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What is WhatsApp doing in background?

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greytux

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 17, 2014
45
15
With iOS 9 we now see if a specific app has been active in foreground or background. We have always suspected WhatsApp do be a major battery hog, but does anybody know why it was active for 1.1h today with only a few minutes usage?

My battery life is not actually a problem with 77% after more than 8h off the charger and a few hours usage, but I imagine without WhatsApp it would be even better.

IMG_0409.jpeg
 
Maybe iCloud backups? Or do you have their new 'Whatsapp Web' feature enabled - that could be the problem but I can't say for sure. Going forward, I'd recommend using Telegram. Whatsapp is absolute trash when you compare with Telegram.
 
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greytux said:
With iOS 9 we now see if a specific app has been active in foreground or background. We have always suspected WhatsApp do be a major battery hog, but does anybody know why it was active for 1.1h today with only a few minutes usage?

My battery life is not actually a problem with 77% after more than 8h off the charger and a few hours usage, but I imagine without WhatsApp it would be even better.

View attachment 584528
Click to expand...

Continuously checking and updating contacts ( FB will find any way to run app in background), solution privacy -> contacts -> watsapp -> Toggle off.
 
I know that there are better messengers. But you have to use what your peers use unfortunately. And in Europe, WhatsApp has gotten some kind of "messenger standard".

I have never used WhatsApp web. I'm really wondering what it is doing in background. If I find time I will try to debug it using XCode... Has somebody else experienced something similar?
 
greytux said:
I know that there are better messengers. But you have to use what your peers use unfortunately. And in Europe, WhatsApp has gotten some kind of "messenger standard".

I have never used WhatsApp web. I'm really wondering what it is doing in background. If I find time I will try to debug it using XCode... Has somebody else experienced something similar?
Click to expand...
I do, WhatsApp's background activity drains my battery as much as Pokemon Shuffle (a game I have almost all day on-screen). I wish my friends relied on iMessage :( We need iMessage for Android.
 
CarlosQG said:
I do, WhatsApp's background activity drains my battery as much as Pokemon Shuffle (a game I have almost all day on-screen). I wish my friends relied on iMessage :( We need iMessage for Android.
Click to expand...

When I'm on whatspp web, it drains my battery quite a bit more. It's more convenient to type on but if you're worried about battery then just view your messages on your device.
 
Checking your contacts and sending all contact info to their main servers.
 
use imessage/textme/textplus (not that garbage thats now NEXTPLUS)/text now..whatsapp has always been another background hog, werent they acquired by FACEBOOK too..? ya...that organization that wants to soon screw ur life even more with "friend linked credit reports" etc
 
Yun0 said:
use imessage/textme/textplus (not that garbage thats now NEXTPLUS)/text now..whatsapp has always been another background hog, werent they acquired by FACEBOOK too..? ya...that organization that wants to soon screw ur life even more with "friend linked credit reports" etc
Click to expand...

I would prefer not to use whatsapp but I have European contacts that swear off it.
 
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You can test if it's a problem by opening it one day very briefly just enough for the app to fully launch then not again for the rest of day making sure not to clear it from the app switcher, if it's usage percentage is higher than 1% at the end of the day then there might a problem. The annoying part about this process is that you'll have to not use the app until it's not listed under 24 hour usage before doing it.
 
Apps can run 5 seconds to up to 10 minutes in the background after being closed (not force closed). So every time you open it up to have a peek, this cycle starts all over again. (This has nothing to do with background fetch being on or off btw.)
 
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