Battery drain problem since update 2025091000

Velocity9490

GrapheneOS As I said, I know that the device is quite old and has a high number of battery cycles. But I recently observed a very drastic deterioration of the battery in a very short time. That's why I thought this would be abnormal and potentially related to an update.

Regarding the faulty batteries: I am actually aware of the issue, I'm still waiting for the faulty battery detection feature in GrapheneOS? I saw your Mastodon post saying that a kernel change to facilitate battery fault checks has been merged https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/115221874380723959
When will the userspace implementation of this arrive in GrapheneOS? I don't have a Google account, I don't want to create one, and I don't want to tie it to my IP address, my device's IMEI, and possibly have to enter a phone number for account creation. Especially since they either don't let you create an account over a VPN, or require phone numbers or some other identity verification BS in that case.

Another user in that thread also claims to have observed a drastic deterioration about a week ago. https://livellosegreto.it/@toketin/115221720252987589

maximus87

Velocity9490

Another user in that thread also claims to have observed a drastic deterioration about a week ago. https://livellosegreto.it/@toketin/115221720252987589

I mean just in this forum, you can see how many threads in the last days have been created about the battery drastic deterioration. And I hate that it keeps being dismissed as an user fault...

GrapheneOS

Velocity9490 You appear to have a Pixel 6a with a faulty battery. Until Android 16 QPR1 is pushed to AOSP and we've ported to it, we can't provide a userspace implementation of what's required to detect it. That user also needs to replace their faulty Pixel 6a battery. We're also going to have a lot of higher priorities to work on in the near future since a lot of things are actually broken. The mitigation for the Pixel 6a battery is working as intended and is not something broken. It's not high battery drain but rather a faulty battery having a fire hazard mitigated. It doesn't fit the topic of the thread.

spring-onion

maximus87 I mean just in this forum, you can see how many threads in the last days have been created about the battery drastic deterioration. And I hate that it keeps being dismissed as an user fault...

There's two sides to the coin. For one, Google has intentionally nerfed the battery of some 6a devices because they represent a possible fire hazard. We plan on adding a toggle to disable this protective measure for users who are willing to take the risk, but it's not something we will ever endorse. It sucks but affected users should replace their battery or their device altogether.

Then, separate from that, as you have pointed out, it's possible something else is happening to other users on other phones. Now there is always somebody who complains about increased battery drain after an update hits the shelves when there's countless of possible explanations on why that might be, the update is just one of them. I'm not saying that's what applies here, and we are looking into it, but just to give you some perspective.

Sirut

Yeah, I have a 7A too and I've noticed the same issue with the battery life I have to recharge it every day.

Just to know a few minutes ago: I was on a call with 30% battery, and after 15 minutes, the phone shut down during the call.

No Gapps, no Bluetooth, no WiFi. Just mobile data.

Optimization toggled on and remove from background every app.

Idk how to solve it but before of the update was different

Velocity9490

GrapheneOS Thank you very much for the response. But I have a few aspects, where I would appreciate further clarification: The detection and mitigation for the faulty batteries have been merged into the kernel and deployed by GrapheneOS? So the mitigations are the reason for the deteriorated battery life (because of the faulty battery, which was detected by the kernel, and caused the mitigations to be activated)? Am I understanding this correctly? So basically everything has been implemented, except for the user-facing notification about the faulty battery? Is this correct?

overstep

I've also noticed this recently on my 6a with a cycle count of 254. Overnight my battery drains by 20-30% while both WiFi and mobile data are off and i have nothing running in the background.

I had a look at the battery usage during this period last night and two apps consistently have the most battery usage during several of the two hour periods - around 10-15% each. Every other app listed is much lower.

The first was tor browser which i had used only briefly during the day and had closed after use. It also has background use off. The second was vanadium which is set to optimised. Feeder (rss reader) was also around 5% during the same periods and it has background use off.

GrapheneOS

overstep You have a Pixel 6a, so you need to check if it has a faulty battery and replace it if it does. The faulty batteries are a fire hazard and it would not be safe for GrapheneOS to drop the protection against it. It just came to GrapheneOS late because of the mess in AOSP recently.

overstep

GrapheneOS
Mine isn't eligible for the replacement program so not sure if i can attribute this to the 6a battery issues.

Bismark

I didn't read whole thread but I just had a big drain yesterday right when I needed my phone for something important. The only thing I was messing with was the 'charge other phones from my phone setting' and charged my sons phone for a few minutes at a flight layover. Had 60% battery in airplane mode and phone in my pocket. Nothing running in background. 7 hours when plane landed and taxing to gate I pulled out my pixel 8 and had 1% bat, phone was real sluggish, then it powered off after a second or two. After plugging it in nearby I had a bootloop until my daughter found safemode. It booted into safemode then rebooted itself and its working again. Phone has never done that to me before, and is working just fine right now.

edit: I just read the whole thread, I think my problem is unrelated and is a one off.

Tailpour

I just want to chime in and say that I experience the same issue with battery drain on my Pixel 6A. I have went from charging it once a day (duing the night) to having to charge it in the afternoon as well.

My phone was not eligible for the replacement program so not sure if that means that my battery is not faulty?

Hat

Tailpour
You could try aBattery or Battery Guru apps.
https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/26209-grapheneos-version-2025090600-released/16
Check how many mAh you have left after a full charge.

Tailpour

Hat I downloaded aBattery and its says that my capacity is 2556 mAh and that the cycle count is 526. So I have 58 % of the original capacity. Does that mean that my battery is affected by Googles reduced capacity changes that I believe was introduced in 20250905?

If I understand it correctly, only impacted devices should be affected by the July 8 2025 software update from Google. They determined that my device was ineligible so my device should not be impacted. I don't know what my capacity was a month ago But I have noticed a clear difference in battery capacity so I guess I am impacted?

Oggyo

Tailpour I downloaded aBattery and its says that my capacity is 2556 mAh and that the cycle count is 526. So I have 58 % of the original capacity. Does that mean that my battery is affected by Googles reduced capacity changes that I believe was introduced in 20250905?

Seems like - yes, it's affected. Your cycles are above 400, and capacity is heavily reduced.

spring-onion

@maximus87 Ban lifted and posts restored as it became apparent you're talking about your general observations, which is fine.

GrapheneOS

Velocity9490 We didn't implement anything, it's a standard feature in the current Pixel battery management driver to detect the faulty Pixel 6a batteries and throttle capacity / charge rate to avoid fires. You appear to have one of the faulty batteries and need to replace it. We plan to implement a user-facing notification after Android 16 QPR1 if it's not already included in AOSP.

GrapheneOS

maximus87 You've set up your device in a way that it uses a lot of power. You can choose to fix or you can wrongly blame it on GrapheneOS and keep having the issue.

A large subset of Pixel 6a devices are known to have faulty batteries which are a fire hazard. These are detected and throttled by the current kernel driver. If you have a Pixel 6a, then you need to get the battery replaced if it's part of the large subset impacted by this.

ZenoZenith

GrapheneOS I followed the recommendations you gave me, but despite that, I still have a problem. Almost every morning, I wake up to find my phone switched off, which has never happened before.

GraphyGraphy

I'm having the same problem here—the battery suddenly drains much faster, but my 6a is also affected by the battery problem. However, I find it strange that most of my battery is being drained by mobile internet. When I disable mobile data and use Wi-Fi, I don't have a battery problem. Can anyone confirm this? Best regards and thanks to the GOS-Team for the great work!

GrapheneOS

GraphyGraphy If you have a Pixel 6a with a faulty battery, then what you need to do is get the battery replaced. There's no use doing anything else first.

GrapheneOS

ZenoZenith You're going to need to determine what's draining power. If you have any apps running foreground services (active apps), start by disabling those and seeing if that improves your battery life substantially which it likely will. One or more of those apps is likely misbehaving and using a lot of power. You can also set other user installed apps not running a foreground service (not marked as active apps) to Restricted battery mode to stop them running in the background except when started by an app. There's no known issue causing any power drain the OS and several other users who reported problems have resolved them by adjusting or changing their user installed apps. You'll need to start with that.

kud591

2-3 updates ago my phone show info your battery is damage, I have 400+ cycles

Google create KILL SWITCH and after this update I can't charge phone (charged and 10-30 sec stop) I was scarry because my battery drain and I can't charge.. With problems I change system to stock

I reverse system to stock, thinking maybe something wrong with update.. But stock system show me info change battery (400 cycle blockade they make)

I change battery to the new, change system to GrapheneOS and now use phone 99% over Wi-Fi, and I see much faster drain battery

I almost switch off all drain fature and make update by own. Don't install google and use other services

First I thinking my new battery have some problems but when I see this thread maybe google put another kill switch to pixel 6a/7a .. To force change phone to new one..

App DevInfo show this stat:
+/- (-104 mA) / (-0.44 W)

But I have set about 25% brightness

GrapheneOS

kud591 If you have a Pixel 6a with a faulty battery, then take the free battery replacement or take the cash/credit and get the battery replaced yourself. You have a battery that's a fire hazard which needs to be replaced which is being offered for free. It's not something you should ignore. Tuning the device to use far less power by not running much, not using cellular, etc. isn't going to change having a faulty battery that's throttled due to being a fire hazard. If you have one of the faulty batteries, get it replaced.

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