Do apps like Discord and Facebook drain your phone’s battery when not actively in use?

She might just not realize that these apps stay open in the background. Simply switching to another app doesn’t actually close them—you have to do that manually. It’s totally possible they’re still running without her knowing!

Yes, technically, background app activity can consume a small amount of battery. If you want to minimize any impact, just turn off background app refresh for those apps. But honestly, it probably won't even register as 1% of your battery life.

Facebook is notorious for using resources in the background, like handling push notifications and possibly even tracking other apps. While these apps do run in the background, they shouldn't notably drain your battery unless there are glitches or other issues. It's more the long-term effects that might be concerning.

On Android, I have this feature that shows which apps are draining significant battery power in the background. It can even add them to a list that prevents them from running in the background. A simple way to test your friend's theory is to check battery usage statistics after not using Facebook and Discord for a while to see if they've made the list.

For sure, a million times yes! Background processes do use battery, but how much varies depending on the app and what it's doing. Ultimately, she’s not entirely wrong, but the impact is usually minimal unless something’s awry.

She might end up using more battery by constantly uninstalling and reinstalling the apps than leaving them installed. All the data redownloading can add up, plus the extra screen time to deal with it. It’s probably counterproductive!