Apple secretly added a new feature called Clean Energy Charging in iOS 16.1 and turned it on by default. Here’s what you should know about this environmentally-friendly feature.
Apple was vocal regarding Clean Energy Charging when it introduced iOS 16 in September 2022. It did not launch to the general public until the 24th of October, with iOS 16.1 and it appeared that the change was a blur without users being aware until an incident on social media.
Sunday the 26th of February, saw a multitude of posts that gained attention on Twitter regarding the issue of clean Energy Charging. People were angry and vocal in their posts, saying that they did not want Apple to dictate what energy they would use for them.
This feature can be turned off, which means that if you don’t wish to be a part of Clean Energy Charging, there is a straightforward switch within the settings to disable it.
Before turning off the feature you need to understand the reasons Apple believes that Clean Energy Charging is important or how it works and the reasons you should leave it in place.
What is Clean Energy Charging?
Clean Energy Charging is a function which reduces the carbon footprint, based on specific charging patterns or local forecasts of carbon emissions. The feature is only available when charging for long periods that last for a long time, such as overnight, or at frequent certain locations, such as at work or at home.
Contrary to claims in social media, the feature will hinder the efficiency in charging speed or efficiency each time the device is connected. It is instead specific based on the circumstances that were mentioned earlier.
Stories and articles that claim users were forced to disable Clean Energy Charging after noticing the slowness iPhone charged in the iOS 16.1 are not true. The reason for this is an incorrect understanding regarding the functionality.
Users shouldn’t observe any change in the way their iPhone normally charges when Clean Energy Charging is enabled.
In the event that Clean Energy Charging activates at an untimely moment, users can turn it off and charge as normal. In the event that this feature becomes activated it will display a message accessible that can be pressed for a long time to shut it off during the charging session.
Clean Energy Charging cannot be activated unless it is notified to the user. If the feature stops charging the notification will inform users when the device is at 100%, which is like its Optimized Battery Charging feature.
What exactly does “carbon emission forecast” mean, and what if my region doesn’t have any clean energy?
The articles and social media post suggest Apple might be penalizing people who reside in areas that are prone to high carbon emissions. The issue is that there’s a misinterpretation about the function and how it functions.
Carbon emission forecasts aren’t searching for renewable energy sources or determining whether your electricity grid has been declared “bad.” It’s seeking an overall average for carbon emissions across a period and then determines the time when the lowest carbon emissions are generated on a particular net-cleaner. The main thing the phone is measuring is peak and non-peak times for electrical power usage.
Its iPhone feature will search for those times when carbon emissions are low in the average region and will then wait to charge the iPhone fully until that time. But, there are additional calculations that are taking place, which will be covered in the following section.
Achieving a lower carbon footprint for a user doesn’t mean they have to contact their electric company to switch to alternative energy sources to charge their iPhone more quickly. It does mean that to the millions of iPhones that are in use throughout the United States, the collective users can contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions by charging their devices more regularly in certain situations to help reduce carbon emissions.
Also read: The Benefits of EV Charging Stations in Public Places
How to enable Clean Energy Charging on iPhone
A variety of things need to be in place before the iPhone ceases charging when Clean Energy Charging enabled. A machine-learning algorithm regulates the feature.
We’ll refer something to as a Significant Location in this list. This is a specific location that can be identified by using a device’s position data over time. This allows us to know the location where users spend the majority of the day.
Clean Energy Charging will be activated when:
- The user is located in an important location where long durations of time are used, at work, home, or school.
- A carbon emission forecast informs the iPhone that the heavy emission is likely to occur when the device is connected to.
- Based on user behavior, Based on the behavior of users, according to user behavior, iPhone recognizes that it’s on the charger for a long time. i.e. during the time that the user is sleeping or is seated at the desk.
- The device will rest and await cleaner energy when it is plugged in and will be unplugged when it is scheduled to be disconnected, which means it could still be at 100 percent.
These conditions mean it is possible for the Clean Energy Charging to only be active at night while a person is sleeping. It’s part of the optimized Battery Charging in order to make sure that that battery’s health is maintained and reduce carbon emissions.
Clean Energy Charging won’t activate during travel or when you visit a new location that isn’t in the Important Locations. Location information isn’t shared with Apple and is used only for the algorithm.
Following this function to activate Clean Energy Charging
- Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging and ensure you have Clean Energy Charging is on.
- Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services and make sure Location Services are on.
- Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services and ensure that System Customization is enabled.
- Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services > Significant Locations and ensure you have Significant Locations on.
As we’ve mentioned before, Clean Energy Charging will inform the user when charging has been stopped. It does not operate in the background and doesn’t hinder a user’s charging speed.
How to turn off Clean Energy Charging
- Open the Settings app
- Select Battery
- Select Battery Health & Charging
- Toggle off Clean Energy Charging
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