The ten apps that zap your smartphone battery revealed by tech experts, as people delete ‘murderous’ Threads
- The worst offenders are apps that are constantly running in the background
- Social media, travel, streaming and game apps deplete your phone battery
- Frustrated Threads users have deleted the app after it drained their phones
Social media apps, streaming services and some games are among the worst offenders for draining your phone battery, experts have revealed.
According to tech experts at Decluttr, a tech trading website, the apps which are most damaging to your smartphone’s battery life are ones which are constantly running in the background – even when they are not actively being used.
Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok are some of the most draining, experts warn, as the apps have access to your location, microphone, camera and contacts at all times.
It comes after users complained that Meta’s new social media app Threads, which has broken records by garnering over 109 million users since launching last week, was ‘killing their phone battery lightning fast.’
Some frustrated users of the new microblogging app, seen by many as a direct rival to Twitter, have even deleted the app after it ran down the battery life on their smartphones.
Some users have complained that Meta’s new app Threads is draining their smartphone’s battery
Social media apps, streaming services and some games are among the worst offenders for draining your phone battery, experts have revealed
Aside from social media apps, Decluttr warned streaming apps including Spotify and Netflix are also among the worst offenders for depleting your phone battery – and the Amazon app.
10 WORST BATTERY-DRAINING APPS
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Instagram
4. Snapchat
5. TikTok
6. Uber
7. Amazon
8. Spotify
9. Netflix
10. Candy Crush
The app for taxi service Uber, it warned, also drains battery life as, like social media apps, it has access to your location, microphone and media, as well as financial information.
Gaming apps such as Candy Crush also empty your phone’s battery life as they require a lot of processing power – and users often play for extended periods of time.
One way to reduce the battery usage of these apps is to turn off access to features such as the camera and microphone, Decluttr said.
Changing the location access to allow only when you are using the app can also help preserve the life of your smartphone’s battery for longer.
Another tip is to turn off your phone’s Background App Refresh setting, which allows apps to check for updates and new content, even when they are not actively in use.
New app Threads is linked to Instagram, allowing users to follow accounts they are already interested in on the photo-sharing platform.
While millions of users have been quick to download Meta’s latest offering, many have complained of its effect on their phone’s battery.
‘Is Threads just…murderous to anyone else’s battery?’ one user tweeted.
The app for taxi service Uber, Decluttr warned, also drains battery life as, like social media apps, it has access to your location, microphone and media, as well as financial information
Some frustrated users of new microblogging app Threads have even deleted the app after it ran down the battery life on their smartphones
Another added: ‘Is Threads a drain on the iPhone battery or did something change with the iPhones lately? I’m not on the app hardly at all but lately my battery is draining way more than normal.’
‘Don’t download threads it will drain your battery. Last night I went to bed with a fully charged phone and woke up with 60% battery I deleted the stupid app,’ another vented.
While the reason for this battery drain remains unclear, cybersecurity expert Jake Moore suggested it could be down to a process called ‘negative testing’.
‘Meta apps have long been accused of causing iPhone battery draining,’ he said. ‘It could be because they are trying to understand more about their app and how users interact with it.
‘A process called negative testing is used to help developers learn how people use the app to make it better and Facebook have been thought to use this in the past.
‘Negative testing involves analyzing the response of the app when invalid entries are inputted.
‘In the context of Facebook, negative testing can be employed to assess the functionality of specific features or gauge the speed at which messages load when batteries deplete faster than usual.
‘This might not be against their own policy but it can be rather frustrating if you are one of the accounts they use to analyze.’
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