Snapchat, YouTube and Google Maps are the top 3 apps most likely to drain Android device resources, according to The AVG Android App Performance and Trend Report H1 2016. The report which covers January through April this year outlines which of the most popular apps have the most pronounced effect on battery, storage and data, contributing to battery drain.

The H1 2016 report also recognizes ‘most improved’ apps, such as Netflix, previously a top ‘resource hog,’ but which did not make our top 10 charts this time around. Similarly, AppLock, a password protector for smart phones that showed up among the current report’s top 10 battery-draining apps, has improved its performance since this April, indicating that the app’s latest update may have addressed the problem.

AVG found that while Snapchat removes images and videos from conversations, the app’s cache is only partially deleted.. It also reports that YouTube stores a fair amount of cached files, as much as 270 MB. The remaining apps on AVG’s top 10 lists for H1 comprise mostly similar messaging, video, music and shopping apps—unsurprising inclusions on lists of resource-taxing apps. However, an interesting exception to this pattern is The Weather Channel app, which initiates at start-up (which users likely do not realize), immediately drawing on your network plan.

“Our latest report exposes some quirky app behavior. For instance, I question why a weather app needs to be constantly connected rather than updating on demand,” said Tony Anscombe, senior security evangelist for AVG Technologies. “You could also say that Snapchat’s keeping cached files around undermines its Mission Impossible-esque ‘self-destruct’ approach to messaging. Ultimately, if you have more than a few of these apps or types of apps on your phone or tablet, they could be to blame for those annoyingly regular low battery or low storage notifications.”

The report also highlighted other interesting general app usage trends, including:

  • Today’s average Android smartphone and tablet user has 33 apps installed on their device.
  • The 50 most-used apps include obvious entries, like Android’s own Google Search box or YouTube, but also surprises, such as TripAdvisor, which has increasingly started pushing users from its website to the mobile app.
  • Seven of the top 10 most-used smartphones are 2-4-year-old Samsung Galaxy S phones. Sony Xperia devices make up the remainder of this list.

For the full report see: http://www.avg.com/content/dam/pdfs/AVG%20Technologies_Android_App_Performance__Trends_Report_H1%202016.pdf