
KitKat giving you battery drain problems? Uninstall Skype, says Google - treskot
http://www.zdnet.com/kitkat-giving-you-battery-drain-problems-try-uninstalling-skype-says-google-as-it-prepares-a-fix-7000027051/
======
luka-birsa
Regardless of what it looks like when Google puts down a IM competitor, but as
a KitKat user I can confirm this.

Nexus 5 + Skype (with 0 actual skyping done) = 16hrs autonomy. I almost RMAed
the phone.

Nexus 5 sans Skype = after 24hrs I still had 50% battery.

Don't belive me? Try it on your KitKat device!

~~~
RexRollman
Interesting. Doesn't Microsoft included Skype with their Surface tablets? I
wonder if it is affecting those machines as well, or if they are doing
something different with them.

~~~
legacy2013
This is a bug specific to android devices that is caused when the camera is
used. Skype accesses the camera often so it can cause the bug to appear more,
it's not Skype itself causing the issue

~~~
phaemon
Why is Skype accessing the camera often, when there's "0 actual skyping done"?

------
blueskin_
Better (as good) idea: Disable Google Now, Google location reporting, and all
those Google sync services.

I'm far from free of battery problems, but do better than most with those not
running and startup receivers disabled for apps that insist on another useless
service. Not that I have Facebook or Skype apps installed either though...

~~~
StavrosK
Do you have instructions for that? There are a bunch of settings, and I want
to make sure I get everything.

~~~
blueskin_
Disable Google Search, Google Bookmarks Sync, Google Contacts Sync (doing this
also lets you have local contacts again), anything else Google Now related.

Instead of disabling Google Search, if you use CM or XPrivacy, you can also
just revoke the location and wakelock permissions from it.

~~~
leobelle
> anything else Noogle Now related.

I like Noogle so much I might write up a quick chrome extension that turns
Google into Noogle everywhere.

~~~
blueskin_
...and the next s/keyboard/leopard / cloud2butt is born.

------
blueskin_
>an update to Skype, which began to regularly access the camera from its
background services

That's not suspicious at all, is it?</s>

~~~
egeozcan
After reading that is when I really considered uninstalling Skype. Creepy
indeed. Is there any mod which remedies the issue with something like a "fake
camera access"?

~~~
unvs
XPrivacy is your friend! It needs root, though.

~~~
fakenBisEsRult
Thank you! Didn't know this app yet.

~~~
StavrosK
I installed it just yesterday (it was very easy). It really is great, it can
even notify you for permissions as the app tries to access them (and you can
allow or deny), and you can even vote on permissions and download the
crowdsourced ones (with the paid version).

------
interstitial
Laptop giving you problems, uninstall Skype. iPad giving you problems,
uninstall Skype. Skype and the runaway supernode:
[https://www.google.com/search?q=skype+supernode](https://www.google.com/search?q=skype+supernode)

~~~
nodata
Didn't Microsoft kill the supernodes on users' PCs?

~~~
andyjohnson0
Yes. [http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/05/skype-
replaces-p2p-s...](http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/05/skype-
replaces-p2p-supernodes-with-linux-boxes-hosted-by-microsoft/)

------
devx
Skype has battery drain problems on all devices. I guess it's understandable
considering NSA has to keep it on to spy on you through it.

~~~
_quasimodo
I guess heavy obfuscation is more to blame.

~~~
mschuster91
Plain static obfuscation doesn't really kill off your battery.

------
tluyben2
Not sure if that is the whole problem, but Skype is bad everywhere battery
wise. I switch it on only when I have a meeting. It's a shame the competitors
are not moving faster ; there is definitely an opportunity for this. I see
Skype taking _far_ too many resources on Android, iOS, Mac and Win. Best
behaviour seems to be iOS so far for me.

~~~
raverbashing
Exactly

I really don't see the point of keeping it always on. (And I hate using it
Skype as IM, but ok, it's needed sometimes)

For always on, go to the desktop, I don't trust Skype using my resources
correctly (just see how long it takes for it to start up and log in)

------
DocG
I've given up on skype for a while already

LG L9 Sleep of death(with battery drained) when I had skype. Warranted the
device, final solution was not to use skype.

On one laptop, skype is using one cpu core to the max. Solution is to use IE
as deafult browser(or not use skype)

On second laptop, just yesterday lost all its history.

------
tilt
Skype appears not to be the only application affected by this issue. Related
to
[https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=60058](https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=60058)

------
currysausage
If I log out of Skype every time after use and Skype doesn't even show up in
my battery statistics, does that mean I'm not affected by the bug, or could
Skype's battery drain be hiding behind those system services?

Nexus 4 here, very poor battery performance, would be great to know what
causes it, but I'm not convinced it really is Skype.

~~~
Maxious
It's not Skype that will appear in your battery statistics but "mm-qcamera-
daemon". Typically position #1, even more than Screen.

~~~
StavrosK
All I get there is "Android System" (screen is at 20%, that's at 45%), and I
have no idea what that is or why...

------
gcb0
convenient. just removed the entrenched competitor app for one of their
services.

~~~
mschuster91
Uh, where does Skype compete with any Google service?

edit: to those answering "Hangouts", can that actually be considered
competition?

~~~
interstitial
That's the funny thing about Google abysmal failure in most products outside
search and gmail, their subpar competition doesn't even rank in most people's
mind unless they force it on you.

~~~
josu
The competition is not subpar, the apps just benefit from network economies,
and the best does not always win. Just look at Whatsapp.

~~~
mschuster91
Well, WA actually _did_ win, because it was the best.

Whatsapp is like the Ryanair of messaging: no ads, no games, (up to FB
acquisition) no data mining, basically: no frills, no hassles.

Compare that with Skype/MSN Messenger, the FB Messenger or basically any other
messenger out there: ads, more ads, MORE FUCKING ADS, a PITA to add/find new
contacts (Whatsapp just bootstraps with the contact manager of the phone!), oh
and did I forget MORE FUCKING SHITLOADS OF ADS? And no way to pay to just get
rid of them?

~~~
bad_user
Well, the current version of WhatsApp is eating my battery like crazy on my
Android 4.4 / Nexus 4. And I hate their accounts / login system, as it depends
on having an SMS-enabled plan and capable device. This means I cannot use
WhatsApp on my desktop, on my iPad, on any device other than my primary phone
basically, or when traveling at which point I shun roaming charges for local
pre-pay plans.

Facebook's Messenger for example, or any messenger service not mapped directly
to your primary phone number, has no problems with any of that.

> _did I forget MORE FUCKING SHITLOADS OF ADS?_

Facebook's Messenger has no ads, or promoted posts, or anything related to
your stream in it:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.o...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.orca)

This goes for Google Hangouts, Skype, Slack or XMPP services in general
(hosted by you or not), amongst myriads of messenger services that don't do
ads. So I think you're exaggerating.

~~~
mschuster91
> This goes for Google Hangouts, Skype, Slack or XMPP services in general
> (hosted by you or not), amongst myriads of messenger services that don't do
> ads. So I think you're exaggerating. Google is known to mine your data for
> personalization of advertising of Mail ads, but I do not know if this is
> also done for Hangout chats.

Skype has ads like hell (open a chat on a netbook, half the vertical screen
size is lost to ads and fucked up layout), Facebook the same (sidebar on the
web site), and likely also data mining.

