Unusual Find My background battery drain after setting up AirTag

[xystudioo]

Curious to see if anyone experienced unusual battery drain after setting up AirTag. I am seeing "Find My Background Activity" on the top battery usage for the past few days on all my iCloud devices.

This starts from last Friday when I set up the AirTag and is still happening after multiple restarts & 14.5.1 update. Removed the AirTag from my account for ~1 hour now, and the "Find My background activities" across my devices seems gone.

For example, "Find My" is using over 50% of iPad battery in two days that I haven't touch it:

Also found a similiar thread on reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/n2fafw

 

[537635]

Same here. Might be because I'm fiddling with the app more?

 

[xraydoc]

Find My is showing 2% usage over last 24 hrs on my 11" iPad Pro (gen. 1). One AirTag registered to my system.

 

[drasl]

I noticed the same thing. FindMy background activity is suddenly (after airtags setup) in the top 4 of the battery usage by app on my iPhone for the last 10 days (10%).

I even have background activity off in settings

 

[537635]

I noticed the same thing. FindMy background activity is suddenly (after airtags setup) in the top 4 of the battery usage by app on my iPhone for the last 10 days (10%).

I even have background activity off in settings

I did some "tests". I had active AirTags in NFC range. Then I moved them away and battery is fine now. Maybe constant pinging is draining the battery.

 

[Marli]

Find My has gobbled my battery from 100% to 6% overnight one time, The Active Vs Backround use seems to not make sense, but it only did it the one time (so far)

 

[mcvaughan]

I did have similar draining, but has since stopped. Only shows 3% of use now.

 

[pointclickkill]

any update on this? mine still drains, and i am 100% confident its due to airtag / find my app. any fix?

 

[Heiner030]

I have the exact same problem.

Using an iPhone SE 2020 and also tried to switch of Find My Network at all (yes it is possible under iCloud Settings.

I have 3 Air Tags. 2 nearby approx 3 meters from bed and one in my car which is in front of my house.

It drains almost 40 % battery over night and shows 100% battery usage in background.

I used to use Airplane mode at night but for the test I also tried to nights to let cellular and all stuff on. Same result.

Some 1 wrote it could be the NFC range, but NFC range is around 10-20 cm and not 3 meters. I disconnected the 2 Air Tags nearby and let see how it goes. Other wise I will return.

My gf has the same issue. 1 Airtag in her wallet (iPhone 11) also 100 % battery drain background over night (no Airplane mode)

 

[bushman4]

Unfortunately AIRTAGS are a constant drain on battery. Remove the AirTag from your iPhone Find My app and battery usage goes back to normal

 

[Heiner030]

True, still have 100% battery drain with only 1 Airtag attached in my car which is parked ~ 100 meters away (so no nfc contact at all)

I will return the airtags this is not working correctly

 

[fischersd]

All of you should be reporting your findings to Apple. Obviously, excess battery drain isn't anticipated. Those on beta devices should use the feedback app.

Those without it should be using Apple's web page:

Feedback - iPhone

Apple wants to hear from you. Send us your comments and feedback about iPhone.

www.apple.com

(a little surprised Apple hasn't setup a form for the AirTags yet on the feedback page *shrug*)

 

[Shark5150]

My background usage varies by device. My iPhone 12 PM uses around 2-3%; iPad pro 11 uses 1-3%; iPad mini 5th gen running latest beta uses 15-18%. Strange.

 

[tonywalker23]

Came here to see why iPad my is draining. See I'm not alone.

 

[atmuwben]

Find My battery usage before the invention of AirTags: 1%.
Find My battery usage after the invention of AirTags: 40%.

Elon Musk should tweet about how bad it is to use so much coal just to find these stupid AirTags.

 

[maflynn]

I had a similar experience with the tile. I think the location services for these devices are impacting the battery more then people expected.

battery life was one reason why I stopped using the tile. Hopefully this won’t be the case for my air tag

 

[fischersd]

It sounds like the AirTags that are in close proximity to your phone are the culprits. I wonder if Apple put the logic inside them that they can have a "back off" mechanism for how chatty the radio is, when you're in a known, secure location. (but, then, that would bugger up the losing the keys in the couch scenario)

Yeah, I'm thinking the idea of being able to tell Find My what you're actually tracking, so the behaviour is altered would be way better (they should do this when they do their tweaks for Family sharing - as that could also change some of the behaviour).

 

[Heiner030]

Find My battery usage before the invention of AirTags: 1%.
Find My battery usage after the invention of AirTags: 40%.

Elon Musk should tweet about how bad it is to use so much coal just to find these stupid AirTags.

same. deleted all 3 air tags, battery is fine now and find my app isnt leeching my battery anymore. will return

 

[valynor]

Same problem here. Noticeable drain by Find My background activity.
Things I tried:

-removing battery from the AirTag: no change (WTF?)
-disabling "Find My Network" in settings: no change either
-actually removing the AirTag from my account: no more drain even with "Find My Network" ON and a foreign AirTag in Bluetooth range!

Really hope Apple can/will do something about this in the upcoming updates.

 

[nattK]

I'm seeing horrible battery drain on my iPad too due to the AirTags and the Find My app. I've filed a bug report with Apple and I think it would be helpful for all of you to file one too. The more reports they receive regarding this issue, the more likely they are to fix it.

If you're not running a beta version of iOS/iPadOS, you can access the built-in Feedback app by typing applefeedback:// into the search bar in Safari.

 

[Shark5150]

I'm seeing horrible battery drain on my iPad too due to the AirTags and the Find My app. I've filed a bug report with Apple and I think it would be helpful for all of you to file one too. The more reports they receive regarding this issue, the more likely they are to fix it.

If you're not running a beta version of iOS/iPadOS, you can access the built-in Feedback app by typing applefeedback:// into the search bar in Safari.

I set a bug report on my iPad beta. Funny thing thouy, there's such variability between drain among my 4 devices! Ip 12 PM it's relatively normal at around 2%. iPad pro 11 averages about 3-4%. On my beta, it's sometimes near 100%. I don't get it.

 

[dsabathi]

Same issue here on my iPad Air 3gen. 35% battery drain during the last 10 days so top of the list.
On my iPhone Xs I only see 3%. Both devices are most of the time close to each other. Looks like this bug only affects some devices.. Never the less I hope Apple will fix it soon.
Rebooting the iPad did not solve the issue.

 

[Archer1778]

Having same issues here, unusual back activity from find my. I filed feedback to repot it and can’t fix the issue either from reboot. Hopefully a fix will come quickly.

 

[FatPete]

I'm noticing the same with my iPhone SE.

I charge my phone to 100% each night, using a smart plug that switches off after 2 or 3 hours, i.e. phone charges to 100% then charger turns off sometime between 2am and 3am. Each morning I normally awake to a phone that's still 100% charged (or 99% at the very least).

However, a couple of days ago I purchased and set up an AirTag. The following morning I woke to a phone sat at 75%. Checking battery usage charts showed the phone reaching 100% by 2am, then there was a constant drain of approx 5% per hour once my plug had switched off, all caused by 100% "Find My" background activity. Over the course of the following day my phone was discharging faster than usual, and "Find My" was the main battery hog during the course of the day.

The next night... same problem. Phone drained 25-30% overnight due to "Find My" background activity.

As a test, I deleted my AirTag from my account last night, and woke up today to a full 100% charge.

 

[unclemax]

Same for me and my wife (XR and SE 2020, respectively). E.g. my battery usage shows that Find My accounted for 32% of the drain over the last day.