“There are some apps that simply seem to suck away the iPhone’s battery life,” Adrian Kingsley-Hughes reports for ZDNet. “Real-world testing of a raft of popular apps uncovers which have the biggest impact on battery life.”
“Since this is real-world testing, and your real-world is likely to be different to mine (your usage is going to be different, as are other variables such as Wi-Fi strength and such), so your mileage will undoubtedly vary,” Kingsley-Hughes reports. “Facebook: Without a doubt the biggest battery hog I’ve seen. Not only does it tear through the battery when it’s actively being used, but it’s also a huge hog when it’s in the background too.”
Kingsley-Hughes also finds Google Chrome, Twitter, Google Maps, and Skype – in that order – to be the 2nd through 5th biggest battery hogs of the 50 apps he tested.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Which explains why heavy Facebook users are often the biggest complainers about “iPhone battery life.” Try using Facebook via Safari and see how much longer your battery lasts.
Failing that, get yourself an Apple Smart Battery Case for iPhone 6/6s for under $100.
Google hogs your battery…
…and your data
Didn’t Craig Federighi just say you didn’t need to close the apps running in the background? That they had no effect.
This story is all about how much power is consumed when those apps are running. It’s got nothing to do with anything running in the background.
Actually in the article it talks about background refresh and turning it on and off for twitter/facebook. Now whether they do drain or not is a question to be answered, but as far as the story goes the writer definitely talks about running in the background.
Refreshing in the background is different to what Craig was talking about.
Craig was dispelling the popular myth that users should kill apps that are not being actively used in order to prolong battery life. I think that we can all agree that Craig knows a thing or two about how iPhones work, so his advice is probably valid.
Glad I don’t use any of those, expect google maps occasionally.
I’ve got none of the top 5 Apps listed on my iPhone 6 with Smart Case.
I can get a day and a half out of my iPhone easily.
Must also add that I use an Apple Watch as well which I also think contributes to better battery life. Not having to turn the screen on to read each and every message helps IMO.
My 6+ combined with my Watch means two days in between charges. The 6+ alone is good for a solid day and half.
For less than the cost of an Apple Watch, you could get a humpback case. Just as attractive and functional as you carrying around a duplicate battery and screen on your wrist.
The worst apps are the real time running apps that track your position using the GPS. If you don’t have the battery topped up before you start yu can almost guarantee that the thing will die on you half way around your circuit.
He didn’t list the other apps he tested. Wondered if Waze was high on the list.
Google owned and the Location Access only has “Always” or never. So if you use Waze and then quit, it’s still hitting the GPS and most likely the battery.
The “always” permission doesn’t necessarily mean that the app will use the location…
It just means that it CAN…
This permission is needed for things like geo-fencing
I can understand why Skype uses lots of battery.
I don’t have a problem with GPS-enabled apps doing their thing as long as the user has complete control at all times, rather than having to drill down into Apple’s convoluted settings to figure out what’s tracking you all the time.
But I am extremely disappointed that Apple hasn’t kicked Google and Facebook and Twitter off the iPhone. They don’t deserve to be integrated apps, and Apple definitely doesn’t need the extra money.
Yep, I like those apps but had to delete them because they do take a huge hit to your battery.