Unusual Find My background battery drain after setting up AirTag

[gregconquest]

It happened with my iPhone 11 again last night (Sunday AM and Thursday AM). I had turned off Exposure Notifications, so it wasn't in on the Bluetooth Party this time. Perhaps this resulted in less of a battery drain. This time it was all Find My.

Notice that in both cases, there were about 4 hours when the Bluetooth power utilization was especially aggressive.

Also, keep in mind that in my previous report that it was both Find My and Exposure Notifications that was draining the battery. This still leads me to believe that it is not Find My that is actually the culprit here. The phone and iOS itself is going Bluetooth crazy. Most people just seem to be affected by the one bluetooth scanning app they're using: Find My

So, as a workaround, do I need to disable Bluetooth before bed every night? And why is it happening only at night, just after I go to bed? I usually keep my phone on the charger until I go to bed, when I stop charging it. And I have not noticed any drain during the day.

 

[Phillip U.]

Just found this thread. Just noticed my iPad Pro (2019) went from 60% to under 20% today even though it was just sitting on my nightstand. Find My background activity accounts for over 60% of that usage and 100% usage for every time slot I tap in the chart. So not sure how it’s only 60% overall.

I also have Air Tags. The kicker is that they are all currently over 1,000 miles away so no way my iPad is picking up their signal. And me and my iPhone have been away from my iPad for over 16 of the last 24 hours.

I could easily try to reset/remove my Air Tags but what could my iPad be even trying to do with no Air Tag inits vicinity?

 

[gregconquest]

Because the usage of Exposure Notifications with me was higher than Find My during my phone's Bluetooth Freakout, I've asserted that this is not specifically a Find My problem. Find My is just the most popular Bluetooth scanning app, so it is the one acting up for most people.

It may still be app dependent on this in that both Find My and the Japanese Exposure Notification app share a similar profile. But my single case is evidence that it is not just one app that is acting up.

 

[akash.nu]

Let’s all go on the feedback app and provide this as a feedback also contact Apple support. Unless they know there are issues they won’t do anything about it.

 

[bradbomb]

Let’s all go on the feedback app and provide this as a feedback also contact Apple support. Unless they know there are issues they won’t do anything about it.

Isn’t the feedback app only for beta testing?

 

[akash.nu]

Isn’t the feedback app only for beta testing?

Yeah that’s why people who are not on beta should just contact Apple directly. I’ve done that a few times.

 

[537635]

Has anyone considered FindMy and AirTags simply have a background battery usage (probably more for higher number of tags) and there is simply nothing that can be done. I've seen a couple of screenshots, which show devices, which apparently aren't used for anything else at the time (during the night, etc.). In these timeframes obviously FindMy amounts to a higher percentage of battery use. During the day, when other stuff is used, this percentage goes down.

Phone has to ping AirTags in the vicinity all the time, probably less so when you're outside, when there are just occasional pings (for tags, which aren't yours).

For example today I haven't used the phone much (about 10% of battery since morning) and FindMy is at the top of the list with 40%.
Other days when I'm down to 40-50% of battery in the evening - it is much less.

 

[bradbomb]

Has anyone considered FindMy and AirTags simply have a background battery usage (probably more for higher number of tags) and there is simply nothing that can be done. I've seen a couple of screenshots, which show devices, which apparently aren't used for anything else at the time (during the night, etc.). In these timeframes obviously FindMy amounts to a higher percentage of battery use. During the day, when other stuff is used, this percentage goes down.

Phone has to ping AirTags in the vicinity all the time, probably less so when you're outside, when there are just occasional pings (for tags, which aren't yours).

For example today I haven't used the phone much (about 10% of battery since morning) and FindMy is at the top of the list with 40%.
Other days when I'm down to 40-50% of battery in the evening - it is much less.

This would be true if it was equal across all my devices. On my iPhone 12 Pro, the last 24 hours Find My used 1% of my battery, but it accounts for all the usage on an idle iPad Pro (2015).

Maybe it's because the 12 Pro is my daily driver, but I have not noticed a battery drain difference since getting my one AirTag like I have noticed on my iPad Pro.

 

[akash.nu]

This would be true if it was equal across all my devices. On my iPhone 12 Pro, the last 24 hours Find My used 1% of my battery, but it accounts for all the usage on an idle iPad Pro (2015).

Maybe it's because the 12 Pro is my daily driver, but I have not noticed a battery drain difference since getting my one AirTag like I have noticed on my iPad Pro.

The thing is iPad batteries are significantly larger than the phones so any drainage has to be a lot more compared to the phone to be noticeable.

 

[fischersd]

Yeah that’s why people who are not on beta should just contact Apple directly. I’ve done that a few times.

NO!!! People should stop wasting support resources!!! (every time someone calls in and gets to wait 40 minutes, these are the people you can thank for their nuisance calls).

Anyone not on Beta should be using the website: https://www.apple.com/feedback/

 

[fischersd]

The thing is iPad batteries are significantly larger than the phones so any drainage has to be a lot more compared to the phone to be noticeable.

You've stated the obvious how many times now??? Yes. iPad batteries are larger. *sigh*

 

[akash.nu]

NO!!! People should stop wasting support resources!!! (every time someone calls in and gets to wait 40 minutes, these are the people you can thank for their nuisance calls).

Anyone not on Beta should be using the website: https://www.apple.com/feedback/

How the hell is this a nuisance call?! It’s not that I’m calling to tell them I’m ok today! Plus calling is not the only way to contact Apple support.

You've stated the obvious how many times now??? Yes. iPad batteries are larger. *sigh*

As many times as I see people comparing battery drainage between the iPad and iPhone. If it bothers you then don’t read my posts.

 

[537635]

As many times as I see people comparing battery drainage between the iPad and iPhone. If it bothers you then don’t read my posts.

iOS statistics only give percentage of an individual app. On an idle iPad this percentage will be very high, regardless of battery size.

This was my point. On a daily driver, which goes almost through entire battery capacity from morning to evening - FindMy represents a far lower percentage than on an idle device.

 

[fischersd]

How the hell is this a nuisance call?! It’s not that I’m calling to tell them I’m ok today! Plus calling is not the only way to contact Apple support.



As many times as I see people comparing battery drainage between the iPad and iPhone. If it bothers you then don’t read my posts.

It's a nuisance call when you're not actually calling for a support purpose. Providing feedback on software is not an appropriate use of the support line. There's nothing they can do for you.

Repeating yourself is just (also) a waste of everyone else's time. Thank you for your continued consideration.

 

[akash.nu]

It's a nuisance call when you're not actually calling for a support purpose. Providing feedback on software is not an appropriate use of the support line. There's nothing they can do for you.

Repeating yourself is just (also) a waste of everyone else's time. Thank you for your continued consideration.

Not to provide feedback but calling to ask them about a problem. If they know that there’s a problem and they don’t have a solution then by default it becomes a feedback. Prioritisation of any live issue is based on the customer impact. They need to know there’s a lot of people being impacted by this.

Repeating myself is not the point here. I’m trying to respond to individuals who are joining the thread and have not necessarily gone through all of the posts earlier.

Thank you for your understanding.

 

[ahmede]

I provided feedback a number of times during iOS beta 14

Not a single response from Apple Support
Find My is killing my XS battery. I have removed the Airtag

 

[fischersd]

I provided feedback a number of times during iOS beta 14

Not a single response from Apple Support
Find My is killing my XS battery. I have removed the Airtag

Using the feedback app or the website sends the information to development....not the support agents on the phone which can't do anything about fixing it.

The only time you receive feedback is:
- They need additional info
- They have a fix in a build and want you to verify

Most people receive little / no feedback during the course of betas. That's the norm.

 

[akash.nu]

Update. In my last chat session with Apple they requested me to reset the AirTag following the steps on this page https://support.apple.com/kb/HT212251 .

After pairing it back with the phone I’m monitoring the the battery life now. In the last 2 days I didn’t notice the crazy battery drain. Definitely worth a try for everyone else.

 

[Ev0d3vil]

Update. In my last chat session with Apple they requested me to reset the AirTag following the steps on this page https://support.apple.com/kb/HT212251 .

After pairing it back with the phone I’m monitoring the the battery life now. In the last 2 days I didn’t notice the crazy battery drain. Definitely worth a try for everyone else.

Do we have to remove the airtag first from our account ?

 

[akash.nu]

Do we have to remove the airtag first from our account ?

Yes remove it first.

 

[Ev0d3vil]

Yes remove it first.

My phone seems to be running cooler now, shall monitor the battery drain.

 

[Heiner030]

I did the whole Air Tag reset as my first step back when it occurred. Did not solve anything.

 

[akash.nu]

I did the whole Air Tag reset as my first step back when it occurred. Did not solve anything.

That’s unfortunate. The reset seems to have definitely fixed my issues. The battery drain is just 1-2% more than normal overnight for me now.

 

[Ev0d3vil]

That’s unfortunate. The reset seems to have definitely fixed my issues. The battery drain is just 1-2% more than normal overnight for me now.

Problem seems to be back after a day, not sure what's triggering the crazy bluetooth drain again.

 

[akash.nu]

Problem seems to be back after a day, not sure what's triggering the crazy bluetooth drain again.

Luckily hasn’t returned for me since the reset of the AirTag. You might wanna try that once again.