FordPass 3.24.0 Android serious battery drain

[BDC]

Since receiving this update on a Pixel 4 I am seeing serious battery drain coming from the FordPass app. It is so bad my phone was unable to charge to 100% overnight, last night only reaching 56% charging at 10W. I will try the various "disable all the features" tricks for working around battery drain and report back.

And yes, I know this has been covered in other thread like the roll out one and an older battery drain one, but none of those are both specific to this issue and this version. I wanted to make sure it was called out explicitly as it seriously degrades the usefulness of PaaK.

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[BDC]

And after a day of restricting background use battery is back to normal. Sadly, I think that means PaaK just won't work at all (aside from the cumbersome manual operation).

 

[djett]

Feel your pain. I also have a Pixel and over the last week started having significant battery drain. Yesterday I changed one of the settings for the FordPass app- can't even remember where I found it at this point - but it was something like "please stop maintaining constant communication with my car.". It already seems to have made a difference. Doesn't seem to be draining as quickly today. I don't really use the app regularly so hoping that will take care of it.

 

[zhackwyatt]

And after a day of restricting background use battery is back to normal. Sadly, I think that means PaaK just won't work at all (aside from the cumbersome manual operation).

I'm confident they will fix this battery draining bug in a future update of Ford Pass app.

 

[BDC]

I'm confident they will fix this battery draining bug in a future update of Ford Pass app.

I expect they will, and hopefully we can keep all interested users updated on this thread. Mainly just want this here to track impact and resolution without the noise of the other threads.

 

[timbop]

I expect they will, and hopefully we can keep all interested users updated on this thread. Mainly just want this here to track impact and resolution without the noise of the other threads.

Has there been a thread that hasn't been taken off track?

whoops, just derailed this thread ?

 

[BDC]

And just to keep the thread up to date, I am still having the issue in 3.25.0. Phone was very hot in the middle of the night while charging, battery continued to decline, so I once again disabled background use.

 

[Carsinmyblood]

Is it doing anything so vital that you need to keep it running all the time?

This is a serious question. I currently drive a '16 Mazda CX-5 (waiting for my MME) and my phone has no idea my car exists, aside from podcasting while driving.

So, what are these cars doing that they require remote monitoring/communication while parked?

 

[mpshizzle]

Is it doing anything so vital that you need to keep it running all the time?

This is a serious question. I currently drive a '16 Mazda CX-5 (waiting for my MME) and my phone has no idea my car exists, aside from podcasting while driving.

So, what are these cars doing that they require remote monitoring/communication while parked?

These problems come into play with phone as a key. When these features are enabled that's when a lot of people experience battery drain.

And for Paak, yes, it is ideal to always have it in the background. That way you don't have to pull out your phone and open the app every time you want to open the door and drive away

 

[BDC]

Is it doing anything so vital that you need to keep it running all the time?

This is a serious question. I currently drive a '16 Mazda CX-5 (waiting for my MME) and my phone has no idea my car exists, aside from podcasting while driving.

So, what are these cars doing that they require remote monitoring/communication while parked?

As mpshizzle says, PaaK is the main reason to allow background activity, but I am also not talking about leaving it running all the time, just allowing normal background services. This is fairly typical operation for an Android app - it can do various things while not being fully active. Disabling it means things like PaaK won't work, but may also impact other things like notifications. In general, an app should be able to have background services running without significant battery drain. This is the only app that I have on my phone that is restricted, so it is abnormal. In fact, even in the foreground, there is no reason to drain the battery this badly.

And of course, you don't need the app at all and the car will still function as a car. But it is extremely convenient to start the car from a restaurant or check the charge status from my office. Heck, I lived without a cell phone for most of my life, so pretty much none of the phones functionality is "required".

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

So, what are these cars doing that they require remote monitoring/communication while parked?

If I'm going shopping or something where I'll be coming and going to the car in a reasonable period of time, I'll leave the app running in the background. But when's parked for the day or week the app is closed (force-quit) and not opened unless I genuinely need some information from it.

 

[Carsinmyblood]

How about making PaaK a separate app?

Keyless fobs run for years on a button battery. How can we tell Ford to make a stand-alone app that'll simply work like a $200 fob and keep the other nonsense on an app that we can open and run when we really need it?

Seems to me that Ford overshot the runway.

 

[BDC]

How about making PaaK a separate app?

Keyless fobs run for years on a button battery. How can we tell Ford to make a stand-alone app that'll simply work like a $200 fob and keep the other nonsense on an app that we can open and run when we really need it?

Seems to me that Ford overshot the runway.

I don't think that helps. The excessive battery drain is just a bug. It didn't happen before (at least not for me at this rate), and there is no technical reason it needs to happen. A bug like this could happen in either app, and by splitting them out you actually make the development process harder which increases the risk of bugs.

 

[timbop]

I don't think that helps. The excessive battery drain is just a bug. It didn't happen before (at least not for me at this rate), and there is no technical reason it needs to happen. A bug like this could happen in either app, and by splitting them out you actually make the development process harder which increases the risk of bugs.

I don't know if it's a bug or the app too aggressively trying to connect to the car. The ideal experience is to walk up to the car at a normal pace and be able to open the door, so the app has to constantly be trying to perform the handshake with the car.

 

[TruWrecks]

On my Android phone it says 3.25.0 for the version.

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