Spotify overheats iPhones on iOS 15, rapidly drains battery

AppleInsider

Music streaming service Spotify has confirmed iPhone user complaints that its app drains around 30% battery per hour of streaming.

Spotify

Exceptionally high battery drain, also making iPhones run hot, are being reported by Spotify users who have upgrade from iOS 14.8 to iOS 15. The company says it is investigating.

"We've passed your info on to the relevant team and we can confirm they are currently looking into it," said the company in a support post. "Aside from trying restarting and/or a clean reinstall of the app, it'd be great if you'd give disabling Background App Refresh a shot: this could be found under Settings -> General -> Background App Refresh."

Spotify repeatedly offers its advice about removing and reinstalling the app, but it is not working for at least some users.

"Battery would drain within an hour if I let it run, but have not as to how hot it gets," wrote one user.

"I have tried disconnecting the Wi-Fi, toggling background app refresh, did the clean reinstall twice, restarted my phone multiple times, offloaded the app and deleted the cache," wrote another, "basically tried every solution mentioned on this website and nothing works. It's really frustrating."

Multiple users also say that the app crashes, "mostly when [the iPhone] is locked."

Spotify, Apple Music's chief rival, is increasingly also being used for playing podcasts. It has been predicted to overtake Apple Podcasts by the end of 2021.

Read on AppleInsider

mobird

Users were probably streaming the Billboard HOT 100...

hank2.0

Another example of the weaknesses in Apple's beta testing system. Really? Not a single tester used Spotify? Aren't major popular apps automatically tested? I hate to think Apple knew about the problem and maliciously decided not to work with Spotify to fix it.

kkqd1337

Apple being anti-competitive again?

imagladry

Hank2.0 said:

Another example of the weaknesses in Apple's beta testing system. Really? Not a single tester used Spotify? Aren't major popular apps automatically tested? I hate to think Apple knew about the problem and maliciously decided not to work with Spotify to fix it.

It is not Apple's responsibility to test all apps with a new OS. That would be an unending task.

The main purposes of Apple Beta program is for developers to test their apps with the new OS to insure compatibility. It use to be Apple betas where only available for developers. Over the years, it has become easier to join the Apple beta beta program, basically making betas open to anyone who wants it.

magman1979

Hank2.0 said:

Another example of the weaknesses in Apple's beta testing system. Really? Not a single tester used Spotify? Aren't major popular apps automatically tested? I hate to think Apple knew about the problem and maliciously decided not to work with Spotify to fix it.

And you're blaming APPLE for SPOTIFY's crap code???

Suuuuuuuuure

applezulu

Hank2.0 said:

Another example of the weaknesses in Apple's beta testing system. Really? Not a single tester used Spotify? Aren't major popular apps automatically tested? I hate to think Apple knew about the problem and maliciously decided not to work with Spotify to fix it.

"Not a single Spotify developer/tester used Spotify?"

Fixed that for you. iOS 15 betas have been out there for three months. You'd think Spotify would have looked into it at some point during that time. 

Also, if you click through to the Spotify support article, it seems to be responding to complaints about these problems arising on devices running iOS 14.8. So this isn't even an exclusively iOS 15 issue.

Also, also, if you look at Spotify's listing in the App Store, Spotify issued an update a week ago, and there are lots of reviews indicating bugginess, battery drain, etc. This issue probably has far more to do with Spotify than it does with iOS.

williamlondon

kkqd1337 said:

Apple being anti-competitive again?

Put down the tinfoil, ffs.

japhey

fwiw, I haven’t experienced this battery drain, personally. In fact, one day last week I started to do yard work with 18% battery left on my 12 Pro Max and finished 2 hours later with 14%. Spotify was being used the entire time, but cellular was turned off while WiFi was still on. So, the problem is not universal, but is still unacceptable for a company that’s had 3 months to prepare. 

verne arase

magman1979 said:

Hank2.0 said:

Another example of the weaknesses in Apple's beta testing system. Really? Not a single tester used Spotify? Aren't major popular apps automatically tested? I hate to think Apple knew about the problem and maliciously decided not to work with Spotify to fix it.

And you're blaming APPLE for SPOTIFY's crap code???

Suuuuuuuuure

Why yes, haven't you been paying attention?

Apple is responsible for all the world's problems  .

tenthousandthings

Hank2.0 said:

Another example of the weaknesses in Apple's beta testing system. Really? Not a single tester used Spotify? Aren't major popular apps automatically tested? I hate to think Apple knew about the problem and maliciously decided not to work with Spotify to fix it.

Well, Apple definitely would have known about the problem. However, their responsibility here is to determine whether or not it is their problem. If it is not, then their role is to pass it along to Spotify.

I think you underestimate how well-known an easily-isolated bug like this is. The fact it appears in both iOS 14.8 (released September 15, in preparation for the release of iOS 15) and iOS 15.0 tells us something useful, but regardless Spotify has no doubt known about this bug for months. Any developer with access to the iOS 15 beta developer forums could find out exactly when it first appeared. 

The fact the bug was not fixed by Spotify on the day of the iOS 14.8 release tells you all you need to know about who is responsible for this. Spotify absolutely knows what the problem is. There are solid, scientific reasons for not doing so until after Apple releases iOS 14.8/15.0, but once they have the release candidates, they should quickly move forward with completing their final beta testing of the fix and releasing it.

We could speculate about Spotify “maliciously deciding” to slow their response in order to garner public sympathy, but more likely it’s just a major change that affects a lot of moving parts in their code and so it’s going to take some time to properly test it.

edited September 2021

jeff fields

Hank2.0 said:

Another example of the weaknesses in Apple's beta testing system. Really? Not a single tester used Spotify? Aren't major popular apps automatically tested? I hate to think Apple knew about the problem and maliciously decided not to work with Spotify to fix it.

"Work with Spotify"? Um, it's not Apple's job to keep Spotify from sucking. That's kind of a full-time gig for hundreds of people.

The solution here is for Spotify to suck less or just get out of the business. Not to blame Apple.

jeff fields

kkqd1337 said:

Apple being anti-competitive again?

More like Spotify sucking again. Always. Every day, all day, 24/7 three sixty-five.

japhey

jeff fields said:

kkqd1337 said:

Apple being anti-competitive again?

More like Spotify sucking again. Always. Every day, all day, 24/7 three sixty-five.

How long did you use Spotify before coming to this conclusion?

sflocal

Hank2.0 said:

Another example of the weaknesses in Apple's beta testing system. Really? Not a single tester used Spotify? Aren't major popular apps automatically tested? I hate to think Apple knew about the problem and maliciously decided not to work with Spotify to fix it.

Wait... you're blaming Apple because some developer has bugs in their app?  Are you really this dense?

I'm going to blame Ford for allowing me to fill up my tank with diesel fuel in my Mustang and ruining my engine. /s

larryjw

I think one can "blame" the OS. Now, I'm sure there needs to be a balance between performance and OS overhead, but it seems one role of the OS is to prevent run-away apps sucking the battery.

This might go back to the basic design of Unix. Unix is not a real-time OS and does not have preemptory capacity that would allow it to cut off applications eating up resources. 

Without knowing something more, I'd bet that all but specially designed Unix-based OSes have this same problem. 

osmartormenajr

Hank2.0 said:

Another example of the weaknesses in Apple's beta testing system. Really? Not a single tester used Spotify? Aren't major popular apps automatically tested? I hate to think Apple knew about the problem and maliciously decided not to work with Spotify to fix it.

Hey Hank, how very candid of you to put your IQ in your handle. That way we know you are not trolling us!

The beta testing is specifically aimed at developers, so they can make sure their app is up for the new OS. You know, like Spotify didn’t!

irenew

larryjw said:

I think one can "blame" the OS. Now, I'm sure there needs to be a balance between performance and OS overhead, but it seems one role of the OS is to prevent run-away apps sucking the battery.

This might go back to the basic design of Unix. Unix is not a real-time OS and does not have preemptory capacity that would allow it to cut off applications eating up resources. 

Without knowing something more, I'd bet that all but specially designed Unix-based OSes have this same problem. 

Please elaborate. There's no reason the scheduler in iOS couldn't prevent individual apps from using more than a predefined quota. The *nix heritage had nothing to do with this, remember Android is built on top of Linux and in the sector i work we tailor the Linux kernel schedulers all the time (balancing safety, efficiency and foreground app performance).
What do you mean? Why couldn't Apple do this?

presented

Hank2.0 said:

Another example of the weaknesses in Apple's beta testing system. Really? Not a single tester used Spotify? Aren't major popular apps automatically tested? I hate to think Apple knew about the problem and maliciously decided not to work with Spotify to fix it.

uhhhh I tested it.. never had these issues. still don't. + it's not apple's job to test apps... that's why there is a beta program.

dewme

iOS 15 (iPadOS) does seem to be crushing the battery in my iPad Pro 12.9” (original). Saw the battery drop by 20% in 5 minutes while downloading 10 app updates. Must be something going on with WiFi or perhaps Private Relay. Once the download was completed the super heavy battery drain stopped and it seems to have stabilized. 

Would be interesting to see if Private Relay is a factor.

edited September 2021

larryjw

IreneW said:

larryjw said:

I think one can "blame" the OS. Now, I'm sure there needs to be a balance between performance and OS overhead, but it seems one role of the OS is to prevent run-away apps sucking the battery.

This might go back to the basic design of Unix. Unix is not a real-time OS and does not have preemptory capacity that would allow it to cut off applications eating up resources. 

Without knowing something more, I'd bet that all but specially designed Unix-based OSes have this same problem. 

Please elaborate. There's no reason the scheduler in iOS couldn't prevent individual apps from using more than a predefined quota. The *nix heritage had nothing to do with this, remember Android is built on top of Linux and in the sector i work we tailor the Linux kernel schedulers all the time (balancing safety, efficiency and foreground app performance).
What do you mean? Why couldn't Apple do this?

As I said, there must be a balance between performance and OS overhead. It seems that Apple has chosen a balance which precludes stopping Spotify from eating up resources. Apple doesn't use a Linux kernel but a kernel based on XNU. My first hand knowledge and experience is ancient and based on Unix System V many decades ago -- I've not looked at OS kernels since then. 

Could Apple do something to remedy problems such as this? Beats me -- anything is possible.

Apple does keep battery usage by app, so it's likely they could periodically analyze those stats to detect misbehaving apps. 

But,  I doubt the solution is something that can be dealt with in the scheduler. Applications like Spotify cannot be preempted and still maintain the quality of sound output -- even microsecond delays are detectable by listeners. 

edited September 2021