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Facebook looking to fix battery-stealing iPhone app

Published Oct 16th, 2015 7:45AM EDT
iPhone Battery Facebook App

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Several reports over the last few days that were echoed by many tech sites and on social channels revealed that Facebook might employ some shady tactics to perform background activities on iPhone even if a user decides to turn off Background App Refresh. Various theories tried to explain how Facebook is forcing background activity on iPhones, and it looks like Facebook is paying attention to these complaints. The company hasn’t explained what’s causing the issue, but it “hopes” to fix the problem shortly.

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“We have heard reports of some people experiencing battery issues with our iOS app. We’re looking into this and hope to have a fix in place soon,” a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch in response to the reports highlighting the mobile app as a major battery hog on iOS.

However, Facebook has not commented on the theories that supposedly explain what’s happening when Background App Refresh is turned off for the app, yet Facebook still uses plenty of energy for background actions. It’s not clear whether this is indeed a bug, or whether Facebook has simply found ways in iOS 9 code to circumvent Apple’s means of stopping background refresh for apps.

Facebook didn’t expand on when the mobile app will be fixed, but the company releases constant updates for its mobile apps. A permanent fix to Facebook-related battery drain might be removing the app from the iPhone, especially from older models, and

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.