 "2010-11-25T23:26:53Z")
> [@Mister\_Owl](#): > > Not to be snarky, but shouldn’t you ask Apple this question? Not to be snarky, but wouldn’t that be like trying to ask the President a question while you are at a presidential address with twenty thousand other people? Wouldn’t it be easier to ask one of the people near you, who might happen to know the answer? In other words rather than go through the ball-ache of figuring out the process of asking Apple quesitons, and then asking it, and then waiting days for them not to answer, I figured I’d ask on a message board that I happen to already be a member of, that contains probable iphone users who might happen to know the answer. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/8 "2010-11-25T23:43:48Z")
> [@Mister\_Owl](#): > > Not to be snarky, but shouldn’t you ask Apple this question? Apple doesn’t usually bother to respond to direct inquiries. They expect people to search the apple forums. Occasionally, if you email Jobs directly, he might respond on a whim, but usually only to snark. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/9 "2010-11-25T23:45:01Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I can’t shake the feeling that constantly trickle-charging and charging-when-not-drained is adversely affecting my battery life. maybe 99% of cellphone users have been conditioned to be _used to_ the every-port-in-a-storm lifestyle of device charging. I am not convinced that it doesn’t shorten your battery’s lifespan. The charger in any modern phone will stop charging when the battery is full, so leaving it on charge overnight won’t do any harm. The lithium ion batteries used in modern phones aren’t harmed by frequent small recharges. Deep cycles are more damaging ([cite](http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries)). Heat is far more harmful to modern batteries than recharging. Here’s what Apple has to say about prolonging your battery life: > **[Batteries](https://www.apple.com/batteries/)** > > Maximize the life and lifespan of the lithium-ion battery in your iPod, iPhone, iPad, or MacBook. Learn how to service and recycle it, too. > **[Batteries - Maximizing Performance](https://www.apple.com/batteries/maximizing-performance/)** > > Maximize the life and lifespan of the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in your MacBook, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@Mister\_Owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Owl)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/10 "2010-11-25T23:51:19Z")
So if speculation and conjecture fulfill your inquiry as to an “official” excuse then cool by me. Sorry I even posed the question. Please forgive me. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/11 "2010-11-26T00:04:44Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > So, what, if any, is Apple’s official reason for the iphone not having such a _basic_ feature? Do you mean outside of a call? I’ve never had a phone that has had this feature. Is it too much trouble to look at the energy bar? Or do you mean during a call? ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/12 "2010-11-26T00:13:38Z")
My Nokia 6310i beeps when the battery is running low, which is actually quite handy because it can be weeks until I have to charge it again. I think the modern phone philosophy is that you’re gonna have to charge it pretty damned regularly anyway. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/13 "2010-11-26T00:23:31Z")
> [@Mister\_Owl](#): > > Not to be snarky, but shouldn’t you ask Apple this question? He’s already asked us four or five times. Eventually we’ll give him the answer. > [@tellyworth](#): > > The charger in any modern phone will stop charging when the battery is full, so leaving it on charge overnight won’t do any harm. > > The lithium ion batteries used in modern phones aren’t harmed by frequent small recharges. Deep cycles are more damaging ([cite](http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries)). > > Heat is far more harmful to modern batteries than recharging. > > Here’s what Apple has to say about prolonging your battery life: > > [Batteries - Apple](http://www.apple.com/batteries/) This has also been explained to him a few times. Maybe it’ll stick this time. I have never seen an official answer to that question and I doubt that there’s an actual official answer because nearly everybody with an iPhone doesn’t want or need that feature. You definitely don’t want people’s phones beeping during a movie or performance because someone’s battery is low in a purse or pocket. My iPhone vibrates when it hits 20% which has only happened maybe twice in three years because I am diligent about keeping it charged. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/14 "2010-11-26T01:03:06Z")
My old Razr had that - it was AWFUL because that bastard would NOT STOP BEEPING when it was low on battery. Seriously, to tell me it was low on power it would use power nonstop to tell me that. Why on earth don’t you charge it at night like everybody else? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/15 "2010-11-26T01:13:09Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > The charger in any modern phone will stop charging when the battery is full, so leaving it on charge overnight won’t do any harm. > > The lithium ion batteries used in modern phones aren’t harmed by frequent small recharges. Deep cycles are more damaging ([cite](http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries)). > > Heat is far more harmful to modern batteries than recharging. > > Here’s what Apple has to say about prolonging your battery life: > > [Batteries - Apple](http://www.apple.com/batteries/) > [Batteries - Maximizing Performance - Apple](http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html) I’ve seen this reply almost word-for-word before. I appreciate your reply, but my phone is not consistent with these claims, and neither has any lithium-ion based device I’ve owned previously. Hence my statement that I am dubious of these claims. > [@Mister\_Owl](#): > > So if speculation and conjecture fulfill your inquiry as to an “official” excuse then cool by me. Sorry I even posed the question. Please forgive me. I apologise if I seemed ungreatful. I appreciate the suggestion. It bugs me when people dismiss people on message boards with a “go get an answer somewhere else” type reply. Not that I am annoyed at _you_, it was just that your post seemed a bit like that. > [@hajario](#): > > He’s already asked us four or five times. Eventually we’ll give him the answer. > > This has also been explained to him a few times. Maybe it’ll stick this time. > > I have never seen an official answer to that question and I doubt that there’s an actual official answer because nearly everybody with an iPhone doesn’t want or need that feature. You definitely don’t want people’s phones beeping during a movie or performance because someone’s battery is low in a purse or pocket. My iPhone vibrates when it hits 20% which has only happened maybe twice in three years because I am diligent about keeping it charged. **This wasn’t what I asked this time** , and as I have already pointed out I am sceptical of this claim. > [@Quartz](#): > > Do you mean outside of a call? I’ve never had a phone that has had this feature. Is it too much trouble to look at the energy bar? > > Or do you mean during a call? You mean wake up, look at energy bar, go to sleep?? No I’m talking about when the phone is not in use. Like when it’s in your pocket or on your bedside table. The point, which I hoped I had made clear but obviously I haven’t is that you can’t ‘trust’ the phone because it may well have run out of battery without you being aware that it has done so, so you either miss a call because you didn’t know, or you miss an alarm because you didn’t know. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/16 "2010-11-26T01:39:41Z")
Anyone who habitually relies on _any_ purely battery powered device as an alarm clock deserves what they have got coming to them. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/17 "2010-11-26T02:28:02Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Anyone who habitually relies on _any_ purely battery powered device as an alarm clock deserves what they have got coming to them. I think what you _meant_ to say was: Anyone who relies purely on a _single_ battery powered device as an alarm clock without making provisions for the possibility of the battery draining before the alarm is due to go off - deserves what’s coming to them. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/18 "2010-11-26T02:30:04Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > The point, which I hoped I had made clear but obviously I haven’t is that you can’t ‘trust’ the phone because it may well have run out of battery without you being aware that it has done so, so you either miss a call because you didn’t know, or you miss an alarm because you didn’t know. As I explained, this function has the disadvantage of making noise at the wrong time. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/19 "2010-11-26T02:35:16Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > As I explained, this function has the disadvantage of making noise at the wrong time. I stopped reading your post when it seemed like you were being an ass. But anyway, in answer to your point, why has it been a feature on the majority of other phones? And what’s wrong with having it as a feature that can be turned off by people who don’t want it? And why is it so unreasonable to ask about it? Anyone would think I’d demanded that Steve Jobs personally give me a blow job. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923/20 "2010-11-26T03:20:33Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I think what you _meant_ to say was: Anyone who relies purely on a _single_ battery powered device as an alarm clock without making provisions for the possibility of the battery draining before the alarm is due to go off - deserves what’s coming to them. Not really, given the well known unreliability of batteries, and given that you can get a mains powered alarm clock (with battery backup for power outages) for under $10. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-apples-official-excuse-for-no-audible-battery-low-warning/561923.md?page=2)