Google Working On Nexus 5 Battery Drain Fix; Affects All Android Devices With KitKat, Qualcomm Chips

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) said that it has identified a problem with the LG Nexus 5 that is causing poor battery life and that the company is working on a fix. The battery drain issue affects the Nexus 5 as well as the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and other Android 4.4 (KitKat) devices using a Qualcomm chip.

The Nexus 5 battery life issue is caused by a software_­ process within Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) that gives apps access to the Nexus 5’s camera. When a user opens an app like Snapchat or Skype on the Nexus 5, a process (mm-qcamera-daemon) then opens to allow access to the Android device’s camera.

The process continues to run even after camera apps are closed, which forces the processor to do unnecessary work and drains the battery. This can cause the Nexus 5 to run warmer than normal. A Google employee told members of a forum dedicated to the issue that a fix is on the way.

“We believe we have fixes for the current high CPU reports on [the Nexus 5] due to mm-qcamera-daemon, and they will be included in the next maintenance update,” a Google project manager wrote.

The project member went on to explain that bugs in the "mm-qcamera-daemon" process may have increased in frequency on the Nexus 5 due to a recent update to the Skype Android app and suggested users uninstall it in the meantime. Since the process is heavily customized for every Android smartphone, the company said that affected users of other devices should contact their manufacturers directly.

Google said that it can't provide a timeline for when the update would be released “due to all the testing we need to do for this and other fixes.” But a quick reboot of the Nexus 5 will fix the problem temporarily.

Follow Reporter Thomas Halleck on Twitter for updates @tommylikey