Year 2023 report:
‘Brave Android high background battery usage on Samsung Galaxy Note 9’
Perplexity.ai response to your issue:
Why this happens
- Chromium background processes: Brave is built on Chromium and runs multiple processes for GPU, networking, storage, and site isolation even when no page is actively visible; these can keep small but constant CPU and wake‑lock activity going. reddit
- Background tasks and disk I/O: On both Android and iOS there are reports of Brave doing notable background work (e.g., disk writes, internal maintenance, sync, statistics, rewards, filters updates), which can prevent the device from going into deeper sleep states and cause battery drain that looks disproportionate to “screen on” time.
- Version‑specific regressions: Multiple users note that older Brave builds used “little to no battery” when idle and that higher background drain began after certain updates, suggesting regressions or changed defaults rather than just your configuration.
Things you can try
- Disable or reduce features that may run in the background:
- Brave Rewards, playlist, crypto‑related services, and aggressive ad/tracker lists updates.
- Any extensions, especially those that do live filtering, script injection, or periodic checks. github
- Change background and system settings:
- On desktop, turn off “Continue running background apps when browser is closed” in Brave’s System settings (if available on your platform). youtube
- On Android, keep “put app to sleep / restrict background activity” enabled for Brave; note that some users still see background usage even with this set, but it can reduce it. brave
- Test cleanly:
- Temporarily create a fresh Brave profile with no extensions, open just one simple static page, then leave the device idle overnight and compare battery drain to another browser under the same conditions.
- If the drain started after a specific update, check Brave Beta or Nightly vs Stable to see if the issue is already being worked on. github
On Android there is no single Brave toggle that completely guarantees “never run in background”, but you can greatly reduce or effectively stop its background activity using a mix of Brave settings and Android battery controls.
In Brave settings
Use these steps inside Brave (names can vary slightly by version and OEM skin):
- Open Brave → tap the three‑dot menu → Settings.
- Turn off features that are allowed to run when the app is not on screen:
- Under Media (or similar), disable background play / background audio.
- Turn off Brave Rewards, Brave Wallet, and any crypto or news feeds you do not use.
- Disable site notification permissions you do not need (push notifications can wake the app).
These reduce reasons for Brave to wake in the background, though they may not stop it entirely.
Android battery / background limits
Android’s own app controls are the strongest way to stop Brave staying alive:
- Go to Android Settings → Apps → Brave → Battery.
- Choose “Restricted” or the most aggressive background limit offered by your phone (Samsung, Xiaomi, etc., may word this differently). brave
- Also open Settings → “Battery” or “Device care” → “Background usage limits” (or “Sleeping apps”) and place Brave into the deepest sleep / restricted list, if available.
Users report that even when Brave is put to sleep it can sometimes still show long “running in background” times, so this is partly device/Brave‑version dependent.
When Brave still shows as running
Some users on recent Samsung and other Android devices note that:
- Brave keeps appearing in battery stats as “running in background” for many hours even with background restricted and notifications off.
- Force‑closing Brave from the Android “App info” screen reliably stops this until the next time you open it. brave
If you want the strictest behavior, get used to force‑closing Brave from App info after use, or via the recent‑apps view using the “App info → Force stop” path. brave
Trade‑offs to expect
- Aggressive background restriction can stop downloads, media playback, and long‑running web apps (messengers, calls) from working when the screen is off.
- If something you rely on breaks (e.g., downloads stop when the screen turns off), loosen the restriction for Brave slightly under the Battery/App management page. reddit