iPhone 16e Prime Video is burning up my phone!!

[42545]

This has happened before. I downloaded the Amazon Prime Video app to my iPhone 16e to try again. When I'm using the app, the phone gets extremely hot. It practically burns my hand. The battery also drains quickly. I haven't seen any feedback about this in the App Store reviews. Is this specific to the iPhone 16e? My iOS version is 18.7.2, but it happened in previous versions too.

Update:
After starting this thread, I haven't encountered this problem again. The conditions haven't changed much, but it's not heating up as much anymore. Maybe it was a one-time thing after installing the app. I'll write again if it happens again.

 

[Hal~9000]

Maybe it’s due to the iOS version you’re on? I just streamed for 10 minutes on my 17 Max and didn’t notice any heat or battery drains whatsoever 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’m currently on iOS 26.2 and Prime Video App 10.111.2 (latest version) and streamed using WiFi.

 

[42545]

APV 10.111.2
iOS 18.7.2
WIFI

I watched for ~15min. I don't feel the warmth; it's not the same. Why was it so much hotter before?

 

[Andeddu]

Seems normal on my OGSE, 8, 13 and 17 Pro. Never had an overheating issue like that.

 

[skrungemaster]

Sometimes apps just go rouge. Having Steam open in the background destroys my battery.

 

[cynics]

Amazon Prime Video uses software decoding, at least on my devices (this can vary per device depending on hardware).

In activity monitor I can see the app itself (AmazonPrime) using 147% CPU which means it's using its own software video pipeline. Hardware decoding like Netflix for example will use mediaplayerd, AVfoundation, DTSservicehub, etc for hardware decoding.

Software decoding is significantly less efficient and is done for a variety of reasons, DRM, unsupported codec, video player features, etc etc. The load the software decoder places on the CPU will determine thermals.

 

[Tsepz]

Amazon Prime Video uses software decoding, at least on my devices (this can vary per device depending on hardware).

In activity monitor I can see the app itself (AmazonPrime) using 147% CPU which means it's using its own software video pipeline. Hardware decoding like Netflix for example will use mediaplayerd, AVfoundation, DTSservicehub, etc for hardware decoding.

Software decoding is significantly less efficient and is done for a variety of reasons, DRM, unsupported codec, video player features, etc etc. The load the software decoder places on the CPU will determine thermals.

Slight detour, which activity monitor do you use on your iPhone?

 

[eXoenDo]

I played with my Prime Video app a bit on my 17 Pro Max and haven't duplicated the issue. Hopefully it gets fixed quick for you!

 

[cynics]

Slight detour, which activity monitor do you use on your iPhone?

Apples Instruments program, its part of Xcode. Then just start logging using the Activity Monitor instrument while using the iPhone. I would recommend using the least amount of instruments as possible though, it has its own overhead on the device that can quickly add up and skew certain results.

 

[Tsepz]

Apples Instruments program, its part of Xcode. Then just start logging using the Activity Monitor instrument while using the iPhone. I would recommend using the least amount of instruments as possible though, it has its own overhead on the device that can quickly add up and skew certain results.

Great, thank you so much!

 

[Tripps9000]

Maybe update to iOS 26 might work for you🤨

 

[42545]

Update:
After starting this thread, I haven't encountered this problem again. The conditions haven't changed much, but it's not heating up as much anymore. Maybe it was a one-time thing after installing the app. I'll write again if it happens again.