Pokemon GO 0.45 Update is reportedly causing smartphone batteries to drain faster. There are speculations that Niantic's security net is the one to blame for this.

Pokemon GO Players Feedback

A number of Pokemon GO players in Reddit forums are seeing some correlations between the 0.45 update and the fast battery drain issue. Based on the numerous reports, the battery drain has increased to around 30 to 40 percent above the normal usage depending on the smartphone model and circumstances.

A OnePlus One smartphone user claimed that his fully charged device was down to just about 16 percent after almost two hours of playing Pokemon GO. A Samsung Galaxy Note 2 user recounted that he started with 92 percent battery life that went down to 11 percent after an hour and a half Pokemon GO playtime.

A power bank seems to be of little help if the claim of one Reddit user is to be believed. He recounted that his smartphone is usually charged by the power bank even while playing Pokemon GO. However, since the 0.45 update his smartphone's battery life is now dropping even if he has set the power bank to fast charge.

Niantic Security Net To Blame For Battery Drain?

So far, Pokemon GO developer Niantic has yet to reply to this issue and it normally does not do so. But some are speculating that the security net that the developer has put in place in the game is to blame. Niantic has toughened its game security in order to prevent third party trackers, bots and cheaters from using the server's API.

However, this is still a speculation and there is no convincing proof being presented. It cannot be denied however, that Pokemon Go has become a power hog after getting the 0.45 update. Hopefully Niantic can create another update to correct this issue.