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Facebook Implements Fix for iOS App Battery Draining Issues

Bob Sanders said:
No, it's not a wild conspiracy theory and there was never any official news. There was a Facebook engineer giving a PR approved version that is designed to minimize the issue.

The entire timeline is exactly what would be expected if Apple told them to change the app or get removed. Apple does not pull apps immediately for situations like this, nor do they comment. The times we hear about Apple threatening app removal in the news, is when the developer goes public because they disagree with the decision and think they can score PR points. Apple has never joined that fray, even when they look bad and have to reverse decisions like they did with a few apps after iOS 8 was released.

As to how long it has been there, every indication is that it has been present for months if not years. This is not new to iOS 9, the ability for the user to look in the battery menu to see what is happening is new to iOS 9.
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That's a lot of assumptions on how apple deals with 3rd parties . You maybe correct, I have doubts though.

iOS 8 showed battery usage by app, so it was not introduced before iOS 9, as users would have complained, as hey did when it was discovered, it was obvious Facebook was causing a batter drain.

I've seen apple longer to fix bugs to be honest, so still not sold on the theory that Facebook got caught.
 
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C DM said:
It's the typical background activity that any app is allowed. Background refresh is only one aspect of background activity, even with it disabled apps are still allowed to run in the background finishing up something for a few minutes after they have been used.
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I'm by no means an expert on apps and all that stuff, so forgive my ignorance when I ask this: what does Facebook need to do in the background? Or what does it need to finish up? I thought when I open the app it opens up to its most refreshed point and after that will only refresh if I pull down to do so. So what is the Facebook app doing on its own, especially after I close it?
 
TonyC28 said:
I'm by no means an expert on apps and all that stuff, so forgive my ignorance when I ask this: what does Facebook need to do in the background? Or what does it need to finish up? I thought when I open the app it opens up to its most refreshed point and after that will only refresh if I pull down to do so. So what is the Facebook app doing on its own, especially after I close it?
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I don't know the details of what various apps might be doing at different times, but they certainly could be getting updates, loading some data, doing some other sync type of operations, etc. Remeber you are not closing the apps really you are simply leaving them in the middle of using them to go do something else.
 
MH01 said:
That's a lot of assumptions on how apple deals with 3rd parties . You maybe correct, I have doubts though.

iOS 8 showed battery usage by app, so it was not introduced before iOS 9, as users would have complained, as hey did when it was discovered, it was obvious Facebook was causing a batter drain.

I've seen apple longer to fix bugs to be honest, so still not sold on the theory that Facebook got caught.
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Higher battery usage for some was evident in iOS 8 as well, the thing that wasn't really getting displayed there though was the actual on screen vs background usage for apps, which made it all that much more evident.
 
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C DM said:
Higher battery usage for some was evident in iOS 8 as well, the thing that wasn't really getting displayed there though was the actual on screen vs background usage for apps, which made it all that much more evident.
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okay i see. I stand corrected , cheers for that info.
 
Manatlt said:
You haven't used the Messenger app for over a year haven't you? If so, stop making false accusations about it. The Messenger app is fine, no drain issues with it.

Surprisingly one of the best optimized apps I've used.
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Yes I have actually, on my company (non personal) phone. It's rubbish and completly unnecessary.
 
C DM said:
Sure, and that still doesn't mean there was something malicious going on.
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I consider it abusing my trust tbh. If it wasn't for a guy that found out about it then they wouldn't even care to 'fix' it.
 
MH01 said:
That's a lot of assumptions on how apple deals with 3rd parties . You maybe correct, I have doubts though.

iOS 8 showed battery usage by app, so it was not introduced before iOS 9, as users would have complained, as hey did when it was discovered, it was obvious Facebook was causing a batter drain.

I've seen apple longer to fix bugs to be honest, so still not sold on the theory that Facebook got caught.
Click to expand...

  1. They aren't assumptions, they are opinions educated by past actions by the App review team. I listen to numerous podcasts by well respected iOS developers and they have talked about App review issues at length, particularly in the time since iOS 8 was launched. My opinions about this case and about how Apple handles App Store review are based on that background information. The sequence of events in this case exactly fits what would have happened if Apple had told them to fix it or face removal.
  2. As was already answered above, the battery info in iOS 9 is more granular. In iOS 8 you just saw a percentage.
  3. The thing is, the standards for how fast are not the same for Apple and for 3rd party developers. If Apple decides that a feature in an app on the store is now unacceptable, they send the developer an email telling them to submit a version without the offending feature. They only pull the app if the developer refuses to submit a new version within the next week or two. For the record, I don't think that Apple "caught them" either. I think that Apple saw the stories, confirmed what was happening, and told Facebook to change the app.
Please note, I am not necessarily defending the way App review is handled at Apple, they make their share of mistakes. I'm just pointing out how they have operated in the past. The obvious exception to all of this is recently when there were a bunch of Chinese apps built with a compromised version of Xcode. Those app were pulled immediately because of security concerns for the users, but that is a whole different issue.
 
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Bob Sanders said:
  1. They aren't assumptions, they are opinions educated by past actions by the App review team. I listen to numerous podcasts by well respected iOS developers and they have talked about App review issues at length, particularly in the time since iOS 8 was launched. My opinions about this case and about how Apple handles App Store review are based on that background information. The sequence of events in this case exactly fits what would have happened if Apple had told them to fix it or face removal.
  2. As was already answered above, the battery info in iOS 9 is more granular. In iOS 8 you just saw a percentage.
  3. The thing is, the standards for how fast are not the same for Apple and for 3rd party developers. If Apple decides that a feature in an app on the store is now unacceptable, they send the developer an email telling them to submit a version without the offending feature. They only pull the app if the developer refuses to submit a new version within the next week or two. For the record, I don't think that Apple "caught them" either. I think that Apple saw the stories, confirmed what was happening, and told Facebook to change the app.
Please note, I am not necessarily defending the way App review is handled at Apple, they make their share of mistakes. I'm just pointing out how they have operated in the past. The obvious exception to all of this is recently when there were a bunch of Chinese apps built with a compromised version of Xcode. Those app were pulled immediately because of security concerns for the users, but that is a whole different issue.
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That's a well structured argument , I see you point now. I agree with the conclusion .
 
JXShine said:
I use safari 10 hours a day (iOS and OS X combined) for the past 3 years, I don't know what crashing issue you are talking about because I certainly don't have it
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I've had 5 iPads, it's crashed on all of them, more on some than others, but all have had crashes, even the latest Mini 4, not that many on this one.
Maybe you don't know what a crash is, it's when it has to restart because it runs out f memory or some such thing.
 
thasan said:
exactly. perhaps it crashes when u visit dodgy sites only ;)
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No I mean have you ever turned on the machine, because if you have it has crashed. The only dodgy site I go to is this one.
Have you got a manual for your iPad, it shows you how to turn it on,
 
RockSpider said:
I've had 5 iPads, it's crashed on all of them, more on some than others, but all have had crashes, even the latest Mini 4, not that many on this one.
Maybe you don't know what a crash is, it's when it has to restart because it runs out f memory or some such thing.
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How about you stop insulting my intelligence?

Just because you are experiencing problems doesn't mean others can't have a flawless experience. And yes I know what a crash is, Mr. Whiny Genius
 
JXShine said:
How about you stop insulting my intelligence?

Just because you are experiencing problems doesn't mean others can't have a flawless experience. And yes I know what a crash is, Mr. Whiny Genius
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Why don't you look up Safari crashes on iPad and you might get an idea of the size of the problem. Actually you've only got to look on this website.
 
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C DM said:
Doesn't seem like it was in the background for any time really based on that screenshot (compared to the almost 5 hours that another app has been in the background).
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Because it has been deleted from my phone so it doesn't show anymore.
 
Not sure which version I'm onto (installed only few months back), UI always freeze, scroll lags, and buttons irresponsive. Had enough.

Worst iOS app.
 
Usage is better but still 45 mins background for 5 mins usage. Why do I need that much background activity? What are you doing Facebook?
 
Ditched Facebook and Messenger, installed Friendly Plus, a 12MB kind of mini browser
that allows to use Facebook/Instagram accounts.. I bet it is way more conservative on battery life..
will give it a try..
 
So when are Apple going to sort out their Music and Podcast apps? It's crazy how I can go for a 3 hour walk, come back with 60% battery life and yet on my Xperia Z1c I can come back with 90%. The battery is only 50% larger, so it doesn't explain the big difference in battery usage.
 
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