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In recent years, the iPhone has developed a reputation for having solid battery life. In fact, critics recently singled out the batteries on the entire iPhone 13 lineup as among those devices’ best new features. You would be forgiven for thinking the opposite, however, if you’re a heavy Spotify user, as it appears the app eats through iPhone batteries for breakfast.
Now, this accusation isn’t only based on user complaints—it comes directly from the king of music streaming itself. Spotify acknowledged in a blog post that the company is aware of battery drainage reports on iPhones running both iOS 14.8 and iOS 15. According to ZDNet, users are reporting losing as much as 30% of their battery in just an hour while using the app.
How to fix Spotify’s battery draining issue on iPhone
At this time, troubleshooting the issue is in a delicate space. There are workarounds you can try in order to restore a more harmonious relationship between Spotify and your iPhone battery. However, they might not fix your issue.
The first thing you should try is to disable Background App Refresh. This feature allows Spotify to use data in the background, essentially allowing the app to run when it isn’t active. While that setting normally adds a slight burden to your battery life, Spotify thinks it might currently be abnormally taxing. To disable the feature, head to Settings > General > Background App Refresh, then disable the toggle next to “Spotify.”
If you’re still seeing terrible battery drain while using Spotify, your next step is to uninstall and reinstall the app. The hope here is that a fresh copy of Spotify on your iPhone will give the boot to whatever bug is causing this battery issue. To do so, long-press the Spotify app on your Home Screen, choose “Remove App,” then tap “Delete App.” Now, open Spotify in the App Store, and redownload it.
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If that doesn’t work, you’ll unfortunately need to wait for Spotify to release a patch for the issue. Your best bet is to frequently check in with your app updates in the App Store. Tap your profile in the top right, then pull down on the page to refresh and check for an update.
We’ll update this article when Spotify issues this new patch. Until then, you might want to remember to take your charger the next time you go out.
[ZDNet]
