Learn how to receive a notification on your iPhone when your iPad battery charge reaches any percentage you specify such as 30%, 5%, etc.
The iPad doesn’t report its battery charge levels to the Batteries widget on your iPhone like your Apple Watch, AirPods, and some other Bluetooth accessories do. But with our solutions, you’ll receive instant alerts when your iPad’s battery is fully charged, nearly drained, or at a specific percentage.
There are two ways to work workaround this limitation—a custom battery automation and the Pushcat app—and this tutorial walks you through them both.
Method 1: Battery automation
This method involves creating a battery automation on your iPad that automatically sends a text or email to your iPhone when the battery reaches a chosen level.
Step 1: Set up iMessage or email on your iPad and iPhone
Navigate to Settings > Apps > Messages and check if iMessage is active. If iMessage uses the same email or phone number on your iPad and on your iPhone, you won’t get the notification because. In that case, add an iCloud alias or another email address to your iMessage account for sending messages from the iPad; however, be sure to uncheck this email address in the Messages settings on your iPhone. Save this email address as a new contact on your iPhone so that an iMessage your iPad sends to your iPhone appears as a regular message with a proper notification.
You can also set up the Mail app on your iPad and use it instead of iMessage, but don’t use the same email account as your iPhone, or you won’t get the new email notification on your iPhone.
Step 2: Create a shortcut that sends iPad’s battery status to iPhone as an iMessage
1) Open the built-in Shortcuts app on your iPad and select the All Shortcuts section in the Library section in the sidebar, then tap the plus button (+) new the top-right corner to create a new automation.
2) Choose Send Message from the column on the right side, then hit the Message placeholder text on the left and type something like ‘iPad now at 80%’ or ‘iPad Fully Charged.’ Now hit the Recipients placeholder text and add your contact (i.e., your iPhone’s iMessage phone number).
3) Test the shortcut by tapping the play button; you should receive a message on your iPhone. If not, delete any existing chats you have between your iPad or iPhone and restart your devices, then try again.
If you prefer the email method, search for the “Send Email” action instead and configure it with the desired Message, email Subject, and Recipient (i.e., you), then tap the little arrow icon (>) and turn off Show Compose Sheet; test this shortcut as well to check that it’s working properly.
Step 3: Automate the process
1) Open the Shortcuts app on your iPad and tap Automation in the sidebar, then choose New Automation or the plus button (+).
2) Select Battery Level from the list of conditions.
3) Pick Equals, Rises Above, or Falls Below, and set the desired battery percentage level at the top that will trigger this automation. Be sure to select Run Immediately so that your automation runs automatically without user intervention, then hit Next.
4) Tap the Send Message or Send Email shortcut you created earlier.
That’s all there is to it! When your iPad battery reaches the specified percentage, your Apple tablet will automatically send an iMessage (or email) with the charge level to your iPhone, for which you’ll receive a notification like you would for other texts or emails.
Method 2: Pushcut app
The second method uses the third-party Pushcut app and Apple’s built-in Shortcuts app to send a notification to your iPhone with your iPad’s battery status.
1) Download the Pushcut app on your iPhone and iPad. While the free version restricts you to 3 notifications, you only need to configure just one to get a notification for your iPad’s battery charge levels. Open the app and select the Account tab at the bottom, then choose Sign in with Apple and log in using the same Apple account on both devices. If everything went OK, both your iPhone and iPad should be listed in the Devices section of the Pushcut app.
2) Go to the Notifications section of the Pushcut app on your iPad and tap My First Notification to proceed.
3) Change the “Automate Away 🚀” notification text to something clearer, like “iPad Battery 🔋.” Next, replace “I am a smart notification…” with “iPad Pro’s battery is now at 80%” or similar, then hit Save (or Add).
4) The Webhook URL will turn blue. Tap the Copy URL button, followed by Copy URL, and then hit Done.
5) Open the Shortcuts app on your iPad and select Automation in the sidebar, then hit New Automation or the plus button (+) and select Battery Level.
6) Depending on your need, select the Equals, Rises Above, or Falls Below and drag the When slider to adjust it accordingly, then select Run Immediately and hit Next.
7) Tap Create New Shortcut under the Get Started heading.
8) Search for Get Contents of URL and tap it.
9) Tap the blue URL placeholder text and paste the webhook URL copied from the Pushcut app in Step 4 above, then save the automation by tapping the checkmark icon.
10) Open the Pushcut app on your iPhone and select the Notifications tab, then choose your iPad Battery notification. You should see it listed because Pushcut uses the same account on both devices. Next, hit Test Notification in the bottom-right corner and give permission to the Pushcart app to send you notifications when asked. If you receive a notification on your iPhone, everything is working correctly.
When your iPad’s battery charge reaches the condition set in Step 6 above, you’ll get an alert on your iPhone.
Automate other tasks
The Shortcuts app lets you build some powerful automations that can save you a lot of time. For example, automate screen brightness so that your iPhone’s screen is less intense when in bed. Or, how about automatically starting music playback when you enter your car?
With the Shortcuts app, you can also make your iPhone automatically play music when you stop the morning alarm. If you’re interested, be sure to peruse our handy automation tips and tricks.