Many are wondering how Immuni will affect smartphone battery life. Giving a definitive answer is complex, but assumptions can be made
One of the doubts regarding Immuni's operation concerns its impact on smartphone battery life. As we know by now, the contact tracing app chosen by the Italian government, in order to work perfectly, needs Bluetooth and GPS to remain active, so that users can exchange among themselves the unique codes generated by the app.
And, obviously, these two components to be able to "work" need to be continuously powered, with a peak in consumption at the moment in which smartphones come into contact and exchange the information eventually necessary for the reconstruction of the epidemiological link. For this reason, it is very likely that users who are undecided whether or not to install the app on their device wonder how much Immuni consumes and how much battery life is reduced due to the app.
How much Immuni consumes
To give an unambiguous and precise answer to this question is, in fact, impossible. In order to calculate exactly what is the impact of the contact tracing app on the smartphone battery it would be necessary to monitor the consumption with ad hoc tools. However, it is possible to make an estimate based on all the elements provided by Bending Spoon itself.
First of all, let's start with the technology used for tracing. That is, the Bluetooth Low Energy chip (abbreviated as BLE) used by the app to exchange information. As the name suggests, it is a transmission system with low energy consumption ("low energy") and short range (a few meters). The ideal, in short, for a tracking system that must take into account interpersonal contacts occurred at "short distance".
Although the consumption of BLE chips mounted on smartphones may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, we can assume that their "energy footprint" is negligible. This is a technology developed specifically for mobile devices, made to consume as little energy as possible.
In short, even if you have to leave Bluetooth on all the time, you can assume (as stated by Bending Spoon itself in the app's official website) that the consumption is very low and the battery life will not be affected.