Chalk this up to keeping a lid on bad news until there’s a fix ready to go. So, Google (owner and developer of the Android operating system) did the stand-up thing (eventually) and admitted that the Instagram app was sucking the life out of Android devices’ batteries at a rate way higher than normal.
There’s now a fix that should return Instagram’s battery usage back to normal levels. You just have to go into your Android device’s settings to manually update the Instagram app. That is, if you hadn’t enabled automatic updates already and had the update go through by now.
finally, a confirmation
“Hi Android Community,” began a May 27, 2025 post by Aadil_Shaikh, a community manager on Google’s official support forums, “Starting today, Instagram is rolling out an updated app that should fix a battery drain issue on Android devices. Please make sure you have the latest version of the Instagram app (build 382.0.0.49.84) to resolve this issue.”
Users on Reddit had already been reporting their suspicions that Instagram was eating away at their Android devices’ batteries at a much higher rate than is normal, and with this message earlier this week, Google finally confirmed it.
But why this long? Wouldn’t it have been nicer for Google to confirm users’ creeping suspicions that the Instagram app was at fault a little bit sooner? Letting people know earlier would’ve gone a long way to boosting consumer confidence and burnish Google’s tarnished image. Oh, and it would’ve just been a decent thing to do.
App updates on the Google Play Store have to be submitted by app developers and then reviewed and approved by Google before going live, so it’s not like Google only found out there was a fix ready when the rest of us did.
Oh, well. If you’ve got an Android phone or tablet with Instagram installed on it, go see if there’s an update available for it. If it is, download it. If not, then you’ve already got the latest version, and the issue should be fixed for you.
The post Hey Android User, Instagram Is Killing Your Battery Life appeared first on VICE.
