Android phones (Samsung/Pixel) get drained by Arlo within hours since yesterday

[arcticchiller]

Hi everyone

I post here in this forum, because Arlo has no support e-mail address.

Since yesterday, my wife's Samsung Galaxy S22 and my Google Pixel 8a get drained by the Arlo app within hours. The phones showed up to 75% battery use by Arlo yesterday and got hot, even when we didn't use the phones much during the day. Arlo just completely drains the batteries. We never had this issue before since getting the cameras in December 2024.

We have four Ultra 2 cameras and a chime connected to the Ultra Smarthub VMB-5000.

Are other people having this issue as well? Is Arlo working on a bug fix?

Thanks!

[jguerdat]

I've seen this on my Pixel 9, too. I force close the app and re-open it and all is fine. I don't know what steps cause this because it doesn't happen often but I think it may be due to using the Feed page. Or not.

@JamesC , @ShayneS , @BrookeN can you pass this on to the appropriate team? I'm using Android app 6.0.7 but have seen this on at least the previous version or two.

[BrookeN]

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I have passed this information onto our development team to investigate. I will update you as soon as possible. 

[BrookeN]

What is the app version you are on?

[stolk61]

I am having similar issues. 

Arlo App 6.0.8_21171

Arlo Wireless Doorbell and Chime, 3x Arlo Pro, 3x Arlo Essential Indoor, Arlo Base VMB4000

Phone is Galaxy S24

Android 15 (latest update)

[jguerdat]

Force closing the app and reopening it stops the drain. I don't have a real idea of what causes this but I suspect it's something about viewing Feed (or not). The drain doesn't happen too often but often enough to be a pain.

[arcticchiller]

No it happens without using the phone at all, nor opening the app. It just drains the phone. All software is up to date. For now it is normal again. I suspect it was due to a bug related to geofencing.

[BrookeN]

@arcticchiller and @stolk61 are you still seeing this same behavior?

[stolk61]

Hi @BrookeN, I have not seen the battery drain since. All seems in order on my Galaxy S25. Thanks for  following up. 

[jguerdat]

My phone was doing great until last night. I had to force close a couple of times before it stopped draining the battery. Still working fine this morning.

[BrookeN]

@jguerdat I will let the development team know you are still seeing this behavior on and off. 

[GeneralMeow]

Has anyone experienced HUGE battery drain with the Arlo app in recent updates?  Seems to be a new one every week it seems.  Some users mentioned this in the App reviews with no responses.

It doesnt seem to be wake lock related, just constantly runs in the background.  Had to set the app for restricted background usage to stop it from draining battery so fast.

[Streak2]

I have the Samsung S24 Ultra -  I found more battery drain after the update to Android 15 than anything from Arlo. 

It could well be a combination of the two. Stats show background activity less than 30 minutes most days and I don't have background restrictions set.

Have you tried wiping the cache?

[GeneralMeow]

I agree with the Android 15 comment.  I have seen that too and I have the exact same phone.

Maybe it is a combination for both Android 15 and Arlo app, just seems to have gotten insanely worse with the last few updates. I did try clearing cache 1st, then reinstall the app.  did nothing.  I had originally set the app for unrestricted background usage since I wanted notifications to not be delayed.  Worked fine for years.

The app update I got later today seems to be better.  maybe they fixed it?  Hopefully it also fixes the location issues as well.  That's been broken for a while.

[jguerdat]

I'm on a Pixel 9 so maybe somewhat different symptoms. I'm now running a CPU monitor since I find that sometimes after viewing recordings in Feed (I don't even have to necessarily actually view a recording) the Arlo app uses ~50% of the CPU, draining the battery. A quick force stop and re-opening of the app fixes it. Until the next time.

BTW, I'm on Android 16 although the issue started when I updated to 15. I'm also using the 6.3.2 app.

[BrookeN]

Do you use the Arlo app in the foreground? Do you have Geofencing or Location services enabled? Can I also get a screenshot of the app that shows the CPU utilization/usage? And what type of device are you using and the firmware for that device?