Does Marshmallow handle Bluetooth differently?

[schwars1]

With Marshmallow I'm seeing significant battery drain from keeping my Bluetooth on all the time. My phone occasionally connects to my FitBit (manual sync only) and my car.

Keeping Bluetooth on with Lollipop never seemed to be a problem, but now Bluetooth is often above even the screen when it comes to battery usage. Reboots and cache clears don't seem to make a difference. I'm OK turning Bluetooth off but I always forget to do so and then there goes my battery.

Thoughts?

 

[Repr1sal]

Thats doesnt sound normal. I have mine on 24/7 because i hate having to manually connect to the car. Just checked BT is at 1% battery usage for the day

Android Central app on Moto X Pure

 

[schwars1]

Thats doesnt sound normal. I have mine on 24/7 because i hate having to manually connect to the car. Just checked BT is at 1% battery usage for the day

Android Central app on Moto X Pure

That's what I figured. I'd hate to have to do a reformat but I'm not coming up with any other ideas.

 

[Ry]

Battery has been the same for me. I'm constantly connected to my Moto 360.

Posted via the Android Central App on the Moto X Pure Edition

 

[schwars1]

Found the problem. It turned out to be only a coincidence that the issue started after I upgraded.

Turns out a recent update to the GasBuddy app uses Bluetooth to give you "deals" at gas stations but it doesn't let your phone go idle, hence the battery drain due to Bluetooth.

 

[dmark44]

Found the problem. It turned out to be only a coincidence that the issue started after I upgraded.

Turns out a recent update to the GasBuddy app uses Bluetooth to give you "deals" at gas stations but it doesn't let your phone go idle, hence the battery drain due to Bluetooth.

Thanks, I'm going to look into that. Bluetooth has been using noticeably more battery since I upgraded too, and I also use Gasbuddy.

In fact, Bluetooth is beating out screen time for battery usage today. And it's neck and neck for top drainer with Google Services, which I assume includes backing up photos I've taken on the road today.

I've been in my own car (where I have a Bluetooth Stereo connection) only for about 30 min.

 

[schwars1]

Yeah, it's likely that app. With MM you can theoretically use the permissions settings to figure out what app is using Bluetooth and draining but I'm not sure how.

 

[dmark44]

Found the problem. It turned out to be only a coincidence that the issue started after I upgraded.

Turns out a recent update to the GasBuddy app uses Bluetooth to give you "deals" at gas stations but it doesn't let your phone go idle, hence the battery drain due to Bluetooth.

Did you figure out a way to stop Gasbuddy from doing that without having to uninstall the app?

 

[schwars1]

Did you figure out a way to stop Gasbuddy from doing that without having to uninstall the app?

No I just uninstalled. The mobile site works just about as well. I plan to reinstall the app sometime down the road to see if an update fixed it.

But it also seems if you search regular Google Maps for gas stations it shows prices too so there's that.

 

[dmark44]

But it also seems if you search regular Google Maps for gas stations it shows prices too so there's that.

Yeah, I think that just was added as part of a recent update.

I tried uninstalling/reinstalling to see if I could manage permissions, but nothing came up.

 

[ScottMGS]

This isn't a Bluetooth battery issue but it does fall under the title.

I have just upgraded from a Moto X (2013) to an MXPE. With the 2013 under both KitKat and Lollipop, I had Bluetooth set up to work with an Android Wear watch and two stereo Bluetooth head sets (Moto Buds and Mpow Cheetah). The headsets worked for both phone calls and music (Google Play Music, Pandora, etc.). Yesterday, I got the MXPE, upgraded it to Marshmallow (complete with factory reset), and set it up with Wear and the Mpow headset. The Mpow works fine with phone calls but music is not routed to it -- plays through the MXPE speakers. I added the Moto Bud and, again, phone call audio works fine but music playback only comes through the MXPE. I've looked at the Bluetooth settings and the Sound and Notification settings, removed and re-added the Mpow and nothing changes. I did search and could not find any reports of a similar problem. Does anybody have any ideas, hints, or clues for me? Thanks.

 

[ScottMGS]

Answered my own question. It was clearly an OS software issue since multiple apps and multiple Bluetooth devices had the same problem Moto support wanted me to send in a one-day-old phone for a refurb swap-out. I bit the bullet and did another factory reset and it's working.

 

[dmark44]

Sorry you had to go through that step. My Bluetooth was flawless prior to Marshmallow.

Since then I've had occasional connection issues (randomly dropping out) with my car stereo since the upgrade. No problems with my BT headphones though.

My 2013 Moto X had much more frequent issues with the stereo, so I still feel pretty good about the MXPE connection reliability. That said, zero issues in the weeks I had Lollipop was even better!

 

[David Rosen]

I'm not noticing any battery drain, but I am noticing it being a little more finnicky in my car with Ford Sync 3. I'll be connected clearly (it even gets my text messages on the head unit) and my music doesn't play through the car. Then I turn off the bluetooth and back on and then it works. To be fair it was a little finnicky before too, but it's more now.