Google confirms one of the world's most popular apps has been draining your phone's battery
Google have identified the culprit that was likely making your phone battery drain faster than usual, and it turns out that it's one of the biggest social media apps on the store.
Battery life is often the number one complaint people have when using their phone, as the last thing you want is to have your gadgets run out of power when you're on the go, or to constantly have to keep it on charge.
It's understandable that high activity things like games and video-based social apps are likely to use more battery than something as simple as the calculator, but one particular social media platform appeared to be eating up more juice than expected.
What app is draining phone batteries on Android devices?
As reported by Android Authority, Google has named and shamed Meta's Instagram app on Android phones for causing batteries to drain far more than it should.
Instagram is a more visual-heavy social media than something like X, especially since it has pivoted more towards short-form video and stories, but it shouldn't be consuming anywhere near the amount it actually does - or at least, did.
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It seems the issue was first spotted by keen-eyed Redditors, who noticed unusual stats in their phone's battery usage analysis. Posted by u/Salltee on the r/oneui subreddit, they point out an alarming juxtaposition between Instagram and another app with the same screen time:
"Look at the on screen time for WhatsApp and its usage compared to Instagram. If I go on a charge without using Instagram, I can easily squeeze out 6 hours in 60%. No clue what's going on with the app, but it clearly needs some optimization in place."
The accompanying screenshot shows WhatsApp consuming just 2.4% in 49 minutes of screen time, whereas Instagram ate up a staggering 12.4% in 54 minutes - just 5 minutes more but 10% greater battery consumption.
"Yes I have also noticed that Instagram really takes a toll on the battery," writes the top comment of the thread in agreement. "I think it is not well optimized that is why it also makes the phone heat up and drain the battery quickly."
Has the Instagram battery drain issue been fixed?
It seems like Google also noticed the issue, as a hotfix has been quickly rolled out to fix any battery drain problems Android users might have when browsing on the Instagram app.
Google Community Manager 'Aadil_Shaikh' posted on the Android Help support forums that Meta have rolled out an updated version of Instagram that "should fix a battery drain issue on Android devices."
Users have been advised to make sure that they've got build version 382.0.0.49.84 of the social media app downloaded, and from there you shouldn't run into any more problems.