YouTube iOS App Causing Battery Drain, Overheating Issues for Some Users - MacRumors
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YouTube iOS App Causing Battery Drain, Overheating Issues for Some Users

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YouTube has confirmed it is working to resolve a bug in its mobile app that causes significant battery drain on Apple devices, even when the app is running in the background.

First covered by tech blog PiunikaWeb, the issue has been noted by several MacRumors forum members, as well as on Reddit and Twitter, and appears to be mainly affecting devices running iOS 11.1.1.

Screen Shot 5

Image via PiunikaWeb

In addition to battery drain, some iPhone users have reported that the YouTube app is causing their device to run much hotter than usual when watching videos, although the two issues don't seem to occur together in every case.


YouTube says it is aware of the problem and is "actively working" to come up with a fix for the app, although no timeframe was given. In the meantime, affected users are advised to watch YouTube videos in their web browser of choice.

Tag: YouTube

Top Rated Comments

113 months ago
And people still says that’s there no reason to close apps in the App Switcher.


People live in an fairy world where all apps are correctly programmed thus they can run in the background.
There is no reason to close apps in the App Switcher unless you have problems.
This is such a case.

And i'm pretty sure this problem didn't occur if you disable updating in the background for the youtube app. At least i did and never had any problems.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
113 months ago
And people still says that’s there no reason to close apps in the App Switcher.


People live in an fairy world where all apps are correctly programmed thus they can run in the background.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ayemerica Avatar
113 months ago
My X gets pretty warm using YouTube. When using Netflix 4K HDR nothing, streaming iTunes films nothing. Just YT.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Telos101 Avatar
113 months ago
I stopped using the app when it automatically started opening when l clicked on a link in Safari. I want to control that behavior. If I wanted to use the app, then I would have opened it. When it was embedded in a webpage and I wanted to watch it, then no, don't open the app. It's been years since I've used it for this reason, so maybe it's changed?
Instead of tapping a link in Safari, try a press-and-hold. This should bring up an option to open the video in another Safari tab. It works for me, when I remember to do it!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac Tyson Avatar
113 months ago
All those youtubers that did battery drain tests need to redo them again after this fix.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
113 months ago
Ummm.. to my knowledge, the YouTube app has been draining app since a couple of years.. I've notified google like several times... never fixed...

It's not new.. so it's not some users, it's all users.. since I don't know.. 3-4 years or more... maybe from the time Google shifted to its material design
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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