User Guide
Everything you need to know to get Battery Monitor running on all your devices.
Installation
iPhone & iPad
- Open the App Store on your iPhone or iPad.
- Search for Battery Monitor and tap Get.
- Open the app after installing.
- When prompted, tap Allow to grant Bluetooth permission — this is required for the app to discover your other devices.
Mac
- Open the Mac App Store.
- Search for Battery Monitor and click Get.
- Launch the app. It will appear in your menu bar (top-right of your screen) — look for the battery icon.
- If asked, grant Bluetooth permission in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Bluetooth.
Tip: Battery Monitor runs quietly in the menu bar. You don't need to keep a window open — just click the menu bar icon to see all your device batteries at a glance.
Apple Watch
Install via the Watch app on your paired iPhone:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down to find Battery Monitor under "Available Apps".
- Tap Install.
- Alternatively, open the App Store directly on your Apple Watch and search for Battery Monitor.
How it works
Battery Monitor uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to communicate directly between your devices. No internet connection is required, and no data leaves your devices.
The app automatically discovers and shows all your Apple devices that are signed in to the same iCloud account, are within Bluetooth range, and have Battery Monitor installed.
Note: Only your own devices appear. The app cannot see other people's devices. If a device is out of range, its last known battery level is shown until it reconnects.
Personal iPhone + work Mac? If your devices use different Apple IDs you can still connect them — see Pairing devices with different Apple IDs below.
Reordering devices in the menu bar (Mac)
You can customise the order in which devices appear in the menu bar dropdown:
- Click the Battery Monitor icon in your Mac menu bar.
- Long-press on any device row — a drag handle will appear.
- Drag the device to your preferred position.
- Release to save the new order.
The order is saved automatically and persists after restarting the app.
Battery alerts & notifications
Battery Monitor can notify you about your devices so you never miss a low battery or an over-long charge. On iPhone, open the Alerts screen with the bell icon in the top-left of the app (grant notification permission when prompted). Alerts are also delivered on your Mac.
- Low & critical battery. Get a notification when any device drops below your low threshold (default 20%), and a more prominent alert at the critical threshold (default 10%). Both thresholds are adjustable.
- Charging complete. Get reminded to unplug when a device reaches a configurable "charged" level. Set it below 100% (e.g. 80%) if you like to limit charging for battery health.
- Charging started / stopped. Optionally be told whenever a device starts or stops charging.
- Offline / went-stale. Get alerted when a device that was recently active stops reporting for longer than your chosen window (default 30 minutes) — handy for spotting a device that's out of range or switched off.
Alerts are de-duplicated, so you won't be nagged repeatedly for the same drop, and they're delivered by your iPhone or Mac to avoid duplicate notifications. You can mute alerts for an individual device from its detail screen.
Battery history & trends
Tap any device on iPhone to open its detail screen, which shows a chart of that device's battery level over the last 24 hours or 7 days. This makes it easy to spot abnormal drain. History is kept privately on your device in a rolling 7-day window.
Estimated time remaining
When there's enough recent history, Battery Monitor shows a rough estimate such as "≈3h left" while discharging or "≈45m to full" while charging, on the iPhone device detail screen and in the Mac menu-bar detail panel. Estimates are deliberately conservative and only appear once there's enough consistent data.
Live Activity (iPhone)
While a device is charging or has dropped below your low threshold, Battery Monitor can show a Live Activity on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, with the device's ring, percentage, and time estimate. It updates live and disappears automatically when charging completes or the level recovers. Turn it on or off in the Alerts screen.
Why don't all my devices appear?
- Bluetooth must be enabled on both devices.
- Battery Monitor must be installed on the device you want to see.
- Devices must be nearby — within normal Bluetooth range (roughly 10 metres).
- Both devices must be signed in to the same Apple ID / iCloud account — or manually paired if they use different Apple IDs.
- On Mac, make sure Bluetooth permission is granted: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Bluetooth → Battery Monitor → Allow.
Pairing devices with different Apple IDs
Battery Monitor normally syncs automatically when all your devices share the same Apple ID. If your iPhone and Mac use different Apple IDs — for example a personal phone and a work Mac — you can still connect them with a one-time manual pairing via QR code.
Steps
On your Mac:
- Click the Battery Monitor icon in the menu bar.
- Click the pairing icon ( ⊕ ) in the bottom-left of the popover.
- A QR code is displayed — keep this window open.
On your iPhone:
- Open Battery Monitor.
- Tap the pairing icon ( ⊕ ) in the top-right of the Connection status section.
- Point your camera at the QR code shown on your Mac.
- No camera? Tap Copy Pairing Code on the Mac, then paste it into the text field on the iPhone.
- A green checkmark and a fingerprint (e.g.
AB12CD34) appear — compare it with the fingerprint shown on your Mac to confirm the pairing succeeded.
Fingerprint verification
Both devices show the same 8-character hex fingerprint after pairing. If they match, your devices share the correct encryption key and battery data will flow between them normally.
Removing a pairing
To undo a manual pairing and return to automatic iCloud-based sync:
- Mac: Click the pairing icon in the popover → click Remove Pairing.
- iPhone: Tap the pairing icon → tap Remove Pairing.
Privacy note: The QR code encodes your device's encryption key. Do not share it with others or display it in public places.
AirPods
AirPods battery monitoring is not yet available in Battery Monitor. Apple does not currently provide a public API that allows third-party apps to read AirPods battery levels. Once Apple opens this capability to developers, we plan to add full AirPods support.