A new bug in Google Messages leaves your camera on in the background, which quickly drains your battery and warms up your device.
Update: Google has started rolling out a fix for the Messages app.
In the Google Messages app, there’s an easy way to quickly take a picture and instantly attach it to a message and send it to a friend. In the image attachment view from your gallery, there is also a live feed from your camera to either take an instant snapshot of this thumbnail view or you can expand it for a better view.
In the latest updates of the Google Messages app, as seen on one of our own devices as well as reported on Reddit, an error in the app occasionally lets this camera feed run, even when it’s not on the screen – including when Messages are in the background. In our experience, this causes significant battery drain and heat as you would expect.
Since there is no visible reason for the increased usage, we had to track down the issue using Android 12s privacy indicators for the camera and microphone. When the problem occurs, an Android 12 device will indicate that Google Messages is actively using your camera. The easiest way to stop the problem at the moment is to close the app from the Recent view.
Update 22/4: In a statement to The edge, Google has confirmed that the cause of this battery drain error has been identified and a permanent fix is already being rolled out to users of the Google Messages app. It is not clear which version numbers will include the fix. The latest beta of Google Messages was released on April 19th.
More generally, if you do not use the Google Messages viewfinder, the easiest way to stop this problem completely in the short term is by denying the app permission to use your phone’s camera. To do this on a Pixel phone, tap and hold the Messages app icon in your launcher and tap the info icon. This should take you to the Settings app, where you can tap “Permissions” to manage what Google Messages can do. From here, you want to press “Camera” and set the switch to “Do not allow.”
If you & # 39; ve experienced something similar to this issue on your phone, please let us know in the comments, including which phone you use and whether you’re signed up for Google Messages beta updates.
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