Some iOS 16 users complain about slow Spotlight search and battery drain

It’s been nine days since Apple released iOS 16 to the public, bringing big changes to the lock screen, messages, maps and more. In the days after the release, some users have encountered multiple issues on their iPhones ranging from slow system performance to battery drain.

Over the past few days, iPhone 14 Pro users have been sharing certain bugs related to Apple’s latest high-end iPhones, including camera shake, iMessage and FaceTime activation issues, and more. However, there are other issues impacting the broader group of “iOS 16” users and we’ve summarized two issues based on user reports below.

Abnormal battery consumption

After a major iOS update, it’s normal for your iPhone to drain battery life faster as it performs indexing and background tasks. however, some users via twitter who MacRumors Forums (1, 2) and Reddit (1,2) are reporting excessive battery drain days after the update.

Wow, iOS 16 is buggy. Completely ruined my battery life on my 13 Pro. Now I have a 14 Pro and everything seemed fine had great battery life and now today I had terrible battery life. As estimated 4.5-5 hours SOT. And now, out of nowhere, my phone started getting really hot. What’s happening??? Apple, please fix this mess.

Other users report an improvement in battery life compared to iOS 15, so the overall experience is a bit patchy. Apple recently confirmed that enabling haptic feedback for the keyboard in iOS 16 can decrease battery life, so users who are running out of battery could try turning that off if they have it enabled. If you’re still having battery issues, read our explanation.

Slow spotlight search

A more important issue for “iOS 16” users is the slow performance in Spotlight search. Users report that Spotlight sometimes takes up to 10 seconds to load results on “iOS 16” and sometimes doesn’t load at all. Users on multiple Reddit (1,2) and MacRumors Forum threads (1,2) share their experiences:

I have the same problem. Before iOS 15.6 the search was instant, but when I updated to iOS 15.6 it became very slow and it took more than 5 seconds to show anything during the search. I was hoping iOS 16 would fix the problem, but it’s just as slow. I even erased the phone and restored it from an iCloud backup hoping it would fix it. It didn’t.
So Apple, please fix this issue in the next update. It’s super annoying and I don’t want to lose all network settings because of it.

I use search on my phone to quickly access apps that I’ve hidden or are several screens away. When I drag down and tap to search, it sometimes takes more than 10 seconds for apps to appear in search. They used to be almost instantaneous. For example, if I start typing MAP, it shows Apple Maps, Google Maps, etc. as the result. Anyone else noticing this massive slowdown?

For this particular error, several users have said that resetting all settings significantly improved Spotlight search performance, but no official solution and/or fix has been released by Apple.

New iOS 16 update is coming next week

Apple has confirmed that it is aware of some of the issues users are experiencing, including camera shake on the latest iPhone 14 Pro, and has promised an iOS 16 update next week. The update, most likely iOS 16.0.2, will include a fix for camera issues, an annoying copy-paste prompt, and enabling iMessage and “FaceTime.” The update could also fix other issues noticed by users such as: B. Battery drain and slow Spotlight search.