We’re partway through April, but some Pixel fans are still seeing issues that supposedly arose from the March update. The most notable of these is the battery draining bug, which all-but cripples an afflicted Pixel device.
While Google is yet to officially recognize the problem, one user thinks they may have diagnosed what’s behind the rapid drain problem.
Problem persists across many different Pixel models
Reports about this bug have been commonplace since the March update went live. While many Pixel devices seem unaffected by any battery draining bugs, my own Pixel 10 Pro included, far too many users have found their Google phones to suddenly be unable of lasting the day, after previously being more than capable of doing so.
Complaints can be found on the Google support forums, and on Reddit, and the complaints there largely match up with each other, seemingly making it clear that all these people are having the same problem.
Most complain that, since the March update, their Pixels are seeing significant drops in longevity on a single charge, losing several hours of battery time. One fan complains that their Pixel now struggles to make it to 6pm or 7pm, while it used to last comfortably until at least 10pm. That may sound like a small difference, but for many, it’s the difference between being able to go out after work without having to scramble around for a portable charger or spare outlet.
One user thinks they may have found a smoking gun though. The explanation is fairly technical, and you can read it all here if you’re technically minded. But for those of us who like simple language, the essence is that the March update seemed to introduce a bug that stops the CPU from entering Deep Doze, a mode that throttles performance and background activities while idle. This seems to be happening because the software gets stuck in an infinitely looping process that fires off four times a second — which certainly sounds like a lot.
The bad news is there’s nothing any of us can do to directly fix this bug right now. However, the discoverer has posted a formal defect request in the Google Issue Tracker. According to them, if the problem gets enough upvotes, it should spur Google’s engineers to take a closer look at it.
Of course, if you’re suffering with this bug, then that isn’t much comfort. However, now the problem has (hopefully) been diagnosed, it should just be a matter of time before it’s fixed. Until then, cart around a small power bank to alleviate the problem, and check out some other easy ways to boost your Pixel’s battery life.