Crazy battery drain suddenly

[laurencewo]

Hello, I've had my Nexus 5X a few weeks, battery life has been pretty decent until a couple of days ago it has suddenly started draining like crazy with no indication of what's causing it. Here's a screenshot showing after taking it off charge last night and with airplane mode on and wifi off (until I took the screenshot) battery has dropped to 60%. I I first looked all it said was 'phone idle 1%'. The only thing I can think of I did differently was install the manual camera app, which I have since deleted.

I guess I'm going to have to do a factory reset but any ideas before I do, just in case?

 

[mportuesisf]

Does the problem persist through a reboot? I'd check that before doing a full reset.

 

[stevospinks]

The same thing is happening to me - I'm lucky if I get 12 hours now, when it's sat on my desk most of the day (so Doze should kick in like it used to), I was easily getting 36 hours before.

I've tried rebooting and cleaning the system cache, but no luck so far.

I'm wondering if there was an update to Play Services recently which has caused it. Is anyone else experiencing this?

 

[laurencewo]

Does the problem persist through a reboot? I'd check that before doing a full reset.

Yep I've tried rebooting a few times each day, doesn't make a difference. I'd do a full reset now but I'm away and the wifi is rubbish so won't be able to restore it! I have to keep it turned off and only turn it on when I need to use it or it doesn't make it through the day.

I would think if it was an update to play services more people would be experiencing it? So annoying.

 

[mportuesisf]

I've seen a few scattered reports here on the forum about the GPS getting stuck on and killing the battery. Maybe you can try turning GPS off to see if that makes a difference? It's not a cure, but it's worth trying just to see if that's the cause.

 

[laurencewo]

I've seen a few scattered reports here on the forum about the GPS getting stuck on and killing the battery. Maybe you can try turning GPS off to see if that makes a difference? It's not a cure, but it's worth trying just to see if that's the cause.

I've always had mine on battery saving so GPS shouldn't make a difference. I've tried putting GPS on and off just in case. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[mportuesisf]

I've read conflicting reports as to whether Airplane mode also disables GPS. I admit it's grasping at straws, but it's one more thing to check before doing a factory reset.

Some more things you can try:

- Check the list of services running in the background. One of them could be a suspect. Android used to have a Settings screen that would display all running apps, but it appears to have been taken out of Marshmallow. You could install a task manager app that shows what's running in the background. I've never used it, but something like Watchdog Task Manager might be worth a try (though it looks like that app hasn't been updated in a real long time). Maybe Greenify is a better choice.

- You could try installing a battery monitor app to see if you get more info out of it. I use GSAM Battery Monitor, and it lists more things in its battery usage list than the system battery screen does.

 

[porcine]

I had EXACTLY the same issue. No problems at all with my 5x over the past month, doze working perfectly, then started using loads of battery even overnight. Seemed to start in the middle of last week, same as yours. Hadn't added any new apps in that time. Tried doing factory resets and leaving the phone for hours untouched but the problem was still there, same kind of drain as yours but nothing showing in the battery % per process list or running services to explain it.

Began to think my actual battery was faulty, with all the hassle that would cause, but as a last resort I tried doing a factory reset and leaving it with just the google apps it installs. Voila. NO DRAIN! And back to 2 or 3% overnight again now. Therefore, I'm guessing it must have been caused by a seriously botched update to a existing app - which I suspect you must have on your 5x too. I'm now in the process of adding my apps back on one at a time to isolate the culprit.

So yep, you may have to factory reset - but make sure you stop the phone putting all the 3rd party stuff back on again automatically from backup. Other choice would seem to be to wait until whatever app is updated again with a fix for it, but if your drain is like mine was, and it looks identical, then it's too annoying for that.

 

[eaccentsac]

I had EXACTLY the same issue. No problems at all with my 5x over the past month, doze working perfectly, then started using loads of battery even overnight. Seemed to start in the middle of last week, same as yours. Hadn't added any new apps in that time. Tried doing factory resets and leaving the phone for hours untouched but the problem was still there, same kind of drain as yours but nothing showing in the battery % per process list or running services to explain it.

Began to think my actual battery was faulty, with all the hassle that would cause, but as a last resort I tried doing a factory reset and leaving it with just the google apps it installs. Voila. NO DRAIN! And back to 2 or 3% overnight again now. Therefore, I'm guessing it must have been caused by a seriously botched update to a existing app - which I suspect you must have on your 5x too. I'm now in the process of adding my apps back on one at a time to isolate the culprit.

So yep, you may have to factory reset - but make sure you stop the phone putting all the 3rd party stuff back on again automatically from backup. Other choice would seem to be to wait until whatever app is updated again with a fix for it, but if your drain is like mine was, and it looks identical, then it's too annoying for that.

+1

If one does not first disable the auto restore function prior to doing an FDR, you run the risk of reloading the same problematic configuration. Kudos to you for your methodical approach

 

[laurencewo]

I had EXACTLY the same issue. No problems at all with my 5x over the past month, doze working perfectly, then started using loads of battery even overnight. Seemed to start in the middle of last week, same as yours. Hadn't added any new apps in that time. Tried doing factory resets and leaving the phone for hours untouched but the problem was still there, same kind of drain as yours but nothing showing in the battery % per process list or running services to explain it.

Began to think my actual battery was faulty, with all the hassle that would cause, but as a last resort I tried doing a factory reset and leaving it with just the google apps it installs. Voila. NO DRAIN! And back to 2 or 3% overnight again now. Therefore, I'm guessing it must have been caused by a seriously botched update to a existing app - which I suspect you must have on your 5x too. I'm now in the process of adding my apps back on one at a time to isolate the culprit.

So yep, you may have to factory reset - but make sure you stop the phone putting all the 3rd party stuff back on again automatically from backup. Other choice would seem to be to wait until whatever app is updated again with a fix for it, but if your drain is like mine was, and it looks identical, then it's too annoying for that.

Let me know if you identify the app!

Isn't there a way to run the phone in safe mode? So it only runs pre-installed apps? I might do that to check first, and then try uninstalling a bunch of apps that have updated recently and run it normally again. Bit weird an app can drain battery so bad and not show up in the battery usage.

 

[ceinc]

It started this week for me, from new its been great with 3-4 days before I would need to recharge, since wednesday I need to recharge it every day. It sucks big time I will need to buy a charging cable for work now as its so unreliable.

Aeroplane mode and battery saver makes no difference still drains as quick with them on. The battery app is useless never has anything showing high usage.

 

[eaccentsac]

Let me know if you identify the app!

Isn't there a way to run the phone in safe mode? So it only runs pre-installed apps? I might do that to check first, and then try uninstalling a bunch of apps that have updated recently and run it normally again. Bit weird an app can drain battery so bad and not show up in the battery usage.

Yes. Just press power button like you want to shut down. When you see Power off on the SCREEN, long press it until the pop up appears asking if you want to reboot in Safe Mode.

Test in safe mode.

Reboot to get back to normal mode.

 

[laurencewo]

Kept it in safe mode last night, no battery drain. I've removed a few apps and now I think it's fine, dropped an expected amount through the day, nothing out of the ordinary. Phew.

I don't know the culprit but these are the apps I removed so guessing it's one of them:
All 4
ITV hub
Skype
ES File Explorer
National Rail Enquiries
Uber
Songkick

I'll have to add them back over the next couple of days to see which it is.

 

[Equinsu ocha]

Kept it in safe mode last night, no battery drain. I've removed a few apps and now I think it's fine, dropped an expected amount through the day, nothing out of the ordinary. Phew.

I don't know the culprit but these are the apps I removed so guessing it's one of them:
All 4
ITV hub
Skype
ES File Explorer
National Rail Enquiries
Uber
Songkick

I'll have to add them back over the next couple of days to see which it is.

Well from that list I use Skype and ES File Explorer and my battery lasts for 3-4 days before needing to be charged. I just put mine on the charger a couple of minutes ago. The last time I charged it was last week wednesday or thursday.

 

[ceinc]

I had All 4, ITV and Skype, I've uninstalled them and will see what happens.

 

[laurencewo]

ITV and All 4 have gone through fairly major updates so think it could be one of them.

 

[stevospinks]

I've removed All4 and ITV Hub and have already seen an incredible improvement. As you can see in the screenshot below, I removed the apps just before turning the phone off for a while:



Not sure which one was causing the issue, but glad it appears to be solved!

 

[eaccentsac]

Awesome.

If you want to use those apps that you removed, be sure to let the app devs know that their app was not playing well with your device. The good devs will take action and make the necessary changes...

 

[peteharris]

My nexus 5x has done the same thing. Even overnight when the wireless and bluetooth were off the battery drained just as fast. I did a factory reset and it battery life was fine for a few days so I slowly installed my apps again.

Yesterday the battery drain started again, but I didn't install any apps yesterday. I did have the "All 4" app installed though, so I wonder if it did something in the background.

I did a factory reset again yesterday evening to fix it and will report back if I find out anything useful.

 

[eaccentsac]

My nexus 5x has done the same thing. Even overnight when the wireless and bluetooth were off the battery drained just as fast. I did a factory reset and it battery life was fine for a few days so I slowly installed my apps again.

Yesterday the battery drain started again, but I didn't install any apps yesterday. I did have the "All 4" app installed though, so I wonder if it did something in the background.

I did a factory reset again yesterday evening to fix it and will report back if I find out anything useful.

A factory data reset without FIRST disabling the auto restore feature in settings>>>backup and reset runs the risk of re-loading the same problematic configuration. I highly recommend that this feature be disabled prior to doing any FDR.

It is very true that misbehaving apps can cause issues in the background. You could have the app on your phone and it won't cause problems until you open it or it takes some kind of behind-the-scenes action. This is part of why it takes time and a methodical mindset to track and identify the troublesome app(s).