Pokemon GO is Draining Cell Phone Batteries Fast

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Pokemon GO is Draining Cell Phone Batteries Fast


Pokemon GO is apparently hell on your phone's battery life - but Niantic is working on a solution.

Pokemon Go is a workaround [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/167867-Pokemon-GO-Worldwide-Launch-Australia] - and reports are already indicating that it is destroying cell phone batteries. Not destroying as in making them randomly explode, but rather it is very quickly draining batteries. Unless you want to walk around with a charging pack or a few spare batteries, it's making actually playing the game rather difficult, save for in short bursts - according to some reports, a fully charged device can be drained in under three hours of gameplay.

The official known issues page [https://support.pokemongo.nianticlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/221958208-Known-Issues] for Pokemon GO lists "Heavy Battery Use" as an acknowledged issue, and states that Niantic Labs is working on a solution.

"Some devices may experience battery drain while playing Pokemon GO for prolonged periods of time. We are working on a solution."

Users have reported that, while the game does include a "battery saver" option, it isn't very effective. However, this is the internet, and people are already posting tips [http://www.pokemongodb.net/2016/04/9-best-battery-saving-tips.html] on how to help with the issue until an official fix is available - including manually adjusting your phone's screen brightness, turning the sound off, and of course, carrying an extra battery or power bank.

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[Madnet]

Pokemon GO drain my battery. Still I hope they can fix this issue soon enough.

 

[snekadid]

3 straight hours? thats only slightly less than record keeper or brave exvius takes to kill my cells battery.

 

[List]

how does the game work? Do you really need it on all the time while searching for pokemon?

 

[SirDeadly]

Went for a 45 minute walk with the game on power saving mode, lost 80% of my battery. My battery is already pretty shit but that is still a pretty big draw.

 

[Rangaman]

A game that uses Wireless, GPS and 3D renders all at once and constantly operates in the background drains batteries quickly? Whoever would have guessed?

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

how does the game work? Do you really need it on all the time while searching for pokemon?

No, the game is pretty useless if you aren't moving around outside. If you're stuck in a singular location (such as school, work, sleeping, ext) there's little point in keeping the game running. It looks like I'll actually have to walk outside to play this game *shutters*

As for a non poke-coin way to acquire items, there are specific locations on the map you can go to that will give you items and you also get 10 pokeballs for leveling up (so far that I know).

I will need to try it some more in my awful, not walk friendly, suburban area before I can say how well it works as far as that goes, but I have a feeling, like most of Nintendo's gimmicks, this works best in a large city where Wifi hotspots are plentiful and public transportation (so walking from point to point) is a viable way of moving about.

 

[Leg End]

A game that uses Wireless, GPS and 3D renders all at once and constantly operates in the background drains batteries quickly? Whoever would have guessed?

Basically this. This situation is nothing new to players of Ingress, another game from Niantic. There is a reason why for new players, a common statement is that a power bank is your best friend. Two companies in particular sell Ingress branded power banks!

There isn't much of a solution outside of getting a phone with a larger battery, getting a larger battery outright or, saying fuck it, just carrying around a really big battery wholesale. Or/on top of one of these damn things.

I'm going to stop now before I'm accused of being a shill. BUY POWER BANKS

 

[FrozenCones]

I don't feel like it could be any worse than what Summoner's War does to my phone battery. I guess the difference is, if a bulk of Pokemon are outside you don't really have the connivence of charging on the run.