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There are a number of apps that can drain your phone battery down to zero before you even realize it’s happening. If you’re making an effort to gain back battery power so that your device lasts for hours, knowing which apps are most offensive can help. But here’s the catch. Depending on who you ask, the answer might be a little different. We spoke with tech experts to try and get a handle on the one app you should never download on your iPhone — because it completely ruins your battery.
Without question, the apps that dominated the list of battery drainers were social media apps, which makes sense when you think about the features these apps offer AND the amount of time we tend to spend on them each day. Tech experts listed apps like Facebook and Facebook Messenger, but there was one that seemed to ascend to the top of the list.
“Snapchat is the one app you should never download on an iPhone because it completely ruins the battery,” says Harriet Chan, co-founder of CocoFinder.
Chan continues: “The app drains much battery power because it constantly checks for location updates in the background which keeps your smartphone awake more often than it should. Besides, you need an internet connection to get notifications, meaning you will either use Wi-Fi or phone data and that alone will consume a lot of battery.”
Because Snapchat aims to please, Chan notes that the app updates immediately in the background when new things pop up, which tends to wear down the battery faster.
“Another reason for Snapchat to drain your iPhone’s battery is because it uses camera services to create photo and video content with special effects,” Chan says.
The one true way to ensure Snapchat doesn’t affect your battery’s health is to get rid of the app. But what should you do if you love Snapchat, would prefer not to delete it, but also need your phone battery to last as long as possible?
“There are several ways to use Snapchat while preventing battery drainage,” Chan says. “Consider switching off the live location feature that feeds off your battery. To do that, open your Snapchat app, tap on your profile picture on the top left side of the screen and look for the Settings gear on the top right of the screen. Scroll down to the ‘Who Can’ section, tap ‘See My Location’ and finish up by selecting ‘Ghost Mode.’”
