At the tippy top of every list of battery-draining apps you’ll find this one: Facebook.
Facebook is constantly running in the background of your phone, in addition to auto-playing videos, taking up valuable storage, AND, of course, draining your battery.
Another aspect of the Facebook app that leaves a lot of people on the fence is the fact that it has been caught spying on users. After Facebook announced plans to integrate Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram, Forbes reported: “If anyone was holding out for some tangible reason to fear the data implications of this, then perhaps the news just in that Facebook has been caught paying teens and young adults for (almost) unfettered access to the private data on their phones will be it.”
Unlike with Messenger, you can delete the Facebook app and continue to use Facebook without restrictions via your browser, which can save you a ton of battery power.
But if you can’t quit the app because it’s just too darn convenient, there are steps you can take to at least mitigate its effect on your phone.
According to Cult of Mac, there are six things you can do to keep the Facebook app from messing with your battery as much (though the only real way to gain back battery power is by deleting the app). Turn off notification settings and stop yourself from checking the app every 10 minutes. Turn off autoplay for videos and Facebook background app refresh and location services.
And never underestimate the power of downloading the latest version of ANY app. The minute you become aware of a newer version of Facebook, delete your old app and install the new one, which should be less taxing on your device.