A new bug in the YouTube for iOS app is causing significant battery drainage, and in certain cases, device overheating for some users.
The issue was first reported by tech blog PiunikaWeb, which spotted social media reports by users complaining about the issue. Reportedly, the iOS YouTube app is consuming excessive battery power, even when it’s closed and running in the background. The issues seem to be mostly affecting iPhone 7, 8 and X devices running iOS 11.1.1 or later.
But it doesn’t stop at battery drain. Some users are reporting that their iOS devices are running unusually hot when watching YouTube videos. That’s a symptom that just shouldn’t occur when routinely watching a media clip.
It’s not currently clear whether it’s an issue with the YouTube app itself, or whether it’s somehow tied to an iOS 11 update (since reports have become more common since the release of that software). It’s also unknown how widespread the issue is, but numerous reports have surfaced on Reddit, Twitter, the official YouTube support forums, and a variety of other outlets.
“While using the official YouTube app even when I’m playing 720p videos the phone overheats as if I’m playing a very resource hungry game and battery drains very fast,” wrote Redditor tahertalha, noting that they first noticed the issue after updating to iOS 11.1. “I did a factory reset but it didn’t help.”
Another use on Twitter wrote that 10 to 15 minutes of watching video on the YouTube app drained as much as 20 percent of their battery life.
How to Fix It
Luckily, YouTube has confirmed that they are aware of the excessive battery drain and are “actively” working to fix the issue. In the interim, iOS users concerned battery drain might consider uninstalling the app. YouTube videos can still be played via your favorite iOS web browser.
An update to the YouTube app for iOS was released this morning, though the release notes didn’t give any indication as to what was included, or whether it fixed the battery drain issue.