Indeed, a few days ago, our colleagues from 9to5Google reported a bug on this application which leads to abnormal energy consumption on this application. More specifically, the bug is related to the functionality of sending photos and videos of the messaging service, which uses the smartphone’s camera.
A fix is already being rolled out
The bug means that when someone uses the camera to send an image on the Messages app, it can continue to activate the camera in the background, even when the feature is no longer in use. And it is this constantly used camera that would cause abnormal power consumption, as well as rapid battery drain.
If you think your smartphone is affected by this bug, there is a way to prevent the Messages app from draining the device’s battery unnecessarily. The trick is to deny camera access to this app. To do this, simply go to app settings and disable access to the camera.
However, it should be noted that this is not necessarily necessary, since a patch is already being deployed. Quoted by our colleagues from The Verge, Scott Westover, communication manager at Google, has indeed explained that the bug has already been identified and that the company is in the process of sending the patch to users.
Android Messages: iMessage’s competitor on Android
As mentioned above, the Messages application on Android is not only a client for SMS and MMS, but a real messaging service that Google positions as a competitor to apps such as iMessage, WhatsApp or Telegram.
Indeed, Messages makes it possible to send another type of message called RCS. How RCS works on Android Messages is quite similar to how iMessage works on the iPhone.
And lately, Google has continued to improve this technology. For example, the Mountain View company has already secured the RCS by applying end-to-end encryption, which makes text messages unreadable during transit through its servers. And very recently, Google also updated Messages so that the app can take emoji reactions sent from an iPhone.