WhatsApp is clearly the world's largest communication platform serving over 1.5 billion users worldwide. Even the slightest issue with the app can be a huge inconvenience to a large group of people. But the company keeps rolling out new updates to fix bugs and introduce new features, which keeps users hooked to the app. In doing so, WhatsApp might have caused serious problems for a lot of people.
WhatsApp rolled out a new update to both Android and iOS users this month, which might have done more damage than good. The highlight of the update was the group invite feature, which changes the way people have been adding contacts to random groups. But the feature came at a cost, quite a hefty one if you look at the complaints.
A lot of users have complained about massive battery drain issue with the latest WhatsApp update. The problem appears to be affecting both iPhone and Android users. WhatsApp for iOS version 2.19.112 is the culprit for your phone's rapid discharging levels. Android users will find the app version 2.19.308 to be causing the problem.
In both cases, WhatsApp's background activity has been shot through the roof. People using the app for merely an hour are seeing background activity of the app shooting up to 5 hours in total. In the worst cases, WhatsApp is responsible for nearly 11 hours of background activity.
WABetaInfo, which regularly tracks WhatsApp updates and features, confirmed the issue persists. "Some users (included me) are experiencing battery drain using WhatsApp for iOS 2.19.112. In particular, Battery Usage reports a high usage of the app in background," WABetaInfo tweeted.
While the WhatsApp battery draining bug appears to be affecting a wide range of models from different brands, OnePlus smartphone users running Android 9 or 10 have been affected the most. Android Central reported that more than 40 percent of the battery is drained by WhatsApp. Users, even those who own OnePlus 7T, 7T Pro, are posting complaints on Reddit, OnePlus forums and on Play Store, complaining about the problem.
Besides OnePlus phones, the issue appears to be affecting Xiaomi's Redmi Note 7 users as well as some Pixel 3 owners. It is highly possible that most users won't face the same problem as some users affected by WhatsApp bug, but those who do aren't certainly happy about it. Despite several complaints on various platforms, WhatsApp still hasn't issued a statement, better yet a patch to fix the problem early. It has already been more than a week since the update was passed to all devices.
