Why might my android app occasionally drain battery extremely fast?

Question

Several users of my app have reported their battery draining at around 1% a minute with my app running in the background. I have been unable to replicate this issue even when using the same account credentials on the same device model that the user had the error on. Reinstalling the app apparently does not solve the problem, and there does not seem to be any specific Android version or device associated with the issue. All the reports I've had are Samsung devices running 4.x, but this is also fairly representative of my user base overall. My background service listens for GCM messages and contact list changes as well as firing off an http request roughly every hour using a ScheduledExecutorService.

I should also note that I do not use any wake locks in the app.

I am wondering if anyone has any ideas as to what sorts of bugs might cause an issue like this, or even what tools or methods might be effective in narrowing down my problem scope.

I'd guess some code is executed continuously, maybe in a failure case since it does not happen all the time. — Henry, Nov 25 '13 at 21:57
Does the background service run in a loop or is it just waiting for an Intent? — mttdbrd, Nov 25 '13 at 21:58
@mttdbrd Everything running in the background is either waiting for an intent or is triggered by a ScheduledExecutorService. — rhnoble, Nov 25 '13 at 22:00
You asked them to uninstall and check to make sure it's not something else, right? — mttdbrd, Nov 25 '13 at 22:01
@mttdbrd Yes they have reported that the issue disappears when they uninstall. — rhnoble, Nov 25 '13 at 22:01
Do you close the HTTP connection when you return from the method? — mttdbrd, Nov 25 '13 at 22:02
Yes, the HTTP connection is closed promptly when I'm done with it. — rhnoble, Nov 25 '13 at 22:07
No, I'm not monitoring the network state. The only receivers I have are for GCM and incoming SMS. — rhnoble, Nov 25 '13 at 22:11
No I don't. Are you thinking that I might be getting a whole bunch of pushes continuously for long enough to run the battery down? — rhnoble, Nov 25 '13 at 22:41
@StephanBranczyk I don't have too many details about network connections when this happens except that at least once it happened while in airplane mode. — rhnoble, Nov 25 '13 at 23:44
@rhnoble Yes, I think you're getting a bunch of pushes because of the extra payload. I'm willing to bet it's when your users have spotty connectivity. If it always happens to them no matter how good their wifi/3g connection is, then it's probably not that. — mttdbrd, Nov 26 '13 at 15:42

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 25 '13 at 23:23

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About what percentage of users are reporting this problem? If you tried it on a Samsung device running 4.x and you didn't get an issue something besides your code must be the problem.

answered Nov 25 '13 at 23:23

Inquirer

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Out of about 5k users I have heard roughly 15 reports of this bug including some enterprises who have multiple devices with the problem. I assume that for every one person who reports it a lot more are just deleting the app. – rhnoble Nov 25 '13 at 23:48

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:28

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If I were you I'd

Start testing with your wifi turned off.
Test your application while simulating high latency (Charles has a free 30-days trial)
And add some code for monitoring battery level and charging state.

I'm sorry I don't a better answer.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:28

Community

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answered Nov 27 '13 at 21:06

Stephan Branczyk

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Why might my android app occasionally drain battery extremely fast?

2 Answers2