Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro owners recently had an issue as their devices ran so hot and the batteries drained so quickly that some ran out of fuel by lunchtime. Google’s September update is said to have fixed the problem, but not for those on Verizon who just got the update sent late last week. According to the personal experience of this author, these files have yet to be preserved.
Here’s an easy way to extend battery life and reduce the heat on your Pixel 6 series phone
Disabling usage access to two apps could increase battery life and reduce heat on your Pixel 6
So if you want to try and improve your Pixel 6 series phone’s battery life and drop the temperature by a notch, turn off usage access to Digital Wellbeing and Device Health Services. To do this, go to Settings and search for Usage Access using the search bar at the top of the display. Tap Usage Access and you’ll see a list of apps. Tap on Device Health Services and turn off “Allow usage access”. Do the same with the Digital Wellbeing listing. Reboot and restart.
This will remove some features. The Redditor who came up with this plan said that by shutting down the above two apps, his battery life doubled. He also noted: “It will affect adaptive battery and charging. This affects the adaptive connection. It affects all your bedtime mode stuff. It’s going to be anything like Fitbits or fitness watches and all of those things, and I’m sure there’s quite a bit more to come. It’s really unfortunate that we have to disable these features to be able to use our phone.”
The results were impressive. A Reddit member by the name of cloudacoustic93 wrote, “Holy Moly, that worked. It’s only been a few hours but there’s already a noticeable difference.” Another member, Rk3h, reported that the Accubattery app showed an immediate improvement in battery life after restarting and charging. Others had positive results. “I tried it and it works for me, the battery lasts longer,” said one Pixel 6 series user. “Perfect, thanks,” said another.
Unless you’re wed to some of the features you’re about to disable, there’s no reason not to try this out on your Pixel 6
We can continue to give you more results from those who have tried this. Among the better answers was this one from a user named novelomaly, who wrote, “Thanks!!! This worked for me and I’m back to normal operating hours where my phone isn’t dead if I forgot to plug it in at night!”
Another post throws in some dates to chew on: “Update: Currently at 40% with 5h 23m SOT! Looks like that worked out fine! It would already be at 10%. Most importantly, my phone didn’t heat up at all, so that’s a big plus. Thanks for the tip! I hope it stays that way until Google finally fixes it.”
So what about you really? Well, I’m personally a power user and there might have been an improvement in battery life. I will say that my Pixel 6 Pro is certainly not running as hot as it did before disabling usage access to Digital Wellbeing and Device Health Services. Honestly I’m waiting to see if the September update will make a big difference and so far my phone hasn’t received the update.
If you have the Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro and can fry an egg on the device and the battery won’t get you through lunchtime, why not give it a try? It’s not something you can’t quickly undo, and the features it affects may not matter to you at all. Let us know if you notice an improvement in the battery life of your Pixel 6 series phone by writing a comment in the box below!
