Spotify massive battery drain on samsung phones

[Oscarndiez]

So recently I got a Samsung Galaxy S21 ultra, and the first 2 weeks or so were absolutely fine, with screen on time per charge of around 7-8 hours, but then 1 week ago or maybe a bit more I noticed that my battery suddenly didn't last as long as it did, only getting around 3-4 hours of screen on time, which for a phone that has a 5,000 mah battery is absolutely terrible. So I looked at the apps that were consuming the most battery and would you look at that, spotify drains around 28% of my battery per charge (as seen on the first screenshot). I remembered that my dad owns a galaxy s20 ultra (also with a 5,000 mah battery, but he got it when it came out so it may have degraded a little by now) , and that he also uses spotify to listen to his music, so I decided to have a look at his screen on time and the apps that use the most battery per charge, and I was surprised to see that spotify was also draining a lot of his battery, but in his case, it was even worse, spotify for him drained 35% per charge, which is unacceptable. 

Since I discovered this I've tried the following:

- Reinstalling spotify.

- Wiping its cache

- Changing my password

- Disabling background search for other devices

- Disabling Canvas 

- Downloading my music and listening in offline mode

- Limiting background usage on my phone's settings (this creates an issue because whenever I'm listening to my downloaded or streamed music with this on, the music will stop for 2 or 3 seconds and then resume, as I said, it happened with both downloaded music, and streamed music, and it happened once or twice per song.)

I have run out of ideas so I'm switching to amazon music to try it out until this issue is fixed, if it isn't, I will cancel my plan and tell my dad to do the same thing, this battery drain is absolutely unacceptable and needs to be fixed ASAP, I can't imagine the battery that spotify must consume with older or smaller phones like the regular s21 or even the s10 or s9, 60% of their batteries per charge?? ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE SPOTIFY!!!!

[Fonzter]

I have the exact same problem with my s21+, spotify is by far the app that uses the most battery on my phone

[Yordan]

Hey folks!

Do you notice excessive battery drain from Spotify while directly using the app (in foreground) or when you're listening to music / podcasts in the background? Also, do you notice any difference in battery drain when using mobile data, instead of WiFI?

Keep us posted on this. Cheers!

[Oscarndiez]

It happens while its in the background, since app is only active for around 5 minutes in total per charge.

[Alex]

Hey @Oscarndiez,

Thanks for the post.

Can you let us know if it's happening both on Mobile data and WiFi, and if it's happening at all if you turn on Offline Mode from the app settings? This will help us get an understanding if the drain is related to the transfer of data at all.

Keep us posted.

[ddao]

I'm using S22 and facing the same problem. I listened to music for 55 minutes and it took 10% of the battery. The phone has Battery save turning on. 

- Streaming with Wifi, i don't have premium

- The app runs in the background, however most of the time the screen was off

[CarlosE]

Hey @ddao,

Thanks for your reply in this thread 🙂
 

Can you let us know the exact OS of your device along with the Spotify version you use? This would help us to gather more information about what you are experiencing. 

On another note, could you share with us the troubleshooting you’ve already done? You could start with a clean reinstall to see if this makes a difference. You can see the steps to do it here.

Lastly, we'd like to share with you some tips which will help optimize battery usage on you device:

• Constantly check for any Android updates as well as Spotify updates
• Turn off high-drain features such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and hotspots when not needed
• Limit activities which require an internet connection such as having multiple apps running (even in the background), using GPS for long periods, or playing/pausing videos on streaming while using Spotify
• Keep an eye on your screen brightness levels to make sure they’re not unnecessarily high
• Take good care of your battery by - among other things - using the power adapter which came with your phone, preventing the device from overheating, and charging it only for as long as it takes for it to reach full battery capacity

We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Until then!

[Swephil]

I have also experienced the same with my Samsung S10. Today I had Spotify on for 4 hours and has lost 37% battery.  I have only tried through mobile data in the background. The sceen has been of in my pocket and the phone was very hot whenever I took it up. 

[Dian]

Hey @Swephil,

Thanks for posting.

Could you share the troubleshooting steps you've already tried? You can also check the post from @CarlosE for reference on the information, that we need.

Keep us posted,

Cheers!

[Psyclopps]

I notice with Spotify enabled on S22 Ultra the built in battery stats don't report Spotify as any issue but I loose 10-15% battery overnight. Looking in GSAM with ADP commands, it reports Spotify is the culprit. 

I am using S22 Ultra 

Android 12

Build SP1A.210812.016S908U1UEU2AVDC

May, 2022 update

Spotify version: 8.7.28.1217

[Novy]

Hey @Psyclopps,

Thanks for your reply in this thread 🙂

It’d be awesome if you share with us the troubleshooting you’ve already done. This way we can recommend other alternatives. You can perform a clean reinstall of the app on your device to check if this makes a difference. You can see the steps to do it here.

On another tune, is this happening over WiFi? 3G/4G? Both? Let us know if this occurs when you listen to music in the background or when you’re directly on the app.

Lastly, we recommend taking into consideration the tips shared by @CarlosE to keep the usage of your battery optimized.

We'll be on the lookout for your replies.

Cheers!

[OscarNunez1]

I'm also having this issue, whether it's on wifi or mobile data, Spotify is sucking the live out of the battery, getting really hot in the process.I've gone through and done a reinstall, cleared the cache, checked for updates. I'm on a galaxy S21+ andriod 12, spotify version 8.7.36.923

[Alex]

Hey there @OscarNunez1,

Thanks for the post.

Can you try switching on Offline mode from the app settings and check if the battery drain continues?

Keep us posted.

[OscarNunez1]

I put spotify in offline mode for about a week and the battery drain wasn't as severe, but my phone got really hot within the 10-15 minutes I used spotify at a time. I cleared the cache again to see if that would fix the issue, but it hasn't. So it's either spotify is online and killing my battery causing the phone to heat up, or it's offline and heating up, either way spotify is the biggest drain on my phone. 

[Dian]

Hey @OscarNunez1,

Thanks for the reply.

Looking online for users of the same phone reporting similar experiences, it seems, that a factory reset of the phone resolves the issue. Is this something you want to try? You can back up your data on a PC beforehand.

Keep us posted,

Cheers!

[Bucatino]

I too with s22, 256 gb, I also noticed and I am a premium user that listening to music in the background (songs saved locally) consumes a lot of battery, both in wifi and in dat, it is precisely the app that is not very optimized, I find even the lukewarm device, absurd for such an app, using youtube heats up and consumes less battery.

[Rfc_]

Got the same issue... Samsung s21+... Iets terrible... Spotify drains avg about 30% of the battery with a full charge. With a active usage of under 5 min... 

I didn't pay attention about it, till yesterday. I think it happened suddenly since 2/3 weeks now...

[M13online]

I'm using the pixel 6. I don't even use the app and it takes 20% of my battery in 6 hours. If I disable it from running in the background then it my battery is saved. I saw in another post that the moderator said they investigated this and it's not a Spotify problem and then they tell you to lower the brightness of your screen and some other bologna. Obviously it's a Spotify problem. We have screenshots showing that it's Spotify eating the battery not our bright screens. 

[Yordan]

Hi folks!

Do you use the Spotify widget on your Home screen? If yes, try removing it temporarily to see to see if the excessive battery drain would still occur.

Let us know how it goes. Cheers!

[Maliksaab]

It's not an older phone problem. I have a Galaxy S21 Ultra and Spotify held a wake lock of 10 hours and something yesterday and 16 hours the days before. A very knowledgeable Verizon tech support agent said that Spotify is notorious for this problem and asked me to remove the cache. I did that last week and the situation improved, however, looks like we are back to the same battery drain. Pretty disappointing stuff when this is such a big app around the world. It should not be ruining our experience with our phones. It should be enhancing it. Furthermore, out of the hundred and something apps on my phone, I've only seen one other app cause such an issue and also have seen that just one time.