Firefox for Android v122 high battery usage

[allabouteve]

Hi members,

After updating my Firefox to version 122.0 (latest at the time of writing this), I have noticed a significant battery drain on my Samsung Galaxy A24. I believe the battery drain is due to the background CPU usage by the app which is higher than other frequent apps that I use. I do not keep tabs open in browser nor extensively use the browser as compared to other apps. 

Few details that might help developers

- Handset: Samsung Galaxy A24 4G
- OS: Android 14 OneUI 6.0
- Google Play System Update: 1 November 2023
- Addons: uBlock Origin, TWP-Translate Web Pages, Google Search Fixer

Share your thoughts or suggest a fix. Thanks

[vpsj]

Tried Fennec as well.  It worked fine for a few days but now it's draining as well.

9% for just 1 min of browsing? That's horrible.  Genuinely no idea what's wrong with Firefox

[daaaaaavis]

Same for S23 with OneUI 6.1.

I've been an avid Firefox supporter for years, but now I've been forced to switch to Chromium based browser. I removed Firefox completely and gained 1-1.5hrs of SOT a day. Battery stats showed Firefox consuming ~22% of my battery, even with actual usage being ~1hr. Switching to Vivaldi shows 4% battery consumption with the same usage.

[Foxrunner]

I have tested Firefox, Fennec and waterfox. Sync off, battery restricted, no addons: all have the same behavior.

Mull on the other hand seems to work fine, no battery drain, yet. I'd guess it has to do with some background server sync, since Mull is the only fork that has strong fingerprinting protection and works better without addons.

However, it shouldn't be like this. I don't want to switch to chromium! Mozilla must fix this.

[SiggiB]

Just to confirm having the same issue. Firefox 124.2.0 on Android Android 14, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, UI 6.1. Consumption is 0,6%/h doing nothing at all. That results in about 10% a day.

[SiggiB]

Running Fennec now. Perfect so far. Currious to see if consumption changes.

[mojali]

We kindly request your assistance in resolving the battery issue on Firefox. We would prefer not to use Chrome on Android.

[mojali]

[Update] Closing all tabs and only opening a few tabs resolves this issue.  It is likely that a specific website is causing Firefox to run continuously in the background.

[SiggiB]

Fennec still with normal consumption (not using it -> 0,1% in 12h)

[SiggiB]

Since yesterday consumption went up to 10% a day. So same issue here.

[bwwh]

Maybe it's the Notification Permission. Recently no drain with no Notification permission or they fixed in the current Nightly version.

[sacredones]

   At this point I'm willing to try anything. If I see results I will respond in a few days.  

[asan]

I've noticed the same behavior on S24U, Firefox keeps draining battery even without screen time.

[Aleksandr]

Hello

I had the same issue but re-install of Firefox helped to solve the issue.

[SiggiB]

Lets see if the issue re-appears in a couple of days.

[Aleksandr]

After two days, Firefox is working as expected.

[SiggiB]

Wait about 10-12 days. After that period consumption raised on my device.

[Aleksandr]

OK, I will check and let you know 

How many open tabs did you have? Was Mozilla Sync active?

[SiggiB]

sorry for late reply.

Usually 2-8 tabs with automated closure after one day. Mozilla Sync was on.

Currently I have Firefox Beta installed, version 126.0b9. Let's see if the behaviour is the same.

[Aleksandr]

Hi. After 1 week.

All looks good. Firefox sync is on, auto tab closure is off. No installed add-ons.

[siggib1]

Firefox Beta comsumption is ramping up again 8 days after installation. Android 14, Samsung 23 Ultra, sync on, auto tab clusure on, no ad-ons

[firefox_user]

Is anybody at Mozilla listening at all? This horrendous Android battery drain issue is going to be the end of Firefox mobile unless it gets addressed immediately. I've been a user since the Netscape days but this is a deal breaker. Their indifference and non-responsiveness are unacceptable.

[Aleksandr]

Hello. Try to delete and install Firefox again. It is not the best solution but It helped me.