Facebook’s constant refreshing, which keeps users up to date with their latest notifications, does indeed take a toll on battery life.
Advertisement
The battery drain is reported to be the result of continued running of background processes by the client even with background app refresh disabled.
“Over the last 7 days, Facebook is the greatest offender of battery drain on my iPhone 6s Plus”, Galligan wrote, noting that the app “accounted for 15% of all battery drain”.
Facebook’s app is killing your iPhone’s battery, and unless you delete it completely, there’s no way to make it stop. You can replace the Facebook app with Paper, Facebook’s leaner standalone app. Paper surfaces your News Feed in a more immersive layout.
There have been a number of theories floated around on what exactly is causing the issue. Or, Zdziarski suggested, “uninstall Facebook”.
Several sites have attempted to theorize on the cause behind the overzealous battery drain, including MacStories, hypothesizing that the reason behind the bug could be silent audio emanating from the service’s auto-playing videos.
If you didn’t know, you can access detailed battery usage in iOS 9 by heading to Settings and then selecting Battery.
More sinister suggestions include that Facebook may be listening to its users via their phone’s microphone, although Facebook has previously denied its microphone function is “always listening”, saying it asks for permission before switching on. It works by reducing various background activities that drain your battery such as Mail push, automatic downloads, background app refresh and animated effects. Thankfully, though, Facebook says it’s looking into the issue.
Advertisement
In a statement provided to TechCrunch a spokesperson for the company confirmed it is investigating the issue, adding that it hopes to be able to put out a fix “soon”.
