WhatsApp is Killing The Battery on Android Phones, OnePlus Phones Seem Worst Hit

If you are noticing that your smartphone battery is perhaps discharging faster than usual over the past few days, you deserve to know the exact reason. Its WhatsApp, specifically the latest version of WhatsApp which was rolled out a bit more than a week ago. The Facebook-owned instant messaging app is draining the battery life on Android phones, and the problem seems to be particularly severe on OnePlus phones. Users are complaining on the Google Play Store, the OnePlus Forum, Twitter and also on Reddit.

On the OnePlus forums, a lot of users are complaining about the WhatsApp update causing battery drain on their phones, including those who use the recent OnePlus 7T Pro, the OnePlus 7T and the OnePlus 7 Pro smartphones. “Was wondering why my phone was draining quite a bit faster than normal today. 16% battery drain from WhatsApp after only actively using it for less than 5 minutes today," says a user with the handle KiltedTraveler on Reddit—he uses a OnePlus 7T. “Whatsapp 2.19.308 has been draining the battery insanely. I think I've seen 33% of all battery consumption by WhatsApp on the stats," complains another user rektalTushe on Reddit who uses a OnePlus 5.

At this time, it is not just the OnePlus phones which suffer from the battery drain issue. “Indeed! I have noticed that it is draining a lot of battery (more than normal, a lot more) in my Pixel 3," says a Reddit user Tito1983. “Same issue in S10e... after several updates and after having reinstalled it seems to be fine," adds Reddit user Matrix009917. Users are reporting the same issues with the Google Pixel 4, Huawei P20 Pro as well as certain Xiaomi phones. “Got the same on my Mix 3, with an EU ROM. Lost 20% of battery since I woke up, it's been around an hour, and WhatsApp is the main culprit," complains Reddit user Bobbite.

Equally, a lot of users are reporting no battery drain issues on their Android phones, some of the popular ones including the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ and the Samsung Galaxy S10+. There has been no official communication by WhatsApp yet regarding this possible issue, and when a fix can be expected for this.