Communication Apps That Drain Your Phone's Battery

Maintaining battery autonomy is one of the challenges smartphone users face daily, so knowing special habits and hacks that can save battery life, is all the more important.

One of the biggest culprits when it comes to battery drain is communication apps used for making and receiving calls. These apps not only use the screen but also the audio hardware and network connections, and often push notifications to wake the device for an incoming call or message. Video calling apps are even worse for the battery since they require screen time throughout the whole conversation.

You should use texting and calling sparingly to maintain battery life all day; the same is true of gaming apps and media players, such as Netflix and YouTube. Ample screen time coupled with high processor use makes it next to impossible to hold a reliable charge all day long.

Below are several top communication apps that drain your battery the most. The list is based on personal experience and from the studies made and published by AVG Technologies.

Facebook and Messenger

It's no secret that the apps you use the most are going to drain the device's battery the quickest, and Facebook and the Facebook Messenger app are two big ones to watch out for.

Not only are these apps usually always at the forefront of our screens but if you have notifications set up in a particular way, they will continue to run and alert you all day long as your Facebook friends post status updates, even as it rests in the background and goes unused.

An additional problem that arises with these apps is that they never go into a deep sleep. They constantly consume resources and battery.

See our breakdown of how Facebook and Messenger apps drain a phone's battery for more information.

Instagram

Instagram is another app like Facebook that demands constant refreshes over the internet and is usually set up to send notifications when updated content is available. Its constant use in this way is what makes it suffer as a battery-draining app.

Snapchat

Snapchat is famous for its temporary pictures and chat history, but its effect on battery usage is all but short-lived as long as you use the app.

Not only is Snapchat heavy on video and voice but the entire app focuses on sharing, which uses Wi-Fi or cellular data for every message. This is different than Facebook which can cache messages and doesn't always use data.

KakaoTalk

The KakaoTalk app isn't much different than the two already mentioned above but it still eats up resources. It's best to only keep this app if you have plenty of buddies on the network. 

ooVoo

ooVoo is a video chatting app that multiple participants can use. While it's rich in nice, handy features, it also comes with some battery greed.

Delete ooVoo if you need to retain more of your battery throughout the day and don't use it much.

WeChat

WeChat is another video messaging app that has noteworthy features, including space for social networking like Facebook.

However, some users complain about it running slowly, which is an indication of a battery drainer. On top of that, WeChat demands screen time and only functions well when you enable notifications and alerts, which further affects battery life.