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Facebook Implements Fix for iOS App Battery Draining Issues

Thursday October 22, 2015 3:50 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Facebook's newest iOS update, out today, fixes a major battery draining bug that some Facebook users have been experiencing in recent weeks. Affected users were seeing large amounts of battery drain on their iPhones due to Facebook running in the background, something that happened even when background app refresh was toggled off in the Settings app.

While the latest Facebook app release notes don't include a reference to the issue, Facebook engineering manager Ari Grant wrote a post (via TechCrunch) explaining the issues behind the battery drain and what Facebook has done to fix it. According to Grant, there were several factors that contributed to the problem, including a "CPU spin" in the network code and silent background audio sessions that kept the app awake even when it wasn't open.

facbook battery drain
The first issue we found was a "CPU spin" in our network code. A CPU spin is like a child in a car asking, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"with the question not resulting in any progress to reaching the destination. This repeated processing causes our app to use more battery than intended. The version released today has some improvements that should start making this better.

The second issue is with how we manage audio sessions. If you leave the Facebook app after watching a video, the audio session sometimes stays open as if the app was playing audio silently. This is similar to when you close a music app and want to keep listening to the music while you do other things, except in this case it was unintentional and nothing kept playing. The app isn't actually doing anything while awake in the background, but it does use more battery simply by being awake. Our fixes will solve this audio issue and remove background audio completely.
When the Facebook battery draining issue first began circulating, MacStories' Federico Vittici hypothesized it was caused by silent audio running in the background, which turned out to be correct. Vittici believed Facebook used silent audio intentionally as a way to keep the app active in the background for tasks like pre-loading content, which he said showed "a deep lack of respect for iOS users."

Regarding today's comment from Facebook engineer Ari Grant, TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino also suspects there's a possibility Facebook's use of background audio might have been done on purpose, despite Facebook's claim that it was an unintentional bug.
So if you believe Grant, this is a simple bug. It could happen to anyone etc etc. If you don't believe him, it was a thing Facebook was doing to make their app work a way they wanted it to but Apple didn't and they got caught. I'm not gonna pass any judgments here -- bugs happen all of the time and it's not fun to get pilloried over a simple mistake. Either way, attention was brought to it and it's fixed now.
Grant says fixes have been implemented for both of the issues causing battery drain and Facebook users "should see improvements in the version released today." Facebook will also continue to improve the battery usage of its iOS app.

Tag: Facebook
[ 223 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

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AbSoluTc
50 months ago
Draining your life, draining your battery.
Rating: 42 Votes
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chrisbb
50 months ago
I fixed the problem myself..... just deleted the app.
You can't drain my battery if its not installed on my phone :p
Rating: 34 Votes
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ximdotro
50 months ago
the best fix is to delete Facebook!
Rating: 31 Votes
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nutmac
50 months ago

Regarding today's comment from Facebook engineer Ari Grant, TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino also suspects there's a possibility Facebook's use of background audio might have been done on purpose, despite Facebook's claim that it was an unintentional bug.

Facebook has over 100 engineers working on iOS app. It's hard to believe that something so major was an unintentional bug, from a company known to violate user privacy so many times.
Rating: 25 Votes
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teknikal90
50 months ago
still don't trust it.
and I don't believe they 'jumped on it so quickly'.
The issue had been apparent since iOS 9.0 beta 1 showed granular battery usage details....6 months ago.
They just got caught red handed and decided now's the time to finally fix their own exploit.

Browser facebook is still better.
Rating: 21 Votes
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farewelwilliams
50 months ago



When the Facebook battery draining issue first began circulating, MacStories' Federico Vittici hypothesized ('https://www.macstories.net/linked/the-background-data-and-battery-usage-of-facebooks-ios-app/') it was caused by silent audio running in the background, which turned out to be correct. Vittici believed Facebook used silent audio intentionally as a way to keep the app active in the background for tasks like pre-loading content, which he said showed "a deep lack of respect for iOS users."


that's grounds for removal of Facebook from the app store.
Rating: 19 Votes
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jpgr15
50 months ago

My 6S battery has been great since ditching the app. Wonder if I should reinstall


Probably best not to. You may find other areas of your life improve as well :D
Rating: 12 Votes
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jpgr15
50 months ago
This whole story leaves a bad taste in my mouth. If this was intentional, how arrogant of Facebook to exploit iOS and its users.

FB can fly a kite; their app sucks. The whole messenger app debacle was stupid.

I don't know why I'm surprised though. Facebook has been full of arrogance and hypocrisy since day one.
Rating: 11 Votes
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wolfshades
50 months ago
Well that's good. I'm glad they jumped on it so quickly. (Even though they've probably known about it for ages and were just waiting to get called out on it)
Rating: 7 Votes
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Bbqthis
50 months ago
mhmm. ok.
Rating: 7 Votes

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