The Guardian is reporting that uninstalling the facebook app saves up to 15% of an iPhone's battery life:
Facebook is one of the most downloaded apps on iOS but it has long been cited as a cause of fast-draining iPhone batteries. Last year it was accused of using background tricks to stay active even when it wasn't being used. Facebook admitted bugs existed, and fixed them, but questions of the app's impact on battery life remained.
Similar concerns about Facebook's Android app led to the discovery that deleting the app saves up to 20% of a phone's battery. After that revelation, I set about seeing if the same was true for iPhone users. I discovered that uninstalling Facebook's iOS app and switching to Safari can save up to 15% of iPhone battery life.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by NullPtr on Tuesday February 09 2016, @09:43PM
for many people, facebook is like 70% of the point of owning a smartphone. facebook, what's app, camera, sms, phone calls. That's it.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by mcgrew on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:40PM
You don't need the app to get on facebook from your phone, their web site works fine. I don't have an iPhone but I've found that using almost any app to excess will kill your battery.
I avoid apps. Weather app? Why, there are several plain web pages. News app? Again, why?
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:43PM
I avoid most apps not for better battery but for privacy reasons. A web page can't pull (or require) my contact list, for example.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Adamsjas on Wednesday February 10 2016, @07:22AM
And neither can an app, those days are over.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 09 2016, @11:06PM
Again, why?
Because bookmarks are hard, and typing "facebook" into Google every 5 minutes is even harder.
Also, the app probably gives you one of those "helpful" alerts when something happens, so you don't miss out during the 4 minutes you're not looking at it.
(As for me, I'm an eighty-year-old trapped in a body of a thirty-year-old, so my online social interactions are checking my email twice a day and an occasional post here on SN.)
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Wednesday February 10 2016, @06:55AM
the app itself isn't that bad, when you are directly using/interacting with it. What's really causing the problems is the background updating that the FB app does when you aren't using the app that kills battery life, and you can't stop it even with the 'switch' Apple gives you [and I'm not sure if force-quitting the app even kills the background task].
(Score: 2) by NullPtr on Thursday February 11 2016, @10:48PM
> Because bookmarks are hard, and typing "facebook" into Google every 5 minutes is even harder.
Firefox on android lets you save a bookmark as an icon to the homescreen.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday February 10 2016, @01:41AM
You don't need the app to get on facebook from your phone, their web site works fine.
The worst part is that they disabled private messaging in the Facebook App and instead try to talk you into installing a separate app for that. Fuggit, I'm back to the browser version as well.
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(Score: 2, Funny) by meisterister on Tuesday February 09 2016, @11:25PM
You don't really seem to understand what computers with high resolution displays are used for. Let me FTFY:
porn, porn, porn creation, porn distribution, and porn discussion. That's it
(May or may not have been) Posted from my K6-2, Athlon XP, or Pentium I/II/III.
(Score: 3, Informative) by looorg on Tuesday February 09 2016, @09:58PM
Now turn off the Wi-Fi, the BT, the GPS, packet data, data roaming and all that other stuff you don't really need to have still have a working phone (that is what I done, but then for me the phone is just a phone - sometime I send the odd SMS). It will save even more battery.
So it seems like it's the FB app that is the bandit, it's not like people code for hardware efficiency anymore when it comes to consumer products - after all you can just get more cpu, more memory, more graphics and a bigger battery. But then I'm sure they don't even see it as a smartphone, they think of it as "the facebook device" and then they don't care much more beyond that.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:12PM
If you ONLY want a phone, don't buy a smart phone. Get a $15 pre-paid.
If you have a smartphone, then don't come around here telling us how "holy" you are for NOT using it.
If you have WiFI where you work or live, then its silly to turn off wifi.
Forcing the phone to send/recieve via a cell tower a couple miles away instead of the wifi router 25 feet away is utter nonsense.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 4, Informative) by looorg on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:32PM
You can barely even find a phone here these days that isn't a smart phone. None of the stores carry them, I guess I better get to know more drug dealers.
The post was more about how to actually save battery on your device instead of using things that you don't actually need, might need or use. Why run things just cause they are there if you don't need them. So it had nothing about holiness to do at all. But yes that was totally the intent of the post to show have great I am cause I can save some battery life on my phone. Totally the intent ...
I noticed that you apparently had no issue with turning off the GPS and the Blue Tooth, are they not part of your divinity plan?
If you are using pre-paid phones you normally pay for data to so when you turn all that off you can at least control what is happening one the device. I noticed this previously how pre-paid phones was running out of money even tho no calls was made. It was still sending data out. Slowly draining away the pre-paid sum.
So if my packets have to take the long scenic route instead of hooking up to the wi-fi I'm fine with doing that.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by frojack on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:47PM
There are lots of phones that aren't smart phones. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Verizon-Gusto-3-Prepaid-Cell-Phone/36771424 [walmart.com]
You can't have it both ways. It can't be about saving battery AND sending your packets to the cell tower.
To save battery, the Idea is to shut down all cellular data, leaving only cellular phone (which also handles sms), and then route any data connections you might want over wifi.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by shrewdsheep on Wednesday February 10 2016, @09:09AM
You can't have it both ways. It can't be about saving battery AND sending your packets to the cell tower.
Why not? I am similar to OP in that I usually have turned everything off except cell tower. I do use apps like an ereader, navigator, stopwatch and more which I shut down after use. This way I get a battery life of almost a week and additional privacy by not being tracked by stores with wifi hotspots. It's just what works best for me.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday February 10 2016, @09:15AM
Delusional people believe cell towers do no tracking.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Arik on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:45PM
Even those things come with stuff we don't want and you can't turn it off.
I cant speak for the other poster, but I *do* use and appreciate mobile data and the ability to run a web browser on the phone too. I don't use it often (and I have a minimal data plan without ever going over) but I like very much having it as an option. I even enable the wifi once in a blue moon as well. That said I had a mobile phone over a decade ago that did everything I do with my smartphone today, and it lasted 7-10 days on a charge instead of 1-2 days. There have been lots of technical advances yet the overall trajectory of development has been so bad that the value of the offerings has *declined.*
What I don't appreciate is 1) these things are just awful phones. All of them, whether they are $15 or $1500, they are uniformly awful at making phone calls. 2) Their OS and software is extraordinarily disrespectful. People talk about all the software that's available for these things but the fact is most of it is crap and even the rare gems are not actually accessible, not without selling your soul to the company store. Whether it's google or apple makes no difference to me, I won't have any of it.
Now in a "normal" world I'd just say ok, this OS sucks, and I'd install another one. But these devices are ALL locked up so that you cant do that. Oh, sure, I can probably get a proper OS to install on my phone if I really do some research and work, but at that point it wouldnt make a phone call at all, crucial bits of hardware *by design* simply wont work except under google/apple junkware.
It's not a normal situation at all. It's a case of aggressive monopolies that like to double-dip and sell their own customers for profit after charging them for service, in conjunction with a market where the majority of buyers are incapable of telling good product from bad. The results are predictable - bad product, specifically optimized to maximize profits, and no viable alternative products.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 5, Touché) by frojack on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:54PM
Their OS and software is extraordinarily disrespectful.
So is abusing the TT tag, but somehow common courtesy don't apply to you.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:49PM
If you have a smartphone, then don't come around here telling us how "holy" you are for NOT using it.
He wasn't trying to be "holy", he was making a point. I only have bluetooth turned on when I'm using the bluetooth speakers with it. I shut wi-fi off on the phone when I'm not home or somewhere trusted, like a close friend's house (I have unlimited data).
You can only get a flip phone for a prepaid service for poor people, which are more expensive for just using a smartphone as a phone only. You can get smartphones for under fifty bucks these days, it's nice to have something that might come in handy you don't use much.
BTW, I don't use bluetooth to move data, I use wifi and a file manager app.
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Tuesday February 09 2016, @11:15PM
He wasn't trying to be "holy", he was making a point.
Nonsense. It was clearly another exercise of a Luddite/elitist rant about smartphones in general:
Now turn off the Wi-Fi, the BT, the GPS, packet data, data roaming and all that other stuff you don't really need to have still have a working phone (that is what I done, but then for me the phone is just a phone
The story was about iPhones, and Android phones. And yet this guy apparently decides its somehow worth while to buy a smart phone and then spends his time turning off all data services, (including the free data from his home router). Then he expects us to believe this was all in the quest for battery life.
I might believe battery saving was THAT important if he was homeless and an outlet was difficult to find.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2, Redundant) by looorg on Wednesday February 10 2016, @12:19AM
Nonsense. It was clearly another exercise of a Luddite/elitist rant about smartphones in general:
The story was about iPhones, and Android phones. And yet this guy apparently decides its somehow worth while to buy a smart phone and then spends his time turning off all data services, (including the free data from his home router). Then he expects us to believe this was all in the quest for battery life.
As McGrew pointed out, no it wasn't. That is your interpretation of it all and it was wrong. At least someone managed to interpret it the correct way so it wasn't just me not being able to express myself. But you clearly have no idea what I intended to say, or don't care. I'm not even sure you wanted to understand the post or you just wanted to have a bit of a post-comment-fight about it.
For all intent it was actually all about battery and not using (or having turned on) things that you don't actually use. Isn't that a good thing? To get more usage out of a device you own? But you decided on your own that it was time for you to get on top of your little box and make your interpretation of it "the truth". It had nothing to do with any kind of Luddite- or elitism, why would I feel superior cause I turned off a few functions on a phone? It wasn't any hacking involved, I pressed a few buttons. I know you apparently don't believe that but that is clearly more of a "your" problem then a me problem. You decided to go on a bit of rant due to your poor interpretation and fine I can take that. But don't tell other people what I meant or not, you clearly have no idea.
As I noted there are no, or few non-smart phones around here no more. There is no Walmart, wrong country - wrong continent, around. If I want to find a non-smart phone I would really have to look hard for it I suspect. No stores in town carry them anymore, I would probably have to order one online. A smart phone that is pre-paid is less then $50, so there is just no real market for something lower tech then that here anymore. Also my router doesn't have Wi-Fi, but I guess that is wrong to ...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by TheLink on Wednesday February 10 2016, @10:08AM
I've set up Tasker so that when it thinks my phone is at home (based on cell towers and not in "driving mode") it enables WiFi and turns off mobile data. After 1.30 am (and not in driving mode) it goes to sleep mode - goes to silent, turns off WiFi and other stuff. But if a call comes from people in a priority call group (people I think worth waking up at 3am for) it switches to "awake" mode and so I will hear the phone ring (otherwise the phone doesn't ring). When the an alarm rings if in sleep mode it goes to "awake" mode. And if I leave home and it's still in sleep mode, it switches to "awake" mode.
I also got my tasker to play an alert sound when my phone charges to 70% (I try to just charge to 70% to extend the battery lifespan since my phone has a fixed battery- charging to 100% wears the battery out faster). I also made a selectable option to play an alarm sound if the phone is unplugged while charging (you need to unlock the phone to disable the alarm).
Other people have done much fancier stuff, created "proper apps" and UI, even voice recognition. My UI is pretty ugly but I don't care since it's just for me. Also Tasker and helper apps (like Secure Settings) can do more if your phone is rooted (turn on/off GPS, run command line stuff)- I haven't bothered rooting my phone though (a bit more hassle for my model).
My phone doesn't have NFC/RFID support but if your phone has that it can make it much easier to do other stuff- stick NFC stuff in your car, home entrance, etc so you can more easily switch profiles or trigger tasks without fiddling with your phone much (put phone near car tag and phone switches to driving mode - turn on bluetooth, set autoplay shuffle driving music etc).
Of course Tasker uses battery power too (depends on how much you make Tasker do), but at least it's using that to do stuff you want, not what Facebook/Google wants (for my phone it usually just says Tasker frequently wakes up the system).
I find my phone uses a lot less battery in "sleep mode" with the wifi and mobile data off (probably lots of apps can't wake up the phone to update or send spy logs or whatever ;) ), so overnight it just drops 1-3% (so in sleep mode it theoretically has the battery life of a dumb phone - about 10 or so days). But of course once I start browsing, chatting with the screen on, or playing games the battery goes down much faster.
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Wednesday February 10 2016, @05:08AM
Maybe he is homeless.
See above.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday February 10 2016, @01:46AM
But then I'm sure they don't even see it as a smartphone, they think of it as "the facebook device" and then they don't care much more beyond that.
My phone isn't a phone, it's a communications device. I used to have one of those "lasts for three weeks" phones back in the 90's. I barely used it. Today I have a smartphone that I have to charge every night, but through email, Facebook, SMS, etc, the amount of actual communication I do with it is much, much higher. So, no, I don't care. Part of that might be because even though that 3-week phone did stand-by for that long, I never had longer than a two hour chat with it. I regularly have 4+ hour chats on my phone. I can still talk on it just fine, it just doesn't wait as long... but while it's waiting it's doing a good deal more than taking up valuable pocket-space.
So it seems like it's the FB app that is the bandit, it's not like people code for hardware efficiency anymore when it comes to consumer products
Here's a fun fact: This is one of the reasons Apple didn't allow multi-tasking until somewhat recently. Now we see why.
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(Score: 4, Informative) by MostCynical on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:00PM
does it matter if you've never used the app?
Do you have to uninstall to save battery, or can you just ignore it, if it has never been run?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:03PM
You can disable it in Android, leaving it there in case you have a sudden need to "like" someone.
If you never give it your login it doesn't seem to ever do anything. (No guarantees its not spying).
You can't always un-install it, without rooting the phone.
I can't speak to iPhone issues.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:06PM
If you never use it then why don't you just uninstall it? It's taking up space on the device even if you don't use it. If the system came pre-installed from your carrier I'm sure they installed a bunch of things that they imagined you couldn't live without (or they couldn't live without the money from). Stuff might be auto-starting even tho you never used it. Get some task-manager / system-monitor app and see what is running in the background of your phone and sucking cpu, memory and taking up space.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:12PM
My several-years-old android is fine. "Uninstall" was my favourite game.
My wife's iphone, on the other hand... most apps have been deleted by accident, by the children. Might blame them, if I get hold of it, and she notices...
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by pixeldyne on Wednesday February 10 2016, @12:09AM
You say deleted by accident, I say efficient customer service and tech support :)
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:25PM
There are some phones have facebook pre-installed, and you can't delete it, unless you root the phone.
If you root it, you might lose OTHER functionality. Android Pay won't work on a rooted phone, (although there are hacks to get past that).
Just disabling it saves power, and data allocation, but not space.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Francis on Wednesday February 10 2016, @01:15AM
Sounds like a win-win, why would I want the ability to pay for things via my phone. That's what cash and cards are for.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:11PM
You can't uninstall it unless you root (Android) the device. I found on Android that it sucked up battery use even without using it. I uninstalled the facebook update, which still left the original version, then disabled it and cleared the notification box. After that my phone only needs to be charged once per week.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 09 2016, @10:35PM
Did you know? Not shitting around on your phone 24/7 saves up to 100% of your phone's battery life!!!!111one!
(Score: 3, Touché) by zeigerpuppy on Tuesday February 09 2016, @11:53PM
I guess now we know the battery consumption of an always-on idiot tracker...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 10 2016, @12:24AM
run in terminal...
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