Signal uses up to 25% of my battery during the day

Using /e/OS Applications
#1

Hi guys,

I’ve reinstalled /e/ on my phone and find that since Signal and Telegram are no longer system apps, Signal suddenly uses a lot of battery. Always between 20 and 25% in total even on days when I don’t use it that much.

I use signal as my SMS client. Has anyone got a solution to that?

Thank you

#2

It’s not really a solution, but I uninstalled Signal almost immediately.

#3

I’m not sure if this is really a solution, but I installed Accubattery to track my battery usage and it shows Signal as a pretty normal amount, very different from the high amount that my Android system reports. :man_shrugging:

#4

I’ve never had a battery drain issue with signal on Mi8

#5

Same issue for me. Solution : use an app for SMS, ans signal only on wifi mode.

#6

I had the same issue. Seems to be caused by signal not logged in GCM.
With the help of “[SOLVED] Google Cloud Messaging not recognized by Apps” and “Google Cloud Messaging doesn’t seem to work” I could solve it.

  • backup signal data (check signal menu)
  • Apps > Signal App > stop and delete all data and cache
  • Apps > See all apps > MicroG Service Core > delete all data and cache
  • reboot
  • Start signal > entering the phone number again > restore from backup
  • signal was registered in GCM and battery use is low again
#7

Out of curiosity: what does Signal use GCM for? Is there a google-free way of using it?

#8

Signal uses GCM to wake up the device with an empty push notification and the app then fetches the queued messages. In microG settings signal can be prevented from registering in GCM.

#9

An unofficial version of Signal but without GCM also exists :

#10

For me, that solution works : Google Cloud Messaging doesn't seem to work

#11