WhatsApp consuming huge amounts of battery in background even with play services

DirtyDan

WhatsApp is consuming about 30℅ of my battery from almost entirely background use. I know some apps (like Signal) can consume more battery for push notifications when play services is missing, but WhatsApp is installed on a profile with Play Services that runs all the time.

ryrona

For reference, my WhatsApp also installed with Google Play Services are consuming 1% of battery due to background usage. So, it sounds to me something is wrong with your WhatsApp installation.

Could you try uninstalling WhatsApp completely, and reinstalling it again, to see if the problem persists?

DirtyDan

ryrona yep, I already reinstalled WhatsApp twice so far with no difference. The same WhatsApp battery drain is occurring on my family member's phone that is also running GrapheneOS. We're both using Pixel 6a's. I asked another family member who also runs stock on their pixel 6a if they are experiencing this and they said no.

My battery right now is horrendous, having to recharge 3x each day (to 80℅) just to get through the day. I lost 4℅ of my battery just in the time it took me to write this.

ryrona

Can you check if you might have set WhatsApp to unrestricted battery (Settings app -> Apps -> WhatsApp -> Battery usage)? It should be at optimized.

Does your phone get hot?

Otherwise I don't really know.

DirtyDan

ryrona its set to optimized and most apps (that don't require push notifications) are set to restricted.

The phone does occasionally run hot, though it's random. Sometimes it gets hot just from sitting in my pocket with the screen off while other times it's normal even when using it.

ryrona

At this point I would have tried a factory reset. I have no other advise to give. Just, that this is not supposed to happen, and that WhatsApp uses very little battery for me, yet works just fine.

I think I have heard some kind of rumor that the battery usage menu might sometimes be misleading about what app it actually is that is draining battery, so one possible thing to try is disabling various apps you have installed in turn to see if that helps. Also, disable developer options if you have that enabled.

jomowet719

Pixel 6a with 2025020500 now, however problem spanned several other releases.

Had similar problems with WA and excessive battery drain, with periodic warm phone.
I deleted WA and used something else instead.
It also happened with Orbot, so that was removed, my battery with just GrapheneOS and Orbot, dropped to 50% whilst just on standby over the working day.
Again it happened with Mullvad VPN.
None of the above were installed with each other, they were all tested on their own, with just GrapheneOS and nothing else installed. Only WA made the phone warmer than normal.
Now my phone lasts several days on one charge, no VPN/Orbot/WA, with (3) additional apps installed.
Two are set at optimized with one being set at unrestricted.
Maybe the compromise is ditching problematic apps for ones that behave!

andrej567

there are releases of whatsapp that work good and some are catastrophic. worst was autumn 2023.. it was 10% battery/hour. now it is +/- ok for me.
with playservices