iOS 16.1.1 Contacts app draining battery

Also… it seems that the problem is not happening to ALL iOS 16+ users, since it’s not massive complaint and it should have been fixed already in the recent updates.

I think that in my experience, it started happening not with iOS 16 or iOS 16.1.1, it just started when I created and linked my baby’s new account, so I reversed the one and only change I made and seems to be working.

Look at the photo I’m attaching, my phone wasn’t charging during the night and the battery consumption was very low (in standby), whereas two days ago during nighttime the battery drained 30+%.

Hi, bwahl86.

This doesn't necessarily mean that your Contacts app has drained 63% of your battery. From here, we'd recommend implementing the steps outlined here in order to increase your overall battery life: Batteries - Maximizing Performance - Apple

Aside from this, if you continue to have issues, reaching out to Apple may be the next best step: Apple Support

Cheers.

Same issue for me. Unexplainable battery consumption from the Contacts app. Shows I used Contacts for 1 min and it consumed almost 30% of my battery. By contrast, I used ESPN for 1.5 hrs and it consumed 14%. Something is awry.

Really then, what does it specifically mean? One is led to believe (intuitively) that it does mean the Contacts app is responsible for (precisely) 63% of his battery drain. After all, the entire purpose of showing this information is to help us understand what functions impact battery consumption.

I am having the same issue even with Low Power mode on. Note in my screen grab that contacts has 4min of on screen use and yet consumed 30% of my battery. I did close the contacts app about mid way through the day. It was consuming 56% when I checked it earlier in the day.

Hey guys!

I was facing the same battery drain issue with the Contacts App. It started 3 days ago when I set up a family member account on my iPhone (16.1.1 and had the same issue with 16.1.2 yesterday).

I just signed out from my child’s account and the problem stopped.

Hope this work for all or some of you, because the problem was really frustrating me.

Best!

It's very strange, my youngest daughter has her phone with her own user and for many years she has been in the iCloud family group, my problem is the same with the Contacts application but I can't find a cause related to the case you tell us about. My phone was perfect until the terrible update IOS 16.1 then 16.1.1 and 16.1.2

Hey JC!

Hardly doubt it. As previously mentioned, in my case the issue was one of the most recent iCloud accounts I added to my Mail accounts, which I said earlier that I signed out from.

I do not have the problem AT ALL anymore, it’s been more than 36-48 hours and everything went back to normal.

Hope this helps anyone else here.

I just had this issue this night. Updated to 16.1.2 while charging. I disconnected and went to bed. Woke up 6 hours after and the phone was really hot, battery on red, and 1.6GB of data consumed by Contacts app. After some time, the app is taking 67% of battery power with just 1% of time. I turned of ICloud like mentioned in the thread and seems to have stopped battery drain.

reaching out Support to hear what they have to say about it.

I woke up today to my iPhone 13 Pro on iOS 16.1.2 only charged to 80% due to overheating on my Apple MagSafe charger I powered it off and let it cool before turning it back on. This afternoon, I noticed I had unusual battery drain 49% from the "Contacts" app. So I found this thread and disabled iCloud contact sync. Hoping that resolves it!

I hope it is fixed because now the issue seems to be the flashlight that is running non stop in the last 24 hours…which obviously is not because is not on.

all light blue bars reaching to the top of the usage are the flashlight….another crazy bug…

I’ve had the same issue. All battery optimization tips haven’t helped me at all. My phone is only a few months old and ever since this update my phone battery dies faster than my old phone that’s 3.5 years old.

Okay, so here’s something I tried that seems to be working. For now, at least.

Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Contacts. This will show every app that has permission to access your contacts. Turn them all off.

I know this may not be the solution you’re hoping for, but it’s all I’ve got right now.

Theoretically, you could slowing return permission one at a time to see if you can isolate the culprit. I suspect it might’ve been Call Protect from AT&T for me, but haven’t tested that hypothesis.

Since posting I tried something that was mentioned on another thread. I shut off Optimized Battery Charging, shut the phone off and restarted it. The other person mentioned turning it back on after and letting your battery drain to 0%. I know I actually left my Optimized Battery Charging off and still let it drain to 0%. Then I charged it up to 100%. That was two days ago now, so my battery is starting act the way it used too. Now, I have to charge it again, so we'll see if it still holds the charge or goes back to the way it was previously.

I'm hoping this isn't a step I have to constantly do. Shouldn't have to do it in the first place, after updating the iOS.

I’m traveling out of my home country (Canada) and an observation someone had earlier about data transfer being the culprit got me thinking (was also alarmed at the idea of paying for roaming data):

I went to Settings/Cellular and his reset on my statistics. Almost immediately I could see 1MB of data transferred over cellular by Contacts. In less than 1min I would say.

I have since turned cellular data for the Contacts app off. We’ll see if that helps. It’s not a long term fix but will do for now until I can get home.

Juan Carlos, I couldn’t say the reason, but I noticed the change in the battery performance just when I added my newborn’s account into my iPhone. So I reversed that only different thing I’d done and seems to be working.

I’m not saying that I deleted the account, I just signed out from it in my phone.

Maybe you can try it and perhaps it could work for you as well.

Best!