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Over Heating Problems with Signal (Android) - 2022 Update
Update
I have made this post so long ago. I still have a drain battery. I have signal on in the background and drains my battery faster than it should. I'm not even on call or texting. The phone screen is off. Lineageos. To this day I still don't why it drains so fast. Got more phones since then. Still has the same problem with all these phones.
Phones by me tested: Samsung +10s && Samsung +9s && Samsung Galaxy 7s
Other Phones People Reported Below:
Huawei Mate 20 pro. Android 10.1 Samsung Galaxy J5 (2017) Asus zenphone 6 Nokia 8, Android-10 Oneplus 3t, Android 9 Xiaomi mi 9t, Miui 11, Android 10. Xiaomi Mi A2
Other Reported Issues by Other Users: https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/9687 https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/11067 https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/11294
We are missing something. There is something wrong for sure with signal. If I am missing any phones in the list please let me know.
- [x] I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates
- [x] I am submitting a bug report for existing functionality that does not work as intended
- [x] I have read https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/wiki/Submitting-useful-bug-reports
- [x] This isn't a feature request or a discussion topic
Bug description
Phone gets very hot when video calling but not audio calls. Calling from my iPhone to the Android Phone.
Steps to reproduce
- Start a Video Call and wait about 15-30 mins it starts to get really hot/ too warm for the phone
- 1 Hour later the phone is dieing because how hot it is and yes the screen brightness is at 30% of 100% and drains the battery FAST because of overheating!!
Actual result: Phone is dieing because of the heat and if you don't stop video calling it will start to lag and shut the phone off after 1.3 hours because of it. The heat is going to kill the phone!!! Expected result: The heat is going to kill the phone!!!
Screenshots
Device info
Device: Samsung +10s && Samsung +9s && Samsung Galaxy 7s Android version: 8.0.0 Signal version: 4.64.7
Link to debug log
https://debuglogs.org/f2e82abcc7d9aa470299a1c12bc71ea8d6694aff4dc012803ca6431a3efdbf7b https://debuglogs.org/69a7dcaff3f58d44cc67fffdbafe19b2d1ed2e951bac4dd9b1c74e23b76ec470 Please let me know if the Debug Logs even work, they are a few weeks old but still show the problems.
There is already a Post of this but is still relevant because I am having the same Problem with the same PHONE. https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/9680
Please Check out the other Problem with Signal https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/9793
I have 4 more bugs to submit and is taking me a while to do. All these Bugs are true and need to be fix because these have been with signal for months and I have had enough with them.
Thanks for your time
Same issue here, drains at 25-30% per hour, phone gets warm, video calls only, voice calls seem to be okay (although I rarely make these). 4200mAh battery replaced by Huawei last week, issue persists. Huawei Mate 20 pro. Android 10.1. Is Signal switching on all cameras? Or using software encryption and not hardware? For comparison WhatsApp video call 'drain' my phone's battery at roughly 5-10% per hour.
Its fixed for me right now, I will leave this open if others have more problems.
Actual result: Over heat and battery drain, camera unit gets super
hot
Expected result: No over heat should happen
Screenshots Cannot be recorded
Device info Device: Asus zenphone 6
iOS version: android version 10
Signal version: 5.2.3 (latest available on app Store)
https://debuglogs.org/d04900bed3752a6d98a7eb8c37ba4eddb9249979184477b53a7e9212ee8c11d1
Heating issue happens for me on Nokia 8, Android-10. The phone get very hot within 25-30 mins of video call.
Heating issue happens for me on Nokia 8, Android-10. The phone get very hot within 25-30 mins of video call.
Can you please add debug log from settings- advanced- debug log link
i have a oneplus 3t on android 9 and as soon as i open signal and read through messages it seems the cpu keeps running full throttle and the phone heats up, doesnt happen when doing the same on whatsapp. During voice/video calls it get very hot, if i close the app and even from recents then it starts cooling down
I also faced overheating and battery drain during video call. Battery runs down so fast. Here is debug log. Device: Xiaomi mi 9t, Miui 11, Android 10. Didn't have these issues with spy app (WhatsApp)
https://debuglogs.org/4bbd326c52c0ee76570cd265e9b9b1f8a1d0865ad1deb70011aca1c6cd083e4e
Its fixed for me right now, I will leave this open if others have more problems.
It's not fixed mate. My phone was like fire. I had 2 not so long video calls. I could see battery procent going down very fast. I have new phone and never happened with spy app (WhatsApp).
Could this overheating be linked to Signal triggering a 4G data connection?
When connected to my 144Mbps wifi only, on a 200Mbps fiber connection, with WiFi+ disabled (option that automatically switches between wifi and mobile data), I still get a 4G activity icon appearing in my tray when calling with Signal.
This never happens with any app, ever, in the history of all my phones and apps. Only Signal, somehow, manages to trigger a 4G data connection icon whilst on Wifi during a call.
The only way for signal NOT to trigger the 4G connection is for me to disable mobile data before/during a call. But a rough unscientific test a few days ago with this disabled seemed to make no difference; my phone was still heating up and discharging at a rate of 18-30% per hour when on a video call with Signal. For comparison, WhatsApp video call discharges my phone at 8-9% per hour and does not cause my phone to heat up.
Could this overheating be linked to Signal triggering a 4G data connection?
When connected to my 144Mbps wifi only, on a 200Mbps fiber connection, with WiFi+ disabled (option that automatically switches between wifi and mobile data), I still get a 4G activity icon appearing in my tray when calling with Signal.
This never happens with any app, ever, in the history of all my phones and apps. Only Signal, somehow, manages to trigger a 4G data connection icon whilst on Wifi during a call.
The only way for signal NOT to trigger the 4G connection is for me to disable mobile data before/during a call. But a rough unscientific test a few days ago with this disabled seemed to make no difference; my phone was still heating up and discharging at a rate of 18-30% per hour when on a video call with Signal. For comparison, WhatsApp video call discharges my phone at 8-9% per hour and does not cause my phone to heat up.
U can try to disable change wifi connectivity permission?
This is not happening on my device, it's only wifi.
I think maybe they use software encrypting.... Cpu is maxed out that's the reason for fast battery discharge and heating.
I hope they will fix this.
I deleted WhatsApp but I will test today with Viber and Telegram. But I also remember using Whatsapp video call for periods longer than 1 hour and phone never heated like this also battery was going down slowly.
Today I tested video call on Viber. For 40 minutes it used 6% battery, and phone was cold. Same story with WhatsApp. Please Signal team look at this issue. It uses to much battery and overheat phone.
For me this issue has been fixed lucky. Hope it gets better from here..
Sorry to hear that @stefan8661
I am having this issue on the latest Beta, had it on the stable build as well. Galaxy S21 Ultra. Fast charging couldn't even keep up, battery was draining faster than it could charge. Phone got very hot.
I am having this issue on the latest Beta, had it on the stable build as well. Galaxy S21 Ultra. Fast charging couldn't even keep up, battery was draining faster than it could charge. Phone got very hot.
Case for most people. At least picture quality is too notch. On Viber it doesn't get so hot but picture is not HD.
I hope devs know about this and have a plan to fix this issue.
@LightSoar No more over heating with these below. I am still not sure why people are having these problems. Samsung Galaxy 7s Samsung Galaxy +9s
30 minute video call earlier on. Phone became piping hot. CPU monitor reported 75°C. Cannot go on like this. Signal is killing my hardware. Ended up asking the person on the call to switch to WhatsApp. I'm sadly considering giving up on this app. This problem has persisted for over a year. I have a modern phone (Huawei mate 20 Pro), signal is no doubt using software encryption instead of hardware. I appreciate it's open source and community built - so thank you to everyone for your hard work and contribution - but this is the end of the road for me.
30 minute video call earlier on. Phone became piping hot. CPU monitor reported 75°C. Cannot go on like this. Signal is killing my hardware. Ended up asking the person on the call to switch to WhatsApp. I'm sadly considering giving up on this app. This problem has persisted for over a year. I have a modern phone (Huawei mate 20 Pro), signal is no doubt using software encryption instead of hardware. I appreciate it's open source and community built - so thank you to everyone for your hard work and contribution - but this is the end of the road for me.
Sadly, I also switched back to Whatsapp. My phone was hot.like hell, even on regular calls, when using 4G. Video calls make it hot like iron. With Viber, Whatsapp, no such issue. I hope they will fix it in future updates.
@cawauk and @stefan8661
1 Year Later
For me they fixed it but I don't think they meant to fix it fully or something. It didn't work for me when I made this post but now its fine ish but not the best... Phone doesn't get to hot anymore tho.
If I were you two I would use WIRE its an open source messaging app like signal. (NOT FACEBOOK) When signal is over heating my phone, I do a video over on wire and NO over heating at all. Wire is the best #2 messaging app that is open source. If you decide to try it out please let me know on how it goes. Wire isn't as known as signal is..
Ps: Wire is a little trickier to setup the first time. But it pays of because it has privacy first.
Wire's Website https://app.wire.com/auth/
Sorry for replying to this rather old issue ... and without providing a log even ... The reason I don't provide a log is ... there is nothing in it that points to Signal doing anything :-(
But there is something seriously wrong with Signal. For a while now I only made voice calls and didn't have any problems. But a friend complains all the time about his phone heating up during a voice call. The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 (Stock Android 11) should be capable of doing voice calls without overheating, shouldn't it? Yesterday, I made a video call from my F(x)tec Pro1 with LineageOS 17.1. After 15 minutes, the phone was almost too hot to touch. It was so hot, I was afraid the battery might get damaged or bulge.
I gave up with the overheating issue, it's never going to get fixed. I even tried looking at the source code to see if I could identify the issue. Signal is clearly using software encryption instead of hardware. I'm now back on WhatsApp and sadly haven't used Signal since my last post in August, but on the bright side, my phone battery no longer overheats and I can spend hours on WhatsApp video calls without worrying about battery drain or phone overheating.
I made a video call yesterday, with WiFi enabled and 4G data disabled. And my phone did not run hot. Still, it is worrisome that Signal has the potential to damage hardware (I am mostly concerned about the battery temperature reaching >50 deg. C).
Is this still relevant? If so, what is blocking it? Is there anything you can do to help move it forward?
This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs.
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Yes, the issue is still highly relevant. The problem is that no one seems to be able to provide a log that shows what is going on. I tried myself and failed. There was never anything in my logs that could even be remotely connected to high CPU usage. There are also a variety of different phones and operating systems that overheat, but nothing correlated. I started to turn of 4G when I use Signal, but I don't know if it helped much ...
I have made this post so long ago. I still have a drain battery. I have signal on in the background and drains my battery faster than it should. I'm not even on call or texting. The phone screen is off. Lineageos. To this day I still don't why it drains so fast. Samsung +9s.
We are missing something. There is something wrong for sure with signal.
This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.
i have also this problem on an Samsung galaxy S21 Ultra about 30 min in the call and really hot camara module, lagging call and an really high battery consumption
