Many Android users woke up on January 10 to discover that their phone’s performance took a nosedive overnight. Battery life is draining fast, overall performance has been sluggish, and devices seem to be overheating for no apparent reason. Not to worry, this isn’t happening because of something you did.
All of these issues seem to be originating from a server-side update to Facebook and Facebook Messenger that occurred silently in the background. It doesn’t matter if you actually use the apps or not, they’re both constantly running and putting a massive strain on your CPU by forcing it to stay on higher frequencies.
UPDATE: David Marcus from the Facebook Messenger team claimed on January 11 that the server-side issue has been corrected. He stated that restarting the apps should prevent Facebook and Messenger from behaving the way they have been since January 10. Let us know if this works for you, and read on for more information regarding the issues Android users have been facing.
Yes, It Really Is Facebook & Facebook Messenger
Believe it or not, Facebook and Facebook Messenger are the main culprits behind this whole mess. The apps themselves haven’t been updated since mid-December, so it appears that Facebook remotely flipped a switch on some behind-the-scenes feature or update that’s causing all of these issues.
Not only is the update forcing your phone to stay on the higher frequencies (above sixty percent load in most reports), but the heat being generated is also preventing your phone from fast-charging. And as with any electronic device, heat represents wasted electricity, so that accounts for the terrible battery drain.
I’m not sure what sort of black magic Facebook used to hide Messenger’s name from Android’s battery menu and its list of juice-sucking apps, but that doesn’t deter us from figuring out who’s to blame. Using BetterBatteryStats, it’s very clear that Facebook and Facebook Messenger are the real culprits, as both appear at the top of all CPU and battery usage stats.
Just take a look at those crazy system and usage times—all this from two apps which haven’t even been launched since the update. The prolonged CPU usage translates into heat, and heat added to the high frequencies means extreme throttling on your phone, which is the reason why it’s so slow and laggy. Your expensive device now has only one good use: A hand warmer!
The Solution
Well, the solution is obvious—simply uninstall Facebook and Facebook Messenger until the company gets its shit together. If Facebook and Messenger came preinstalled on your device as bloatware, you can uninstall all updates or disable the apps by heading to Settings -> Apps. You can also uninstall the apps straight from the Google Play Store, but be sure to disable automatic updates from the drop-down menu on the app’s Play Store page as well.
Alternatively, you can try force-stopping the apps by heading to the Apps menu in Settings, then selecting Facebook and Facebook Messenger, and tapping the “Force Stop” button at the top of the screen. This will make the apps stop running in the background for at least a little while, but the next time you open Facebook or get a new message, the overheating and battery draining will start right back up.
Let us know if you’ve experienced these issues on your device, and if the solution worked. Feel free to share any thoughts or comments in the section below.
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