In my view, the most important battery statistic is solely the screen-on time since the last full charge. This is what most users genuinely care about.
There have been two notable changes in the battery section of Settings. The first change occurred in iOS 12, which transitioned from “usage time since last full charge” to “screen-on time in the last 24 hours.”
Prior to this update, the usage time metric included everything: screen-on time, screen-off time such as music playback, and system activations during standby. As a result, the displayed usage time was often inflated.
For example, an iPhone 6s user might show 8 hours of usage time with 50% battery remaining, even though achieving 8 hours of screen-on time is practically impossible. While iOS 12 addressed some of these issues by adding screen-on time, it introduced a significant flaw.
To find the relevant screen-on time, users must manually sum the individual bars after unplugging their device, as the “screen-on” figure only displays the last 24 hours’ statistics. This can be problematic, especially if a user’s charging cycle exceeds 24 hours, making it necessary to manually track screen-on time before it disappears.
With iOS 26, the situation becomes even more complicated. It retains the issues of iOS 12 while obscuring the statistics further.
Now, the upper section indicates battery consumption since midnight, while the lower part shows battery percentage per hour. Unfortunately, there is no indication of partial screen-on time anymore.
Consequently, users cannot determine screen-on time since the last full charge. For instance, if I use my phone until 2 AM, unplug it at 7 AM, and then use it again later that day before recharging, the SOT shown would aggregate data from three separate cycles, offering no way to assess usage per cycle.
This change seems counterproductive as it undermines the clarity of battery statistics without any apparent benefit.