Strange background activity in Messages app when charging

[mackiee]

Updated from iOS 14.8.x to 15.2 a few days ago and the last two days I have seen some strange background activity going on in the Messages app, but only when the phone is on the charger. I have background refresh set to off but I'm syncing Messages to iCloud. I never seen this behaviour on iOS 14. It also did not start immediately after updating to 15.2 but after couple of days. As soon as I take the phone off the charger the Messages app background activity seems to stop.

What is going on? I tried a force restart but that didn't help at all...

 

[macsareveryinteresting]

How many contacts do you have? A lot of contacts may affect your battery life, especially if you have people texting you a lot. May I also ask what phone you use?

 

[Samdh90]

Do you have icloud messages enabled? If so, it would appear that the phone is "talking" with the icloud servers when charging. Others have reported similar activity since 15.2 I believe.

 

[mackiee]

How many contacts do you have? A lot of contacts may affect your battery life, especially if you have people texting you a lot. May I also ask what phone you use?

Around 180 contacts. iPhone 12 Pro. Never had this problem before, this started with iOS 15.2 (my first 15 version). I regret I updated from a perfectly working 14.8.x ?

 

[macsareveryinteresting]

Around 180 contacts. iPhone 12 Pro. Never had this problem before, this started with iOS 15.2 (my first 15 version). I regret I updated from a perfectly working 14.8.x ?

It’s probably a bug. I’m sorry for being really nosy but do you have AppleCare? You might need to go into Apple to see what up. Also try restarting your iPhone if you haven’t already.

 

[mackiee]

Do you have icloud messages enabled? If so, it would appear that the phone is "talking" with the icloud servers when charging. Others have reported similar activity since 15.2 I believe.

Yes Messages sync with iCloud is turned on (and has always been on).

 

[Samdh90]

Yes Messages sync with iCloud is turned on (and has always been on).

Okay, then it could be the icloud service triggering what you are seeing. As long as you only see this while charging, I would not worry too much. The iphone will do several tasks when charging including backup and other things. They are designed to only run these tasks when online and on a charger to minimize potential battery usage.

 

[Hrti]

I'm also experiencing messages background acitivity while charging since iOS 15.2 on my 13 Pro Max. It also happens on a fresh install. Seems to be a bug related to iCloud messages syncing. FWIW if I try to disable Messages in iCloud under iCloud Settings, I get a popup telling med that the iPhone has not finished downloading messages from iCloud (although my messages appear to sync perfectly fine).

 

[bulldogs_16]

Any update on this did this go away, having the same problem when charging message app doing background activity running 15.2.1 an I have iCloud messages turn off

 

[mackiee]

Any update on this did this go away, having the same problem when charging message app doing background activity running 15.2.1 an I have iCloud messages turn off

I'm afraid not. I have the "issue" every time I charge phone. I'm also on 15.2.1 but I have iCloud messages turned on. It basically ruins all the battery statistics which looks ridiculous...

 

[minimo3]

I’ve been seeing this every night as the phone is on the charger. I guess it’s a new “feature” of 15.2

 

[BigMcGuire]

Yep, begun noticing this as well recently. Not sure what it's doing but it's doing something. Maybe something with the from friends links that are happening all over (photos, news articles, safari, etc).

 

[doublep]

I am seeing exactly the same thing on a newly installed iOS 15.2.1 on my new iPhone13 Mini.

 

[FlyingDutch]

It could be on purpose. Syncing while the phone is on charger (no battery drain) and not used seems to be a good idea to me.

 

[doublep]

I agree. But it is strange because it lasts for a long time (2 or 3 or 4 hours) at night, for several nights now.

 

[bulldogs_16]

Only happen to my phone the other two in house has no problems with both on the 15.2.1 weird same settings to

 

[bulldogs_16]

Looks like iOS 15.3 have fix the problems I’m not seeing background activity in charge anymore

 

[cynics]

I'm afraid not. I have the "issue" every time I charge phone. I'm also on 15.2.1 but I have iCloud messages turned on. It basically ruins all the battery statistics which looks ridiculous...

The iPhone will delay a lot of task until its on Wifi, locked and charging. It can only go so long because its actually starts consuming battery over long periods of time as its using a low priority throttle so it does adversely affect the user experience.....aside from the reduced battery life.

It shouldn't "ruin" the battery stats though. Time on charger won't be calculated as battery usage....