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Is the new Skype app killing my battery life?

O

omizzle

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 5, 2009
256
92
So I updated my Skype app and left it running to see how it was.

I took my phone off the charger at like 8:30am and at 12:00, I was at like 86%. I hadnt done much on my phone (a few texts and a couple minutes of browsing)

Is the skype app to blame? Normally around noon I'll still have like 93%+
 
omizzle said:
So I updated my Skype app and left it running to see how it was.

I took my phone off the charger at like 8:30am and at 12:00, I was at like 86%. I hadnt done much on my phone (a few texts and a couple minutes of browsing)

Is the skype app to blame? Normally around noon I'll still have like 93%+
Click to expand...

IMHO that's not a significant drain. How bad is it if you actually make calls?
 
I haven't noticed significant drain but it's only been a day using it.

86% compared to 93% probably isn't that big of a deal, as you'll probably coast through the day without having to charge till the end anyway. That's all we smartphone users can ask for: a phone that gets us through the day.
 
I noticed the same thing today with my phone. The battery was dropping much more quickly than usual...so I killed the Skype app and the drain stopped. Not sure what the problem is but I did not notice similar issues with Fring or any other backgrounding app.

The battery drains was similar to yours. Basically an extra 7-10% over a 4-5 hour period compared to other days.
 
greekpaz22 said:
I noticed the same thing today with my phone. The battery was dropping much more quickly than usual...so I killed the Skype app and the drain stopped. Not sure what the problem is but I did not notice similar issues with Fring or any other backgrounding app.

The battery drains was similar to yours. Basically an extra 7-10% over a 4-5 hour period compared to other days.
Click to expand...

Good to hear I'm not the only one!
 
I have the skype app and haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary with battery drain
 
I believe I've noticed some battery drain as well today due to Skype being in the background. I'd understand some bugs if it came out as soon as 4.0 was released, but they had forever to fine tune this app and apparently couldn't get it right. Nice job, Skype!
 
So you are expecting it to use the same or less battery with multiple apps running at once?
 
I think we have to realize here that very few apps are actually using any real backgrounding in iOS4 yet (which is probably for the better). Most are just holding in a suspended state not doing a thing.

Skype on the other hand is keeping an open network connection and listening for incoming messages and calls. I think we can expect a battery drain if we keep it running all the time, so it comes down to a question of how badly you need to be able to receive a Skype call at all times. I for one do not, but I have a friend who doesn't have a real phone at all, and primarily uses a Skype-in #.

He wants to buy one of the many Skype wi-fi phones out there, and I keep telling him that he'd be better off with an iPod touch and a mic, now with iOS4 and the new version of Skype, my suggestion really has some weight behind it.
 
This is why facetime could turn out to be a big deal. No need to launch an app. No battery drain. Not having to have status visible is a boon for mobile battery-hungry devices
 
I've been incredibly impressed with Skype on the iPhone.

I only started using it yesterday, but even when placing a 4+ hour call (with two people over Wi-Fi) the battery only went down about 30%.

I even used the phone to check other apps etc.

If you compare that to 3G or 2G talk time, it's very good.
 
I've noticed no significant drain while running Skype in the background.

Full charge at 12 noon. by 1:15pm, after using the phone for 2 text messages and skype running in background, my battery was at 99%

at 5:30pm: [55min of usage, 5:43min of standby] a few emails, checking Twitter and mostly playing Words W/Friends, my battery is at 90%.

I'm really impressed with the lack of battery drain Skype has, but i'm going to keep an eye on it for sure.
 
I posted about this in the Skype announcement thread. After some testing it seems the drain is when you run it with 3G, so far I've had it open under wifi and haven't had a drain.
 
I've noticed no significant drain while having Skype in the background. I'm using a 3GS running iOS 4.0.1.

ElZeus said:
I posted about this in the Skype announcement thread. After some testing it seems the drain is when you run it with 3G, so far I've had it open under wifi and haven't had a drain.
Click to expand...

That sounds about right. When I'm on Edge or WiFi (which is most of the time), I notice little to no battery drain.
 
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