Although it doesn’t hold the spot of number one most battery-draining app (that would be the Google app), Facebook may be the reason why your phone refuses to hold its charge after a few hours of heavy use.
“The app is a battery drainer because features like video autoplay, location permissions, and app notifications are usually left on,” says Avner Brodsky, co-founder and CEO of Superwatches.com.
But the problem isn't what the Facebook app does when in use, says Edward Eugen. a Tech and Gadget Reviewer at 10Beasts.com, but what it does and uses in the background. “To get all those notifications, it connects constantly to the servers on the Internet to check for updates,” Eugen says. “It also uses the location services constantly. We know that the GPS is one of the major battery drains.”
Another issue Eugen said he found was that other similar apps also drained battery. “Not as much as Facebook, but they did,” Eugen says. “I’m talking about messaging apps (Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, etc) and GPS apps (Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, etc). I had them all installed. So I decided to keep it simple. I chose one app of its kind for each category and removed the rest. I found out that I didn't use them all anyway. And I also checked all the apps that use the location service. I changed the configuration so each app would only turn it on while the app is being used.”
The simplest thing to do to rectify the Facebook app battery-draining problem is to simply delete the app and use Facebook via your browser. But if you absolutely feel like you need the app on your phone, there are ways to lessen its effect on your battery.
“If you simply must have Facebook on your phone, you can adjust these settings so that the app doesn’t drain your phone battery as much,” Brodsky says. “Video autoplay and location permissions can be adjusted in Facebook itself. In Facebook Settings, choose ‘Never autoplay videos’ and either switch off location permissions completely or choose ‘Allow only while using app.’ Facebook app notifications, on the other hand, can be switched off in your phone’s Settings menu. These are ways to improve battery life if deleting the app is not your cup of tea.”