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Comment by luka-birsa | Hacker News Reader

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luka-birsa

Regardless of what it looks like when Google puts down a IM competitor, but as a KitKat user I can confirm this.

Nexus 5 + Skype (with 0 actual skyping done) = 16hrs autonomy. I almost RMAed the phone.

Nexus 5 sans Skype = after 24hrs I still had 50% battery.

Don't belive me? Try it on your KitKat device!

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It's even worse on BlackBerry - I don't have personal benchmark numbers (I use my phone a lot anyway, so it usually is pretty dead by the end of a day), but if I have Skype running my battery drops to literally a few hours. I've moved to a third party app (IM+) instead now.

Interesting. Doesn't Microsoft included Skype with their Surface tablets? I wonder if it is affecting those machines as well, or if they are doing something different with them.

This is a bug specific to android devices that is caused when the camera is used. Skype accesses the camera often so it can cause the bug to appear more, it's not Skype itself causing the issue

Why is Skype accessing the camera often, when there's "0 actual skyping done"?

How does that mean it isn't Skype causing the issue? On my Windows desktop I recently uninstalled Skype because it would frequently saturate a core for long periods of time while doing absolutely nothing of relevance.

Test 1. Phone charged at 8AM. KitKat + Skype + other apps (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Evernote, 4SQ) + normal usage = Phone dead at 10PM same day.

Test 2. Phone charged at 8AM. KitKat + other apps (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Evernote, 4SQ) + normal usage = Next day at 8AM, phone at ~ 50%.

Sure, Skype is not causing the issue (it is limited to Android tho).

I use Skype almost every other minute, and never witnessed any huge battery drains either from my Windows Phone or Windows RT tablet or even in an iPhone. Guess its an android issue

so it's android's fault that microsoft doesn't want to make their own software run better on android?

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