Channels causing battery drain while sleeping on Apple Silicon Mac

Channels iOS
#1

First, the defense stipulates that this is very much an "off brand" use case of Channels. :slight_smile: But I figured y'all might want to know regardless.

For the past few weeks I've been noticing pretty significant battery drain while sleeping, nearly 2% per hour, first on my M1 MacBook Air, and now on my M1 Pro-based 14" MacBook Pro (to which I migrated with Migration Assistant). I'd put it to sleep at night with 60% battery and the next evening it'd be at like 20%.

After days of troubleshooting, last night I started using the pmset -g log | grep "Wake Requests" command to see what I could find, and I found LOTS of this:

2021-11-05 00:34:42 -0400 Wake Requests       	[process=mDNSResponder request=Maintenance deltaSecs=7198 wakeAt=2021-11-05 02:34:40 info="upkeep wake"] [*process=dasd request=SleepService deltaSecs=974 wakeAt=2021-11-05 00:50:56 info="com.apple.dasd:bgRefresh-com.getchannels.Channels.cleanCache"] [process=powerd request=TCPKATurnOff deltaSecs=316858 wakeAt=2021-11-08 15:35:40] [process=powerd request=UserWake deltaSecs=23058 wakeAt=2021-11-05 06:59:00 info="com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.donotdisturb.server.ScheduleLifetimeMonitor.timer,429"]           
    2021-11-05 00:35:35 -0400 Wake Requests       	[process=mDNSResponder request=Maintenance deltaSecs=7198 wakeAt=2021-11-05 02:35:33 info="upkeep wake"] [*process=dasd request=SleepService deltaSecs=1002 wakeAt=2021-11-05 00:52:17 info="com.apple.dasd:bgRefresh-com.getchannels.Channels.cleanCache"] [process=powerd request=TCPKATurnOff deltaSecs=316806 wakeAt=2021-11-08 15:35:40] [process=powerd request=UserWake deltaSecs=23005 wakeAt=2021-11-05 06:59:00 info="com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.donotdisturb.server.ScheduleLifetimeMonitor.timer,429"]           
    2021-11-05 00:39:25 -0400 Wake Requests       	[process=mDNSResponder request=Maintenance deltaSecs=7198 wakeAt=2021-11-05 02:39:24 info="upkeep wake"] [*process=dasd request=SleepService deltaSecs=1066 wakeAt=2021-11-05 00:57:11 info="com.apple.dasd:bgRefresh-com.getchannels.Channels.cleanCache"] [process=powerd request=TCPKATurnOff deltaSecs=316575 wakeAt=2021-11-08 15:35:40] [process=powerd request=UserWake deltaSecs=22774 wakeAt=2021-11-05 06:59:00 info="com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.donotdisturb.server.ScheduleLifetimeMonitor.timer,429"]           
    2021-11-05 00:40:15 -0400 Wake Requests       	[process=mDNSResponder request=Maintenance deltaSecs=7198 wakeAt=2021-11-05 02:40:13 info="upkeep wake"] [*process=dasd request=SleepService deltaSecs=970 wakeAt=2021-11-05 00:56:24 info="com.apple.dasd:bgRefresh-com.getchannels.Channels.cleanCache"] [process=powerd request=TCPKATurnOff deltaSecs=316525 wakeAt=2021-11-08 15:35:40] [process=powerd request=UserWake deltaSecs=22725 wakeAt=2021-11-05 06:59:00 info="com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.donotdisturb.server.ScheduleLifetimeMonitor.timer,429"]           
    2021-11-05 00:41:46 -0400 Wake Requests       	[process=mDNSResponder request=Maintenance deltaSecs=7198 wakeAt=2021-11-05 02:41:44 info="upkeep wake"] [*process=dasd request=SleepService deltaSecs=974 wakeAt=2021-11-05 00:58:00 info="com.apple.dasd:bgRefresh-com.getchannels.Channels.cleanCache"] [process=powerd request=TCPKATurnOff deltaSecs=316435 wakeAt=2021-11-08 15:35:40] [process=powerd request=UserWake deltaSecs=22634 wakeAt=2021-11-05 06:59:00 info="com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.donotdisturb.server.ScheduleLifetimeMonitor.timer,429"]           
    2021-11-05 00:50:38 -0400 Wake Requests       	[process=mDNSResponder request=Maintenance deltaSecs=7198 wakeAt=2021-11-05 02:50:37 info="upkeep wake"] [*process=dasd request=SleepService deltaSecs=987 wakeAt=2021-11-05 01:07:05 info="com.apple.dasd:bgRefresh-com.getchannels.Channels.cleanCache"] [process=powerd request=TCPKATurnOff deltaSecs=315902 wakeAt=2021-11-08 15:35:40] [process=powerd request=UserWake deltaSecs=22101 wakeAt=2021-11-05 06:59:00 info="com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.donotdisturb.server.ScheduleLifetimeMonitor.timer,429"]

It's worth noting that Channels was not running as an active app when any of this was happening.

In any event, I immediately deleted Channels, emptied the trash, and the problem continued. After a reboot, however, things have settled in and there are no more of these. From 9am to 3pm today my sleeping 14" Pro only lost 2% of battery, which seems expected/normal.

Again, I realize Channels for iOS is exactly that: for iOS, and so using it on an Apple Silicon-based Mac might have some unintended results.

That said, I figured I'd share just in case it helps anyone.

5 Likes
#2

Interesting. Thanks for the info. I haven't noticed the same issue with my M1 Pro MBP. I'll have to keep an eye on it.

1 Like
#3

A post was split to a new topic: A lot of battery use on iOS

#4

Please go to Settings -> Support -> Submit Diagnostic Logs from your device and let us know when it's been submitted so we can have a better idea of what was going on.

1 Like
#5

Did you mean this for us Mac folks, or iOS?

#6

On the app on your mac. I want to see what the logs are saying when the computer thinks it wants to be woken up. The app should only be asking to be woken up once every 24 hours to clean the caches.

#7

Ahh ok, that makes sense. Unfortunately, as soon as I had a reasonable suspicion that it was Channels, I deleted it from my Mac and restarted. So I'm not sure if any of those Channels-specific logs are still there. If they would've been stored outside of the Application bundle, though, please let me know and I'll happily send 'em to ya!

#8

Just sent diagnostics from the app running on M1 Pro.

#9

Nope, if you deleted the app they would be gone. If you see this situation again in the future, please let us know!

#10

This is awesome :sunglasses: Thanks Dave the Nerd

1 Like
#11

Ok. I realize it's been months. But I downloaded Channels to my M1 Mac last weekend to watch something from a hotel room and then today realized, yep, my Mac is again burning battery. I confirmed that it was channels, and I just submitted logs via Settings > Support > Submit Diagnostics. I'm not sure where those logs went, so hopefully they were sent to you.

#12

The app on macOS is essentially the iPadOS version. There could be something going on in terms of the Downloads functionality that's being funny.

It's certainly weird it's happening while sleeping. But it could be waking up the computer to check on something. Something that is obviously benign on a mobile device, that isn't working so well on macOS and a regular computer that's used completely differently.

These are the kinds of weird things that happen when apps built for one platform and use case are just put on another one :sweat_smile:

I'd suggest making sure you quit the app to combat this issue for now.

#13

Thanks, @Maddox. To be clear, the app has not been running other than a few hours on Thursday, the 14th. That was the same as last time, too. These sleep/battery issues were definitely happening without the app running.

#14

We'll check out the logs. But let me go on record on saying that that is crazy pants.

1 Like
#16

@DaveTheNerd I've reviewed your logs. I see the streaming session that ended at 2022-07-15 01:01:08.402, and then I see the app opened again at 2022-07-21 22:03:34.544 and nothing in between.

It does not appear that the app was running in the background or was automatically woken up between those times.

In this recent situation, how did you identify that Channels was the one causing the battery usage? I'm very confused as to how Channels could have caused it without logging anything during that interval.

1 Like
#17

So... in this recent situation, I admittedly simply leapt to the conclusion that it was Channels since it was the same symptoms I saw last time, and this was the first time I had installed Channels on my Mac since the last time.

And, by implementing the same solution that I did in the past (delete Channels.app, restart Mac), the symptom of burning-battery-while-sleeping went away.

So I'm assuming it was Channels.

However...in looking for "Wake Requests" in the pmset log, I see nothing related to Channels at all (whereas last time it was that log that gave me a clue that Channels was even a part of it).

This time, there are a bunch of Wake Request entries that have nothing to do with channels. I should note that these persist even after removing Channels, however the symptom of burning battery does not. Also, my Mac was restarted on the morning of 07/16/2022, after I had quit Channels, and yet this battery burning continued.

Here are the current Wake Request entries, though I fully realize these may be irrelevant:

2022-07-20 10:03:55 -0400 Wake Requests       	[*process=dasd request=SleepService deltaSecs=975 wakeAt=2022-07-20 10:20:11 info="com.apple.dasd:501:com.apple.avatar.activity.UserRequestedBackup"] [process=mDNSResponder request=Maintenance deltaSecs=7198 wakeAt=2022-07-20 12:03:54 info="upkeep wake"] [process=powerd request=TCPKATurnOff deltaSecs=283069 wakeAt=2022-07-23 16:41:44]           
2022-07-20 10:05:33 -0400 Wake Requests       	[*process=dasd request=SleepService deltaSecs=932 wakeAt=2022-07-20 10:21:05 info="com.apple.dasd:501:com.apple.avatar.activity.UserRequestedBackup"] [process=mDNSResponder request=Maintenance deltaSecs=7198 wakeAt=2022-07-20 12:05:31 info="upkeep wake"] [process=powerd request=TCPKATurnOff deltaSecs=282971 wakeAt=2022-07-23 16:41:44]           
2022-07-20 10:07:42 -0400 Wake Requests       	[*process=dasd request=SleepService deltaSecs=1035 wakeAt=2022-07-20 10:24:58 info="com.apple.dasd:501:com.apple.avatar.activity.UserRequestedBackup"] [process=mDNSResponder request=Maintenance deltaSecs=7198 wakeAt=2022-07-20 12:07:41 info="upkeep wake"] [process=powerd request=TCPKATurnOff deltaSecs=282841 wakeAt=2022-07-23 16:41:44]           
2022-07-20 10:08:52 -0400 Wake Requests       	[*process=dasd request=SleepService deltaSecs=904 wakeAt=2022-07-20 10:23:57 info="com.apple.dasd:501:com.apple.avatar.activity.UserRequestedBackup"] [process=mDNSResponder request=Maintenance deltaSecs=7198 wakeAt=2022-07-20 12:08:51 info="upkeep wake"] [process=powerd request=TCPKATurnOff deltaSecs=282771 wakeAt=2022-07-23 16:41:44]           
2022-07-20 10:10:19 -0400 Wake Requests       	[*process=dasd request=SleepService deltaSecs=1011 wakeAt=2022-07-20 10:27:10 info="com.apple.dasd:501:com.apple.avatar.activity.UserRequestedBackup"] [process=mDNSResponder request=Maintenance deltaSecs=7198 wakeAt=2022-07-20 12:10:17 info="upkeep wake"] [process=powerd request=TCPKATurnOff deltaSecs=282685 wakeAt=2022-07-23 16:41:44]           
2022-07-20 10:11:42 -0400 Wake Requests       	[*process=dasd request=SleepService deltaSecs=1059 wakeAt=2022-07-20 10:29:22 info="com.apple.dasd:501:com.apple.avatar.activity.UserRequestedBackup"] [process=mDNSResponder request=Maintenance deltaSecs=7198 wakeAt=2022-07-20 12:11:41 info="upkeep wake"] [process=powerd request=TCPKATurnOff deltaSecs=282602 wakeAt=2022-07-23 16:41:44]

For now, though, with Channels deleted my symptoms seem to have subsided once again. ¯\(ツ)/¯

#18

This is all very confusing to me, but I definitely would like to hear from folks if they observe this sort of situation again.

1 Like