A new bug in Google Messages leaves your camera on in the background, which quickly drains your battery and warms up your device.
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.
More generally, if you do not use the Google Messages viewfinder, the easiest way to stop this problem altogether 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’ve experienced a similar issue with your phone, please let us know in the comments, including which phone you are using and whether you are subscribed to Google Messages beta updates.
More about Google Apps:
FTC: We use revenue-earning auto affiliate links. More.
Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: