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- May 10, 2012
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Best way to boost your phone's battery life? Uninstall Facebook: Tests reveal the app drains power and slows handsets down
Tests have shown uninstalling the social media app on Android handsets can save up to 20 per cent of battery life as well as speed up the overall performance of the devices.
The discovery comes after Facebook was similarly accused of draining iPhone users' battery life with its app last year.
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Facebook's Android app (stock image) has been shown to waste battery life. Tests have shown uninstalling the social media app on Android handsets can save up to 20 per cent of battery life as well as speeding up phones
Android users have long complained about the app reducing the performance of their phones.
To put the claims to the test, Samuel Gibbs at The Guardian ran a series of tests on a Huawei Nexus 6P.
Mr Gibbs swapped the official Facebook app for one called Metal, which acts as a 'wrapper' for the social network's website.
A wrapper is a lightweight app designed to load native apps faster. Metal, for example, loads Facebook feeds much faster than the original app.
This resulted in a battery boost for his handset, which he averaged over a week of use to be around 20 per cent.
At first, it seemed as if the Facebook app was not responsible for consuming a large amount of battery life, according to his phone's built-in statistics.
But he found Android services such as Android system and Android OS used less power when the app was uninstalled, suggesting Facebook app was using more battery life than first thought.
+3
Android users have long complained about the app reducing the performance of their phones and now The Guardian claims uninstalling the Facebook app can boost the battery life of a Huawei Nexus 6P handset (pictured) by an average of 20 per cent
+3
In October last year, Facebook’s iOS app similarly came under fire for sapping battery life, but Facebook issued a fix for the problem. A stock image of the social media company's logo reflected in an eye is shown
FACEBOOK'S 'BATTERY' EFFECT
In October last year, Facebook’s iOS app came under fire for sapping battery life.
The company admitted the problem, which caused the app to run in the background even if it had been closed and apologised for the inconvenience it caused people.
The social network issued an update to fix the problem.
In a post on his personal page, Facebook's engineering manager Ari Grant wrote: '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.' His team also found a second issue being caused by the way the app manages audio.
'If you leave the Facebook app after watching a video, the audio session sometimes stays open as if the app was playing audio silently,' he continued.
A Facebook spokesman told MailOnline: 'We have heard reports of some people experiencing speed issues stemming from our Android app.
'We are looking into this and will keep you posted.
'We are committed to continuing to improve these issues.'
Reddit users also tested the app's battery consumption on an LG G4 handset.
They found that uninstalling the Facebook and Facebook Messenger app allowed other apps to launch 15 per cent faster, with other handsets recording similar results.
In October last year, Facebook’s iOS app came under fire for similarly sapping battery life, but Facebook issued a fix for the problem in an update.
In a post on his personal page, Facebook's engineering manager Ari Grant wrote at the time: '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.' His team also found a second issue being caused by the way the app manages audio.
'If you leave the Facebook app after watching a video, the audio session sometimes stays open as if the app was playing audio silently,' he continued.
- Tests show Facebook Android app saps battery from Huawei Nexus 6P
- Further tests revealed that when uninstalled, other apps launched faster
- Facebook said it is looking into the issue and 'will keep users posted
Tests have shown uninstalling the social media app on Android handsets can save up to 20 per cent of battery life as well as speed up the overall performance of the devices.
The discovery comes after Facebook was similarly accused of draining iPhone users' battery life with its app last year.
+3
Facebook's Android app (stock image) has been shown to waste battery life. Tests have shown uninstalling the social media app on Android handsets can save up to 20 per cent of battery life as well as speeding up phones
Android users have long complained about the app reducing the performance of their phones.
To put the claims to the test, Samuel Gibbs at The Guardian ran a series of tests on a Huawei Nexus 6P.
Mr Gibbs swapped the official Facebook app for one called Metal, which acts as a 'wrapper' for the social network's website.
A wrapper is a lightweight app designed to load native apps faster. Metal, for example, loads Facebook feeds much faster than the original app.
This resulted in a battery boost for his handset, which he averaged over a week of use to be around 20 per cent.
At first, it seemed as if the Facebook app was not responsible for consuming a large amount of battery life, according to his phone's built-in statistics.
But he found Android services such as Android system and Android OS used less power when the app was uninstalled, suggesting Facebook app was using more battery life than first thought.
+3
Android users have long complained about the app reducing the performance of their phones and now The Guardian claims uninstalling the Facebook app can boost the battery life of a Huawei Nexus 6P handset (pictured) by an average of 20 per cent
+3
In October last year, Facebook’s iOS app similarly came under fire for sapping battery life, but Facebook issued a fix for the problem. A stock image of the social media company's logo reflected in an eye is shown
FACEBOOK'S 'BATTERY' EFFECT
In October last year, Facebook’s iOS app came under fire for sapping battery life.
The company admitted the problem, which caused the app to run in the background even if it had been closed and apologised for the inconvenience it caused people.
The social network issued an update to fix the problem.
In a post on his personal page, Facebook's engineering manager Ari Grant wrote: '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.' His team also found a second issue being caused by the way the app manages audio.
'If you leave the Facebook app after watching a video, the audio session sometimes stays open as if the app was playing audio silently,' he continued.
A Facebook spokesman told MailOnline: 'We have heard reports of some people experiencing speed issues stemming from our Android app.
'We are looking into this and will keep you posted.
'We are committed to continuing to improve these issues.'
Reddit users also tested the app's battery consumption on an LG G4 handset.
They found that uninstalling the Facebook and Facebook Messenger app allowed other apps to launch 15 per cent faster, with other handsets recording similar results.
In October last year, Facebook’s iOS app came under fire for similarly sapping battery life, but Facebook issued a fix for the problem in an update.
In a post on his personal page, Facebook's engineering manager Ari Grant wrote at the time: '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.' His team also found a second issue being caused by the way the app manages audio.
'If you leave the Facebook app after watching a video, the audio session sometimes stays open as if the app was playing audio silently,' he continued.
