My wife and I each own an FP4, purchased at the same time (late 2021), and are currently both experiencing a similar issue relating to app notifications. For the last week or so, neither of us are receiving purchase notifications from our primary banking app N26. Likewise if I use Google Wallet and tap my phone using NFC to purchase something with my virtual N26 bank card, I receive no notification from the N26 app and Google Wallet can take over an hour to display a new purchase. However, if we buy anything using our joint account with DKB (online, with card or tapping with a phone NFC ), we might get the same purchase notification 3-4 times. Previously, a purchase notification would appear once and remain in the status bar until read or dismissed. Now I find myself receiving a list of identical purchase notifications, usually separated by 10-15 minutes.
This isnāt limited to banking apps either. I just received six identical notifications from the Bandcamp app, all about the same album from one record label, three identical notifications from a wellness app and a handful of others. Neither of us have changed our notification settings. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?
Oh thatās interesting! My battery consumption is also up but I thought it was just my battery getting to the end of its life - itās about three years old now.
This is really interesting and although it brings me no joy to hear youāre experiencing the same issue as me, it does suggest itās more common than first thought. It could be unrelated but Iām also experiencing super bad battery performance, and as the FP4 sometimes notifies us, battery saver modes can affect notification performance and the like. Iām starting to wonder if this issue is similar, and is in fact related to battery performance somehow, as that seems to be a problem all three of us are also having.
Yesterday I ordered take away which arrived at about 8pm, yet I woke up to about 6-7 duplicate notifications from my banking app and three from the delivery app, respectively showing how much Iād spent and mentioning that my take away was about to arrive. That was over 12hrs after the food was delivered. I think new FP4 batteries are as little as ā¬30 so Iām going to invest in one soon to see if that solves the issue. If not, at this point Iām out of ideasā¦
Iāve just received a new battery today. I have had the multiple messages, mainly from Outlook for emails Iāve already dismissed. I normally clear messages when they arrive so I havenāt received others on multiple occaisions but I have received some from other apps. My phone is now 3 years old, so I thought the battery was draining due to age, but since putting the new one in today, Iāve noticed no difference. Itās drained around 40% today. I was getting 3 days when I first got my FP4 so I expected similar now. I think this is an issue with the OS and since itās around notifications, Iād suspect the phone is repeatedly requesting or looking for notifications from apps, rather than being a battery issue. Iām in the UK, the battery was Ā£25 but delivery was Ā£12 and UPS took 10 days to deliver. Way over-priced for a 10 day delivery.
@Jonboyh21 I should have said a new battery doesnāt fix it - Iāve tried that! I was already planning to get a new battery anyway because I had seen some reduction in performance, but the tanking last week just sped it up. Good job I havenāt disposed of the old battery, itās probably just a little bit bad, not really bad
@Kenny Iām sorry about the costs of getting a new battery, thatās huge.
I agree that I think itās an OS issue, not a battery thing.
Well that rules the battery out then, thanks for the info @RachFP4 Iāll avoid getting a new one for now.
I had originally considered it might be an OS issue, and I have previously experienced short lived problems with FP4 linked to updates. However, this has been going on for some time now, as it sounds like it has for the rest of you. Hopefully thereās an fix/update soonā¦
I havenāt done anything, and there doesnāt seem to have been any updates, but for the last few days notifications seem to be back to normal. I had logged an issue with FP, but other than an automated response Iāve had nothing from them - but Iād read on here that customer support is slow, so that hasnāt shocked me.
Iāve been a little busy the last few days but meant to post the same: my notifications seem to be back to normal now too. Nothing has been unusual for the last few days anyway. I was also having an issue with the standard Google clock widget (it would constantly get stuck on āloadingā rather than actually displaying the time) and that seems to have been resolved too, at least for now.
Funny thing is I donāt recall downloading any updates or similar, but something must have changedā¦
have any of you noticed any change in battery consumption? Iāve been reading notifications, even if I donāt want to, just to stop them reappearing, so Iāll just dismiss a few and see if itās fixed for me too. My battery consumption has been just as bad. Iāve now restricted lots of apps from using background data and itās improved it, but still not to where it should be.
My battery seems to be the same as ever. I still struggle to get more than 10-12hrs use out of the phone without charging it, and thatās just general usage like checking maps, taking the odd photo, using banking apps, tickets etc. I had considered getting a new battery although your experience has made me think that I might just be taking a hefty power bank with me everywhere for the foreseeable, at least until I upgrade the phone.
I spent some time googling and I found a lot of posts saying to clear storage, uninstall and reinstall the apps. Mine has been Outlook, so I did this. No joy. I then thought āwell if itās pinging the network, Iāll stop background dataā. Did this a few days ago with most apps. No joy. Did it yesterady with Outlook, and charged the phone this morning. Iāve had some calls, texts and mostly WhatsApp today and itās down to 65%, a drop of 25% in 9hrs, so more like it used to be. It does mean I no longer get Outlook notifications but I can open it a few times a day to check it. Iāve also noticed my phone going from 5G down to LTE and even E recently and my mobile network is by far the biggest user of battery, so Iām convinced thereās an issue with apps pinging servers for updates. Iām going to order a new SIM too, and do a full reset if it continues to be a problem, but for now, killing background data has worked for me to at least plug the drain!
Itās probably cold comfort for you, but your battery is doing considerably better than mine. I charged my phone overnight (it was just under 50% when I went to bed and I was worried my alarm would drain the battery and kill the phone when I woke up) and so I unplugged it around 9am. Iāve used it for browsing a few websites and looking at a few social media apps today. At time of writing this message around 8pm CEST, Iāve had to plug the phone back in to charge it as it was at just under 15% charge, so an 85% drain in 11 hours. Even if I got twice that time on a new battery, Iād be happy enough.
Iāve killed all background data. Itās a bit of a heavy solution to fix the problem as it means Iām not getting notifications from most apps any more, but the only ones I really care about - Whatsapp, SMS, calls - are all coming through OK. As I mentioned, I was getting notifications repeated from Outlook, this is the one I disabled last, and itās the one draining my battery. Can you try and stop background data for the apps you see repeatedly sending notifications and see what happens? Iām going to start putting mine on again one-by-one to see if any others are causing problems too. Iāve recently cahnged my data plan too, so I might ask for a new SIM just in case, as this current one is over 3 years old now, so maybe itās getting old. Last resort will be a full reset and reinstall but if I find itās just Outlook for now, Iāll wait for the next round of updates and see if thereās an improvement. I think I will swap in my old battery and keep the new one for when I actually need it now.
Hi @Kenny and sorry for the delay in my response. Although my battery clearly needs to be replaced, since the notifications issue has seemingly been resolved, my phone isnāt haemorrhaging battery power like it was before. Previously, I couldnāt even go to bed without plugging in my FP4 if the battery was below 40%, as it would be dead when I woke up. If it werenāt for my bedside alarm clock, I wouldnāt have woken up at all.
Frankly, if I were only dropping 25% in 9hrs Iād be quite happy. Iāve not had that quality of battery longevity since shortly after getting my FP4 in late 2021, early 2022. Iām not saying its appropriate, but rather what Iāve come to expect from battery life when using my phone without making any adjustments to background data usage. New battery is next on the list, so maybe I can report back once I have one.
Strangely, my phone began working normally again last Wednesday. As Iāve a new battery in it, Iām back to 2+ days on a single charge. I have the Play Store set to auto-update. The main apps updated on Wednesday morning were mainly Googleās own - Photos etc. Clearly something theyāve updated has cleared the problem for me. Iām a bit annoyed I spent Ā£35 on a new battery when I didnāt need one yet, but at least Iām not worried about running out of power every evening.
@Jonboyh21 my FP4 loses around 10% per night, even with the issues weāve been having, when it goes into sleep mode and stops pinging the network, but it sounds like yours isnāt doing this at all?
Oddly, the battery seems to be somewhat better now than it was, although Iām still not getting more than about 18-20hrs out of it. Thatās been standard for about the last six months and to be fair, itās seen considerable use over the past 3.5 years so Iām not entirely surprised. My wife and I bought our FP4s at the same time and are experiencing similar discharge times, so as soon as the batteries are back in stock at Fairphone, weāll be getting new ones.
