No smartphone is perfect, but more so than almost any other Android phone, Google Pixel devices seem to find themselves in the spotlight for bugs and software issues. That reputation is being reinforced once again as numerous Pixel owners report that one particular app — specifically, the Google app — is causing significant battery drain and overheating issues.
If you look at the r/GooglePixel subreddit and Google’s own Pixel Phone Help forums, you’ll find numerous people complaining about their Pixel devices experiencing unusually bad battery life and/or poor thermals. These complaints have been ongoing since earlier this month, and one Pixel owner also reached out to Engadget to voice their concerns about what’s happening. When looking through all these complaints, they all seem to come back to the Google app being the culprit.
The Google app is wrecking Pixel battery life
One user on r/GooglePixel reported that their Pixel 6 Pro and their wife’s Pixel 6 had been “overheating and using battery doing literally nothing since yesterday.” They also claimed that the phones were “losing 20% battery in under an hour without using it.”
Another Pixel owner on Google’s support forums reports similar problems, with their Pixel 7 showing a significant decrease in battery life and the Google app accounting for 28% of their phone’s total battery usage. The person who contacted Engadget appears to have a similar issue, as they shared a screenshot that shows the Google app hogging up 14% of their Pixel’s battery. They also report that their phone is “still very hot,” even after rolling back to an older version of the Google app.
And the complaints keep piling on the more you dig through these reports. Someone else on Google’s support forums says their Pixel 7 has been “hot” with “terrible battery life all of the sudden [and] Google and Android taking up [a] huge percent of the battery usage.”
Does Google have a fix for any of this?
This all sounds pretty bad, and, unfortunately, a proper fix doesn’t seem to be available quite yet.
Reading through these complaints, people who have contacted Google Support about the problems haven’t had much luck — other than customer service reps offering general tips on how to keep their phone cool. Engadget reports that Google didn’t respond to its request for comment, and Digital Trends has also yet to hear back from Google after asking for a comment on the story.
If you have a Pixel and are waiting for a proper solution, what can you do in the meantime? Some Pixel owners report varying levels of success after downgrading the Google app to an older version, though this hasn’t fully resolved the battery/overheating problems. You can also try general troubleshooting tips like restarting your phone, closing apps, etc., but it’s unlikely any of these will fully resolve what’s going on.
Assuming these complaints really are as widespread as they appear to be, here’s hoping Google gets things fixed sooner rather than later — especially before more people get their hands on the Pixel 7a and Pixel Fold.
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