Here's why your iPhone battery is yellow, and how to fix it

If you’re (relatively) new to using an iPhone, you may have seen the battery icon in your status bar switch from green to yellow, apropos of nothing you did on purpose. So what does that color signify, and should you do anything about it?

Why is my iPhone battery icon yellow?

What you’re seeing is an indicator that your iPhone is in Low Power Mode. It’s one of Apple’s many battery-saving options, but arguably the primary one, since it can keep an iPhone going for hours when it would otherwise be forced to shut down.

It’s generally hard to turn on Low Power Mode without knowing it, but it’s not impossible. It could be that you accidentally tapped its icon in Control Center, for example, or that someone else triggered it after you briefly handed your phone over to them.

You should probably turn the mode off if you don’t immediately need it. Here’s what Low Power Mode does when it’s active:

• Reduce screen brightness
• Shorten Auto-Lock to 30 seconds
• Limit refresh rate to 60Hz (on iPhones with ProMotion)
• Eliminate some visual effects
• Pause iCloud Photos sync and most automatic downloads
• Reduce email fetch frequency
• Reduce or eliminate background app refresh

How to turn off Low Power Mode on your iPhone

There are two ways to disable Low Power Mode.

1. Open the Settings app, then scroll down and select Battery. Toggle off the Low Power Mode switch.
2. Swipe down from over your battery indicator to open Control Center. If it’s present, you can tap on the Low Power Mode icon, which looks like a half-filled battery. You’ll have to use the Settings method instead if this icon is missing.