Google Play Services killed my battery!

[jhsrennie]

Starting this mornng my Nexus 5 is using about 10% of the battery per hour, and that's with WiFi, data and location services off! The battery stats show Google Play Services as the main battery hog.

It appears I'm not the only one seeing this, but I can't see any reports here so I thought I'd mention it.

When I turned my phone on this morning I got a message about a crash - I think in Google Play Services, and I suspect it was related to an update because update notifications for several other apps followed in quick sucession. For now I've done a factory reset and that seems to have cured it. Hopefully, if it's widespread, Google will be able to solve the problem fast.

 

[LaFlavor]

I've had Google Play services be the main culprit once, looking at the battery data it was obviously keeping the phone awake.

I didn't do a factory reset, though. Rebooting the phone fixed things for me.

 

[jhsrennie]

I've had Google Play services be the main culprit once, looking at the battery data it was obviously keeping the phone awake.

I didn't do a factory reset, though. Rebooting the phone fixed things for me.

I tried powering off then on again, but the problem just recurred after a few minutes.

 

[_sC]

Starting this mornng my Nexus 5 is using about 10% of the battery per hour, and that's with WiFi, data and location services off! The battery stats show Google Play Services as the main battery hog.

It appears I'm not the only one seeing this, but I can't see any reports here so I thought I'd mention it.

When I turned my phone on this morning I got a message about a crash - I think in Google Play Services, and I suspect it was related to an update because update notifications for several other apps followed in quick sucession. For now I've done a factory reset and that seems to have cured it. Hopefully, if it's widespread, Google will be able to solve the problem fast.

what i like to personally do, is go into Settings, Data Usage, and scroll down past the data graph.. there it will tell you what app is using how much data, but select an app, and scroll all the way to the bottom, there you will see an option to Restriction Background Data.. I restricted all the Google ones, even Play. I've always done this with any device I've owned.

I hope this helps you in some way.

 

[GingerRob]

Had the same problem with my 5 & 7.
found this after googling.

Solution to Google Services and Android System battery drain [UPDATED Oct 30, 2013] - xda-developers

Appears to have helped on both devices.

 

[kwwk]

Chances are it's not actually Google Play Services that's causing it but some other app that is using something from Google Play Services. I was seeing a sudden increase in battery usage coming from Google Play Services, and noticed that it was keeping my phone awake all the time. Pressing on the "Select battery-saving mode" -> "Location" button lead me to a screen (also accessible though Settings->Localtion) that showed me what apps were requesting location data. Consistently on the top of the list was Facebook. Once I uninstalled that, the battery usage on Google Play Services dropped way down.

 

[Rxpert83]

I believe Its something on googles end, because its all across the internet (and different parts of these forums).

My nexus 5 hasn't been affected, but my nexus 7s battery was decimated by it. I actually have some really interesting screenshots I can post tonight.

For over 24 hours my tablet slept and only lost 1-2%. Then the Google services bug hit and it took over 70% of my battery in the next 24-36 hours.

 

[LuvMusic]

Chances are it's not actually Google Play Services that's causing it but some other app that is using something from Google Play Services. I was seeing a sudden increase in battery usage coming from Google Play Services, and noticed that it was keeping my phone awake all the time. Pressing on the "Select battery-saving mode" -> "Location" button lead me to a screen (also accessible though Settings->Localtion) that showed me what apps were requesting location data. Consistently on the top of the list was Facebook. Once I uninstalled that, the battery usage on Google Play Services dropped way down.

I don't even have Facebook installed on my phone and Google Services is consistently near the top of my battery use list. Just tried disabling Wifi and Wireless network location selection per the XDA article link (above).

I'll see what happens.

 

[nicole92]

Came across this topic while googling high battery usage by Google Play Services (I just got my Nexus 5 yesterday and up to 60% of the battery is being used by this)

And I've just found this. Seems that Google Play services is constantly looking for my location which is why it's drained my battery. Will turn location off and see if it fixes things.

 

[Rxpert83]

View attachment 64555

Came across this topic while googling high battery usage by Google Play Services (I just got my Nexus 5 yesterday and up to 60% of the battery is being used by this)

And I've just found this. Seems that Google Play services is constantly looking for my location which is why it's drained my battery. Will turn location off and see if it fixes things.

Welcome to the forums!!! Glad you found us

Just don't think this is the normal nexus 5 battery life! Its definitely some sort of glitch

 

[nicole92]

Welcome to the forums!!! Glad you found us

Just don't think this is the normal nexus 5 battery life! Its definitely some sort of glitch

Haha thank you! Now instead of working, I'm scouring the Nexus 5 forum

While Google Play Services has been using a lot of the battery - I still managed 13hrs out of it today (and I only got it last night!) so I'm impressed regardless. We shall see how long it will last without the battery hogging!

 

[LuvMusic]

I don't even have Facebook installed on my phone and Google Services is consistently near the top of my battery use list. Just tried disabling Wifi and Wireless network location selection per the XDA article link (above).

I'll see what happens.

A quick update.....now two hours off the charger and with the change described above Google Services isn't even listed on my listing of stuff using my battery!

 

[alostpacket]

Just FYI, Google Play Services provides a Location API for all the apps on the phone to use. (among many other APIs)

This is separate from Android's built in LocationManager API.

In other words, a lot of apps use Google Play Services to get location without accessing the GPS directly.

Google's API is generally better, faster, more reliable, and uses LESS battery than the default LocationManager API.

However, a badly programmed app, could cause Google Play Services to keep looking up your location. This probably would show in the battery stats as Google Play Services being the battery hog. So it could make it quite tricky to track down the true offending app.

There may be an additional bug that I am not aware of though.

However, I find it much more likely that there are a lot of apps out there that dont properly "stop" asking for location updates from Google Play Services. It's a very common mistake among not-so-good developers.

 

[krs128]

happened to me once before noticed I lost 20% battery over night when its usually 1-2%, restarted phone and it never happened again.

 

[Sandroidfan]

A quick update.....now two hours off the charger and with the change described above Google Services isn't even listed on my listing of stuff using my battery!

Glad that it resolved your google service battery drain issue.

I saw the XDA link above and I find it interesting because I always thought the other way (keeping GPS off but google location thru WiFi/data on) of location setting is more battery efficient. Doesn't it disable news/weather apps location access if location through WiFi/data is off?

 

[nicole92]

I just disabled location altogether because I only really use it for the weather and even that is occasionally - so had my phone discharging over night and only lost 2

 

[jhsrennie]

Resolved - I hope

About an hour ago I got a Google Play Services update to 4.0.34. The buggy version was 4.0.33. Hopefully this means Google have fixed the problem.

 

[LuvMusic]

Glad that it resolved your google service battery drain issue.

I saw the XDA link above and I find it interesting because I always thought the other way (keeping GPS off but google location thru WiFi/data on) of location setting is more battery efficient. Doesn't it disable news/weather apps location access if location through WiFi/data is off?

This change doesn't effect any of my "data feeds." News and weather apps work just fine. What it does effect is how Google tracks your location. With WiFi and GPS enabled it uses data from both to better pinpoint your location (you are suppose to leave your WiFi on all the time with this selection).

It also doesn't impact the use of WiFi when you are connected to a router. Hope this helps.

 

[Sandroidfan]

This change doesn't effect any of my "data feeds." News and weather apps work just fine. What it does effect is how Google tracks your location. With WiFi and GPS enabled it uses data from both to better pinpoint your location (you are suppose to leave your WiFi on all the time with this selection).

It also doesn't impact the use of WiFi when you are connected to a router. Hope this helps.

I understand what you mean. But that depends on the app I think. Some apps don't use GPS at all for location. And location access through GPS normally uses more power than WiFi. I'm using Fancy weather widget and it has option to use either GPS or data and it warns users that GPS will consume more battery.

I tested turning off only Google location service (under setting/google account/location settings) but leaving normal android location service and WiFi/data location on. It's pretty battery efficient and there is no Google play service appearing in battery history page. This will cripple Google map, now for location but other apps won't be affected.

 

[Rxpert83]

In 4.4 having your WiFi off isn't really having it off.

It will still scan for WiFi networks near you and can use that to give a general location.

Much more efficient than firing up the GPS

Go into your advanced WiFi options and you'll see what I mean

 

[alostpacket]

I understand what you mean. But that depends on the app I think. Some apps don't use GPS at all for location. And location access through GPS normally uses more power than WiFi. I'm using Fancy weather widget and it has option to use either GPS or data and it warns users that GPS will consume more battery.

I tested turning off only Google location service (under setting/google account/location settings) but leaving normal android location service and WiFi/data location on. It's pretty battery efficient and there is no Google play service appearing in battery history page. This will cripple Google map, now for location but other apps won't be affected.

To be clear, this will hurt any app that uses G-Play Svcs for locations. This is a newer API for location but it is highly regarded as being better for developers.

IMHO, I think it's far more likely that people who are seeing this bug are actually seeing misbehaving 3-rd party apps.