The most “hungry” apps
Experts from the mobile application development department of Artezio (part of the LANIT group) conducted a comprehensive study of the power consumption of popular mobile applications and compiled a list of the most energy-consuming programs. To measure energy consumption, the experts used software solutions that include both a dedicated hardware stand and tools available from the mobile app developers’ toolkit.
In total, more than a hundred popular applications from around the world were tested. For the hardware basis, experts took both existing Apple smartphones and tablets, and devices running Android.
In the “anti-rating” ranking, the first place was taken by the Facebook social network application (its owner, Meta, was considered extremist and banned in Russia). The top three also included Instagram (Meta’s owner was considered extremist and banned in Russia) and Snapchat.
It is followed by TikTok, YouTube, Google Maps, Uber and Netflix. Messenger WhatsApp took the ninth place and Skype took the tenth place. The top 20 also include Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Twitter, Gmail, Google Chrome, Amazon, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Spotify and Adobe Photoshop Express.
Alina Dzhus/socialbites.ca
The company is also preparing a study on the most energy-intensive applications in Russia.
Why are some apps more voracious than others?
Smartphone apps can consume a lot of power for various reasons. For example, if an application is active, it constantly uses the processor and accesses the Internet to update content or transfer data. In addition, many applications can continue to run in the background even when not in use.
Mobile operating systems often have mechanisms to regulate the power consumption of applications. For example, the system can automatically suspend background tasks when an app is not in use to reduce power consumption.
The operating system can automatically slow down the processor or restrict applications from accessing the network when needed to reduce power consumption.
The Artezio study notes that extended “gluttonous” applications also include Kindle, iBooks, and other “reader” programs. They use bright screens and consume a lot of power. This includes mobile games with high-quality graphics such as Fortnite, PUBG and others. These designs use a lot of hardware resources to keep the game dynamic and also consume a lot of power to show bright and vibrant images.
As for instant messengers, WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber and others tend to run in the background and can consume a lot of power if they are constantly updated to show new messages. The same applies to calling apps – Skype, Zoom, FaceTime and others. These programs can also run in the background, but they also use the camera and microphone. Power consumption may increase further due to high video and audio quality.
How to avoid fast battery drain
In order not to be disconnected, it is enough to monitor the power consumption of applications and turn off those that consume a lot of resources, especially when not needed.
Many of the most “gluttonous” Google applications (Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps) cannot be uninstalled from an Android smartphone, as they are included in the firmware. However, they can be disabled if the owner of the device does not use them. To do this, hold down the shortcut of the desired application, select the section “About the application” from the menu that opens, or click on the icon in the form of the letter “i” in the window and click on the “Disable” option. this opens. The same procedure can be repeated for all unnecessary system and non-removable applications. You can enable them in the settings, where the full list of installed applications is presented.
But it is important to understand that without some programs the device may not work properly.
In addition, users can determine which of the applications installed on the smartphone consumes the most energy with their own research. To do this, open the settings and find the “Battery” or “Battery” section, which displays a graph with battery consumption statistics. In the same place, the system will tell you which applications, including the background, consume the most energy, and then the user can configure their behavior, for example, limiting background access or autostart.
In this case, it is useful to consider that applications that are not running in the background cannot send timely notifications.
Many users reported that their Android smartphones started working longer after disabling their physical activity tracking and Digital Balance tools. You can find the Digital Wellbeing app from the general app list in Settings and turn it off. It is recommended to do the same with any other application to monitor the usage of a smartphone that collects statistics about the activity of applications and the user.
Source: Gazeta
Jackson Ruhl is a tech and sci-fi expert, who writes for “Social Bites”. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of technology and science fiction.