Apple Music app bug reportedly causing sporadic battery drain

Posted:
in General Discussion edited July 2020
Some users of the Apple Music app in iOS 13.5.1 are reporting that their iPhone batteries are being significantly and rapidly drained, even when not playing music.

Some users are finding that their iPhone batteries are being unusually drained by Apple Music
Some users are finding that their iPhone batteries are being unusually drained by Apple Music


Following Apple's release of iOS 13.5.1 in early June, some users have begun reporting that the Apple Music app appears to be causing steep battery drain. Many of the reports claim that the drain is happening regardless of whether the Apple Music app has actually been used.

Apple has yet to comment, and there is no definitive figure for what proportion of users are being affected. However, a pair of current discussion threads about the issue on Apple's support forums show just over 2,000 people reporting that they have the same problem.

The only common factors are iOS 13.5.1, Apple Music, and apps working in the background. It does not appear to be confined to any one specific iPhone model, with users reporting problems across new and old iPhones, plus iPads. There are some reports that the issue isn't confined to Apple Music, either.

"The battery drain from background activity in iOS 13.5.1 is horrible," says user TexThomas in Apple's support community discussion. "Happens on several apps, currently Bloom berg and Teamsnap. Same problem on my iPad and my wife's iPhone Xs. Come on Apple, this needs to be fix[ed] now!"

Some users claim that their iOS devices have felt hot because of the battery drain. In the majority of cases, though, users spotted the problem because the battery life on their iOS devices had become noticeably reduced.

To check what version of iOS is on an iPhone or iPad, users can open Settings, tap on General, and About. To check battery usage, and which apps are most affecting it on a specific device, tap through Settings, and Battery.

The Apple support discussions were first spotted by MacRumors.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    Not Apple Music because I really don't use it - I do use the Podcasts app though.

    I normally set the volume all the way up on my 11 Pro Max, but when I click the lock button can hardly hear the click. Sometimes though - maybe after a boot - I'll lock the phone and the click will be so loud it startles me.

    Something's definitely wrong - I went to bed with 80+% and woke about four hours later to find the battery almost totally drained. Battery stats said the Camera was the biggest battery user, but the camera wasn't on.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    larryjwlarryjw Posts: 1,031member
    No hint of this problem on my iPhone pro 11. 

    This is why debugging is so hard. 
  • Reply 3 of 15
    It’s happening to me. iPhone 11 max pro. Apple Music is using 68% of battery usage. 
  • Reply 4 of 15
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Mmm. Nothing here. 

    Could be a tricky one to track down. 

    If it’s happening with other apps then it could be iOS isn’t putting them to sleep properly. 
    edited July 2020
  • Reply 5 of 15
    this happened to my XS last week... Mail app drained my newly charged battery in few hours even though I hardly used it that day. I quit the app and put the phone in its smart battery case and it drained it in 8 or 9 hours... now I’ll have to check mail exclusively on my Mac until this is fixed.
  • Reply 6 of 15
    Haven't experienced this issue on an iPhone XS. I use the Apple Music app every day and am typically connected to both cellular and WiFi the majority of the time.
  • Reply 7 of 15
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    No issues on my X. I'm a heavy Music user, especially on the weekends.
  • Reply 8 of 15
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member

    Apple has yet to comment, and there is no definitive figure for what proportion of users are being affected. However, a pair of current discussion threads about the issue on Apple's support forums show just over 2,000 people reporting that they have the same problem.


    I'll take issue with this statement. Unless AppleInsider or MacRumors took the time to read every post and came up with this number 2000 I suspect they instead looked at the number of 'views' and reported those as confirmed cases. The number of views on a discussion thread has absolutely nothing to do with the actual issue being talked about. It simply reflects the number of people who took a look. Add to the fact that in discussion threads the number of "me too" are usually counterbalanced by the number of "not me" responses. Now consider that, even in other forums people are chiming in with claims of other apps doing the same thing.

    Bottom line, as usual, is that this i far from being a thing right now. 
  • Reply 9 of 15
    I've been struggling with this as well (iphone 8 plus). I haven't used Music in several days, yet it was in the "background" for over 11 hours even with Background Refresh off. I can't go more than 1 hour of normal usage w/o needing to plug it in. It's also slow to recharge. 
  • Reply 10 of 15
    JBSloughJBSlough Posts: 92member
    Been having this problem for a few days now on my 11 Pro. Phone gets hot too. Battery not lasting more than a day. I turned off all the background refresh switches (actually surprised how many were on) and recharged it overnight. Seems fine now. No longer hot. And seems to be back to sipping power. Hopefully 13.6 is a fix. 
  • Reply 11 of 15
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Not sure if mine is related to AM, but ever since 13.5.1, my iPad (2019 Pro) has been draining its battery rapidly. It has been quite noticeable, as it has gone down from 10-11 hours incase usage, to 5-6 hours.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    I noticed that my iPad Pro wasn't charging very well since last night, and sure enough, Apple Music (running in the background) was responsible for 47% of my battery drain over the past 24 hours.  Just started happening.
  • Reply 13 of 15
    DelbotDelbot Posts: 1member
    I noticed this issue yesterday on my 8 plus, i have tried removing the Apple Music app and then re installing which seems to have solved the problem for now.
  • Reply 14 of 15
    Delbot said:
    I noticed this issue yesterday on my 8 plus, i have tried removing the Apple Music app and then re installing which seems to have solved the problem for now.
    I removed the app and it solved my problem as well. I hadn’t even used it in weeks, but it was sucking 76% (in the background!) of my battery since the previous charge. 
  • Reply 15 of 15
    I’d like to chime in here as well. I’m on an iPhone 6 Plus on iOS 12.4.7 and I discovered my Apple Music app too was draining my battery significantly. I thought at first it was my battery finally crapping out on me since my device is fairly old, but I don’t think that is fully the case. 

     The way I solved this was I had to reboot my device once or twice in one day. That seems to have solved the issue, for now. I’ve opened my music app several times since then and haven’t experienced this issue.

    Just wanted to note this issue isn’t just limited to iOS 13, but is happening on older versions as well. Hope a fix comes soon. 
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