Facebook app still an iPhone battery hog, testing shows
Though Facebook has been trying to address power usage concerns through software updates, its main iOS app is still a drain on the iPhone's daily battery life, a report claimed on Monday.
During informal testing, an iPhone 6s Plus saw an average of 15 percent more life with the app uninstalled, according to The Guardian. The paper instead accessed Facebook's website through the iPhone's built-in Safari browser, while leaving Facebook Messenger intact. Testing spanned two weeks -- one with the Facebook app installed and a second with it removed.
Similar results were recorded by other recruited iPhone owners, The Guardian noted.
For the main test, deleting the app is also said to have had the benefit of recovering some 500 megabytes of storage, including 111 megabytes from the app itself and the remainder in cache space.
Facebook's main iOS and Android apps have repeatedly been accused of consuming too much battery life, principally by operating in the background when they're not needed. When the issue came to a head in 2015, Facebook blamed the situation on bugs that were later corrected, but The Guardian's results suggest that fundamental problems remain or have resurfaced.
Battery life remains a concern with iPhones. The 6 Plus and 6s Plus can last a full day or more on a single charge -- owing to larger batteries -- but 4- and 4.7-inch iPhones are often close to empty by nightfall, and sometimes need midday top-ups, particularly if they're used for video, games, or GPS. Apple itself recently put out an official battery case for the iPhone 6 and 6s.
During informal testing, an iPhone 6s Plus saw an average of 15 percent more life with the app uninstalled, according to The Guardian. The paper instead accessed Facebook's website through the iPhone's built-in Safari browser, while leaving Facebook Messenger intact. Testing spanned two weeks -- one with the Facebook app installed and a second with it removed.
Similar results were recorded by other recruited iPhone owners, The Guardian noted.
For the main test, deleting the app is also said to have had the benefit of recovering some 500 megabytes of storage, including 111 megabytes from the app itself and the remainder in cache space.
Facebook's main iOS and Android apps have repeatedly been accused of consuming too much battery life, principally by operating in the background when they're not needed. When the issue came to a head in 2015, Facebook blamed the situation on bugs that were later corrected, but The Guardian's results suggest that fundamental problems remain or have resurfaced.
Battery life remains a concern with iPhones. The 6 Plus and 6s Plus can last a full day or more on a single charge -- owing to larger batteries -- but 4- and 4.7-inch iPhones are often close to empty by nightfall, and sometimes need midday top-ups, particularly if they're used for video, games, or GPS. Apple itself recently put out an official battery case for the iPhone 6 and 6s.
Comments
Yep, that's Johnny Ive's OCD with thinness over all other considerations. The horrible camera bump on the 6/6s would be flush and the battery would have an extra 10-15% capacity if it was 1mm thicker. You'd be able to use the thing for its intended purpose for longer too, i.e. an actual smartphone, instead of a puck. But no, being microscopically thinner than the last generation is preferable to having more battery is apparently better in Johnny's eyes. /rant
imagine an iphone 6s but double the thickness, and triple the battery life
i am quite sure that thing will fly off the shelves
not everyone wants a super sexy, super slim phone
some of us want to be able to use our smart phone for its intended purpose, all day, without having to switch off bluetooth and wifi and dim the screen etc
Hopefully a rewrite should bring this down to 30Mb Range.
the thinness is not one man's obsession, but rather the company's design direction since its the only way they can learn how to develop new capabilities...needed if we ever want the devices of the future as seen in sci-fi movies. you can't get impossibly-thin if you just keep cranking out the same thing year after year. they wouldnt have been able to make the iPad Pro as thin as it is w/o techniques learned on the last few iPhone designs.
the camera bump is not "horrible" (holy sheltered lives, batman), especially since id bet apple's sales data shows most people use a case anyway (funny that nobody complains about all the Android camera bumps?). even w/o a case, i tried it for a few days and it wasnt a big deal -- i rarely used it flat on a table but when i did it hardly moved at all, since its not necessary to tap the top-left since the entire left-edge can be swiped to use as the Back button.
that the market hasn't produced such a device seems to contradict your claims that it would be a top seller. Id wager they have sales data to show that people lean toward slimmer phones.
its not a problem for me tho -- i already get all-day battery life on all of my iPhones, and i never turn off BT. i keep the brightness below half and set the auto-dimmer to on.
But nobody bought it.
From an engineering perspective, it would be extremely easy to produce a high-capacity version of the flagship device - almost as easy as simply inserting a slab a few mm thick which is filled with battery.
I know why they do thin - and I agree that they need to do thin - but I don't think that they need to do thin EXCLUSIVELY. The market for a top of the line iPhone with 2-3 days battery life - at a premium price tag and increased thickness - is easily big enough to be profitable and take a chunk of $ out of the external battery pack and power case market. I don't think that such a model would outsell the thin model, but I do think that the proponents of thin would be very surprised by how well such a product did actually sell!
External battery packs and power cases do not provide solutions to those of us that want more power - they provide an ugly workaround at best.
Here's hoping that Apple finally listens to us and gives us a choice rather than making that choice for us.
As for the camera bump, it's actually a "feature" for those of us that use cases. Prior to the bump, many cases would cause issues with the flush mounted camera by affecting the focus or shadowing the images in certain ways. I had several friends who thought their phone had a defective or low-quality camera because the pictures it took looked horrible. I told them to take the phone out of their case and try again and they were amazed by the quality difference. With the bump, the camera lens is clash mounted when the phone is in a case, instead of being recessed and that's a big benefit to those that use a case. I understand that it's a nuisance to those that don't use a case. Does anyone know what the stats are regarding case usage? What % of users use the iPhone without a case?
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Smartphones-with-unusually-large-batteries--here-are-2015s-devices-with-a-several-day-battery-life_id74990
Which one of those sold even a million?
None of them, right? So it's completely irrelevant and kind of dumb to submit that article as any kind of evidence for or against the demand for a high capacity iPhone, right? Android owners and iPhone owners have vastly different buying profiles. The high-capacity Android phones in your article cost more money, so of course an Android user isn't going to choose one of them. But if it were possible to STEAL that extra battery capacity - or download it from a dodgy website for free - the Android users would ALL be carrying phones with the biggest batteries!!! As an iPhone owner that wants a phone with a high capacity battery, I'm also willing to pay a premium for that phone.
I though it would be obvious that when I said I thought there would be a large market for IPHONES with a larger battery, that people would understand I wanted an IPHONE - made by Apple - running IOS - an IPHONE - not a piece of crap phone running a different operating system!
Do you really think that when we say we want a longer lasting battery, that THAT is our top desire in a phone? If so, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. We be all decided we like iOS and we want a phone that runs iOS. For most of us - that is our primary criteria. Beyond that our secondary and tertiary criteria a deviate widely - for some, it's thinness, other it's the amount of memory, or the color, or the price, or the screen size... Apple offers several models to choose from in a great number of color, memory and screen size options - all great products in their own respects - some people end up getting EXACTLY the phone they want - the one that fills ALL of their criterias perfectly - but many don't because it's simply not offered.
None of us are saying "Apple better do this or we're going to switch to Android", and none of are saying that Apple made a mistake by not offering a phone with a bigger battery. All we're saying is that we WANT a phone with a longer lasting battery, and if you build it, we'll buy it - and we're also prepared to pay a little more for it - just like we do for a bigger screen or for more memory! We're saying we love the iPhone and iOS - but we'd love it even more if we could buy one with a battery life of 3 days! If they don't build one for us, we'll muddle forward with battery packs or power cases or continue our ritual of a mid-day top up. We're not going anywhere - we're still happy customers - but we'd be a lot happier if we could purchase an iPhone with a bigger battery!
"You can't quote market data as proof that nobody wants a phone with a larger battery when such a product has never been available."
Oh ya, you did... and I sent you a link (not a study) with several products that have been available.
So, kind of dumb of you to try and say you said an iPhone when you specifically said otherwise.
Really kind of dumb considering you were replying to a reply that said "I wish one of the phone manufacturers would release a phone with a huge battery"
So ya, kind of dumb.
I'll just reiterate the pertinent point which is that there has never been two iPhones available where the only difference between them is thickness and battery life - so that market has never been tested. It's only been the last decade in which we have been conditioned to think that 1 day of battery life is "enough". I can and do get by with the 6S+ and an external battery pack - but I'd be willing to pay more for a thicker one that lasts 3 days! (And after I get that, I'll be posting a similar message asking for one that lasts a week!)
FWIW, this is how I understood your comment. The market data comparing an iPhone with a larger battery hasn't existed.
I too would buy a thicker iPhone with a larger battery and longer life, even if it were a little bit thicker, and like you, there's no stinkin' way I'd switch to an Android just for the battery.
Use JS with moderation, to enhance the user experience. Front end stuff, not a whole back end.
>:x