System Software Updates and Battery Life - HD2 Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting and Genera

Fellas
Settings - About Phone - System Software Updates
I disabled this and it seems battery life is improving day by day, fewer freezes as I go along and interface is smoother than after I started bloating up on apps and games.
Oh and I have since uninstalled utilities like ATKs and the likes. Looking and feeling good so far.
Will update should this be just a mirage on my part.
Oh and please reboot after disabling guys.
Enjoys.

I will try this And see what I find. I am glad that you are no longer using task killers
To many rely on them. I have stopped using them and hate when I find a rom that has them installed.
well hates a strong word but i dislike them

update
Alight.
It's been some time already now.
I can say there has been some extension of battery life with this but there are more room for improvement.
So after reading and digging around I must say having followed some suggestions and ideas from members here and there have squeezed more juice from the battery.
Amongst.
Run haret in winmo while the hardware buttons are still lit up.
Charge android while the hardware buttons are still lit up.
As for screen freezes try calibrating the gsensor in winmo with the phone screen down at the edge of say a table for obvious reasons. This has reduced tremendously the random freezes.

Related

Task managers on Vibrant - what do YOU think and why?

So I am reading the tips and tricks article - GREAT article by the way! - and I come upon the note stating to not use task killer (shown below in bold).
SHOULD I USE A TASK KILLER?
Absolutely not. You have the best OS and one of the best spec'd phones ever. You would be doing more harm than good. If you do have one, uninstall, reboot and let me know what you think!
In addition, even Google at Google I/O 2010 addressed app developers and asked them to no longer include "quit" or "close" as options within their apps. I think Andronica (another great android site) summed it up well with their article, found here.
XDA user iunlock created a thread with some good debate based off this sticky. You can read all the thoughts by clicking here. In short, the overwhelming majority agreed and some have commented on seeing an increase in performance after deleting their task killers. Awesome job guys.
That having been said, I went a day. Sure, it ran smooth, but my battery life stunk.
I'd like to hear from other users on the pros/cons of using a task manager on your Vibrant. Not trying to start a flame war, just wanting to hear thoughts other than my own (and the little voices that come from the ear piece of the phone )
Personally I am completely for it, as long as you are not killing off critical processes or apps that you use on a regular basis. Bottom line here - know what you're doing.
Feedback please?
I had the exact opposite reaction after getting rid of the task manager, battery life increased.
I kept ATK, battery life improved with it. If i play games and then hit the Home button which i always do. it stays running in background and kills the battery. Didnt really notice much of an impact with performance but my battery life increased
I use task manager. people can say what they want, but lowmemorykiller is designed to kill apps when the system needs memory. our phones have a lot of memory so they are capable of keeping so many apps open, if no one believes me download a task killer and just open it up to see how many apps are really running on your phone, its ridiculous, especially if you still have the bloatware. I don't necessarily use it because my phone bogs down from so many apps (that reason was back in the day with my g1) i do it because theoretically your battery life should go up. What's worse, a task killer running, or the last 20 apps you've used? All I know is my phone runs fine, smooth, and has battery life that I really cant complain about. It's hard to really tell what is correct though, I mean theres's hundreds of posts about the gps on our phone and mine launches up, finds my exact location within 30 seconds, and navigates perfectly. Got mine the day it came out, so ive really never worried about what other people have said, i just find out for myself. try both and see what you observe to be best.
I own(ed) a G1, Google Ion, myTouch, CLIQ, Behold II, Nexus One, myTouch Slide, GARMINfone, and Samsung Vibrant.
I have never used a task killer / manager on any of them and have never experienced lag on any of them.
My battery has also lasted from wake (9am) to bed (im usually in the bed by 11pm, sleep comes much later) on all of them and that includes at least 2 hours of stereo Bluetooth music. WiFi, GPS and Sync on all day. Bluetooth and brightness are managed as needed.
I'm no developer, but I have flashed my fair share of roms, and run plenty of tests. I don't know what is best, but I do know that they are NOT NECESSARY. Are they helpful or useful to you? Possibly. If you want to use one, have fun. I see no reason for me to start now...
EDIT: I also play a fair bit of SNESoid, GENSoid, and now PSX4droid....
Also, I don't have a car charger or office charger. I only charge overnight.
If you have to use a charger during the day, you blew it.
Task Mangers slow my phone down more. I don't use them.
joe.kerwin said:
I use task manager. people can say what they want, but lowmemorykiller is designed to kill apps when the system needs memory. our phones have a lot of memory so they are capable of keeping so many apps open, if no one believes me download a task killer and just open it up to see how many apps are really running on your phone, its ridiculous, especially if you still have the bloatware. I don't necessarily use it because my phone bogs down from so many apps (that reason was back in the day with my g1) i do it because theoretically your battery life should go up. What's worse, a task killer running, or the last 20 apps you've used? All I know is my phone runs fine, smooth, and has battery life that I really cant complain about. It's hard to really tell what is correct though, I mean theres's hundreds of posts about the gps on our phone and mine launches up, finds my exact location within 30 seconds, and navigates perfectly. Got mine the day it came out, so ive really never worried about what other people have said, i just find out for myself. try both and see what you observe to be best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android has a task killer built in to kill apps if memory is low automatically.
Couldnt enjoy my phone without one.
laristech said:
Task Mangers slow my phone down more. I don't use them.
Android has a task killer built in to kill apps if memory is low automatically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, read. I referenced that in the first line. It's a low memory killer, my phone still has 100mb of memory available even with 15-20 apps open. I'd rather have those tasks not running if i've finished with them. Plus apps also reopen periodically by themselves, auto-kill on a 3rd party task killer will kill this as soon as the phone is sleeping, the build in task killer will not.
AndroidZ28 said:
I own(ed) a G1, Google Ion, myTouch, CLIQ, Behold II, Nexus One, myTouch Slide, GARMINfone, and Samsung Vibrant.
I have never used a task killer / manager on any of them and have never experienced lag on any of them.
My battery has also lasted from wake (9am) to bed (im usually in the bed by 11pm, sleep comes much later) on all of them and that includes at least 2 hours of stereo Bluetooth music. WiFi, GPS and Sync on all day. Bluetooth and brightness are managed as needed.
I'm no developer, but I have flashed my fair share of roms, and run plenty of tests. I don't know what is best, but I do know that they are NOT NECESSARY. Are they helpful or useful to you? Possibly. If you want to use one, have fun. I see no reason for me to start now...
EDIT: I also play a fair bit of SNESoid, GENSoid, and now PSX4droid....
Also, I don't have a car charger or office charger. I only charge overnight.
If you have to use a charger during the day, you blew it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no way your g1 ever lasted 14 hours, let alone consistently with that usage. Either that or you dont understand how some of us use our phones. The only reason this must be such a debated topic is because there truly isn't much of a difference. Will your phone have a weeks worth of battery life with one? No. Without one? No. Users preference I suppose, but before i deleted bloatware, my telenav and slacker radio were always open and i honestly never even opened them to even check them out.
That having been said, I went a day. Sure, it ran smooth, but my battery life stunk.
I'd like to hear from other users on the pros/cons of using a task manager on your Vibrant. Not trying to start a flame war, just wanting to hear thoughts other than my own (and the little voices that come from the ear piece of the phone )
Personally I am completely for it, as long as you are not killing off critical processes or apps that you use on a regular basis. Bottom line here - know what you're doing.
Feedback please?
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Click to collapse
People will give all sorts of anecdotal evidence one way or another about this topic. Just keep in mind that anecdotal evidence won't answer the question. It's not a simple yes/no question either.
Here's the deal. *IF* you have errant tasks that are causing partial wake issues (running too much or too often when the phone is supposedly asleep), those applications will be the culprit for your bad battery life.
These are not likely to be core tasks of the OS, or OS bundled bloatware either...but they can be. When I had my Behold II and was running ADW.Launcher, for instance, I had to use a task manager to keep parts of Touchwiz from waking up and complaining about the UI not being front-and-center. And the reason WHY I used a task manager was a simple one. It was a core data task of the embedded software that could not be REMOVED.
The best solution to partial wake issues is to identify the tasks that are causing them, and GET RID OF THAT APP. In my very specific case above I was unable to do so, so a task killer had value.
The reason why task managers can be a very bad idea are legion. The Android OS runs a lot of interdependant tasks, and killing one seemingly innocuous task can and often will start a domino effect with other tasks that rely on them. It can even cause other dependant apps to eat 100% of cpu time during sleep cycles or at other times, and make your battery life mysteriously go to hell.
So far on this Vibrant, I've found no core tasks causing partial wake issues. Third party apps and widgets however, I've found quite a few that "wake up" and cause partial wake issues (i.e. they are spending too much time working and running when the phone is in "sleep" mode). Pure Messenger Widget being one of the nastiest I've tried lately.
What do I recommend? Use the built in battery statistics, and install the market app "Spare Parts". This combination will give you the ability to glean useful information about exactly what is running and what it's doing. There are other tools and whitelist managers that you could employ as well, but this is enough for me.
And even if you are running task managers and killers, you should be using the above to know whether what you are doing is a complete waste of time or even making matters worse.
When left to its own devices, Android 2.1 does a remarkably good job managing tasks and memory, PROVIDING THAT 3RD PARTY APPS ARE BEHAVING. Since we all run a very different set of 3rd party applications and widgets, it's no wonder that people are having battery life issues (great, bad, not so bad, etc..) all over the map.
I use Advanced Task Manager Pro and I love it. The close-all widget is great because it closes everything except what you have told it not to kill, and it kills itself to that is not running down your battery either.
joe.kerwin said:
There's no way your g1 ever lasted 14 hours, let alone consistently with that usage. Either that or you dont understand how some of us use our phones. The only reason this must be such a debated topic is because there truly isn't much of a difference. Will your phone have a weeks worth of battery life with one? No. Without one? No. Users preference I suppose, but before i deleted bloatware, my telenav and slacker radio were always open and i honestly never even opened them to even check them out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what to tell you other than it did.
I am a pretty heavy user, but I do have fantastic coverage and work in a bright environment so brightness stays down. SetCPU works wonders.
I tested my Vibrant today. Came off the charger at 5:30am. It's now 10pm & my phone is freaking out for juice. I think my G1 could match this.
I'm constantly pulling from Gmail & Exchange (usually on Edge - poor reception in the office). I used GPS for about 10 min on the way home. Once home I started wifi. I turned it off an hour ago to play a few rounds of Let's Golf.
That's not terrible for such a badass smart phone, I think.
-bZj
_____
-sent from my Samsung Vibrant via XDAapp
I personally will only have a task manager installed for when I'm working on my game / app projects, as to make sure they properly close when exited or to kill them if something goes wrong (neverending looping media), so I don't have to reboot the phone.
I was using atk before my last factory reset. I've decided against it now though. I've also decided not to use any more web apps when I have a perfectly good browser. Just seems like a waste of resources to me and my phone is much quicker without them. That and launcher pro have made this feel like a different phone. I think the combination makes atk unnecessary.
If I decide to keep this phone I'll reroot and clean out all the crapware. I'd prefer to keep this phone well-maintained like my computer sip that a task killer would be mostly unnecessary.

y do apps keep opening???

1st of all, thanks guys for ALWAYS helping me w/ my many issues! With that said, I have a question that nobody seems to answer when I ask it....CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME Y 5~11 APPS ALWAYS OPEN WHEN I GET ON PHONE TO SEND JUST 1 TXT??? I don't unerstand how my camera and other stupid stuff opens just by me sending or receiving a text or gettn on the 'net! My concern is if I forget to hit apk my battery will die! Is it normal to have to hit apk after EVERY TASK I perform???
don't worry about that...this is normal for android.
all these apps are in background (and idle), so they don't consume processor power....and when you decide to call them back - then they become active.
personally i think there is no need for task killer on android.
i've noticed better battery life with out killing all the tasks (when you kill apps, the system has to use even more resources to start up those processes again, in turn stealing battery life) and no decrease in speed. android automatically kills applications that are in the background when memory becomes low. You do not need to alter the process. your phone will run well if you leave it be. watch your battery consumption. 80 percent is the display. having a few running apps wont even make a notch in you battery.
I made a post about this last night, and got lambasted lol.. but yeah.. makes utterly no sense to me, but since its "android" i guess its ok..
He's right though about the battery life, i had a task killer set to auto-kill everytime the device slept.. Battery life was terrible, since removing that this morn.. its been a more consistent drain.
Phen0m said:
I made a post about this last night, and got lambasted lol.. but yeah.. makes utterly no sense to me, but since its "android" i guess its ok..
He's right though about the battery life, i had a task killer set to auto-kill everytime the device slept.. Battery life was terrible, since removing that this morn.. its been a more consistent drain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks guys for both responses and i apologize for the double post! i am new to the android world (came from tp-2) and just wanna make sure i'm doing all the right things...sooo much to learn...not complainin' tho!
Download startup manager from the market.

Strange issues by removing DRM services - running DK28

I am currently running ViperROM(DK28) version 3.0.3. I followed all of the instructions for fixing GPS on 2.2 and then flashed to this ROM.
Whenever I remove the DRM services I notice 2 strange things that happen:
1. Quadrant is not able to complete, it gets stuck on the first test at the Video Decoding.
2. I'm unable to select a new ringtone notification in handcent, when I press OK for my selection it hangs and I have to FC it.
The reason I want to remove the DRM services is that it appears to negatively affect battery life. I notice an improvement when they are removed. If I restore the DRM services everything starts working good again.
Any ideas?
I wont flame you,but this has been discussed plenty,search please...Anyway,you cant remove any of the 3 without losing some funcionaliy.So the only thing you can do is disable the one that runs at boot,not uninstall.I have tried this tip that orked for a day,once you have a fresh rom installed,play some music,watch a ripped movie,change a ringtone and notification,then remove all 3 services with sdx app removal or any other method you like.But like I said this will not work for more then 2 days at most
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
You're not the only one running into this issue.
I ended up rooting my Epic to get rid of all the sprint bloatware and what-not. Everything seemed to be going smooth from the stock standpoint. I removed Samsung Media hub first. Rebooted the phone and noticed nothing bad. Played around with the setup like that for a few days with no problems.
I next got rid of both the DRM service .apk's that were still running even after I got rid of the media hub... and then the problems started. For the first couple days I noticed DRAMATICALLY IMPROVED battery life and EXTRAORDINARY performance so I imagined what I did was a good thing: WRONG! A few days later, I noticed that if I assigned a sound to a notification or a ringtone *from the SD card*, that it would not work. I couldn't play sounds anymore and instead whenever I went to adjust the volume with said notes/tones selected, the Sound_service would crash.
However, I'm the only person I knew before now who has reported this issue so I'm sure there's not a lot of hubob to fix it. Every Epic is built different. Same parts or not. It's a mass-manufactured phone and each one will have its own quirks. There's my 2 cents.
I just froze the apps when I rooted with Titanium Backup but I thought I did something wrong and figured out that sound from apps seems to trigger the software crashes. No point if fixing it now. Flash DI18 and get the EC05 update and/or get EB13.
dyehya said:
I just froze the apps when I rooted with Titanium Backup but I thought I did something wrong and figured out that sound from apps seems to trigger the software crashes. No point if fixing it now. Flash DI18 and get the EC05 update and/or get EB13.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So can anyone confirm that the EC05 fixes the DRM issue? Otherwise there's no point in upgrading. I saw the release thread on here. Hecka people already having problems with the EC05. To upgrade for the Sprint ID packs? Won't see me do it...
Just let it do its thing. The amount of functonality you lose removing it is not worth the minute amount of battery life you'll save.
stir fry a lot said:
Just let it do its thing. The amount of functonality you lose removing it is not worth the minute amount of battery life you'll save.
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Click to collapse
I have to disagree about the amount of battery life I'm saving being minute. When I had this damned DRM service running, I maybe got 10-12 hours with moderate usage. Without it running and now with SRF1.0.2 running (gets rid of IQ), plus SetCPU to (clocking 200-400 when screen off, undervolting 1.0-1.2 during usage) I'm getting a good 20 hours with heavy usage or I can go 2 days without charging if I only use texting.
I do actually remember getting a good bit more battery from deleting the DRM but at the end of the day I'd rather have my music files and apps work properly. I'm used to keeping a charger on me, its just the nature of owning a smart phone.
Yeah I'm with you on that one. Hopefully this will be one challenge [ACS] will be up to digging into.
I just tried stopping it in the running services menu and tested it on a few things with no issues. Doesn't take more than 15 seconds. I'll probably start incorporating it in to my TWS/Airplane mode routine (which just happens to need around 15 seconds supposedly) whenever I reboot.
That's what alot of other people have been saying too. I guess that's what I have to do.
Some threads on SDX about this say you can use some killers to stop it at bootup (personally I've always hated killers since Android 2.0, you don't need them anymore). As long as the .apk and .odex's are there. It's only when you uninstall or freeze it that you start to run into problems 1-3 days down the line.
I use Startup Auditor and it only kills it briefly. I've read all the arguments against Task Killer but I'm still a fan of it. Its especially useful to see what programs start up on their own and I do notice better performance after killing the ones that have no business being open. For everything else I just set it to ignore them.

Am I the only one? (battery life and transition issues post TW update)

I keep reading all the posts here and elsewhere referencing people's overwhelmingly positive experiences with the touchwiz update. Since applying the update, however, my battery life has gotten much worse, even though I have the same homescreen setup (ie., I'm not using any of Samsung's widgets. I also would say the experience has gotten laggier and less smooth. There is often a "catch " at the pivot point between homescreen, very momentary, and but not there for me before the update. The browser too force closes for me often, unless I regularly remember to open up Samsung's task manager and clear memory. I like some features of the update, like being able to type in the forums without lag, for instance, the but wish these other issues hadn't come along with it.
danwc said:
I keep reading all the posts here and elsewhere referencing people's overwhelmingly positive experiences with the touchwiz update. Since applying the update, however, my battery life has gotten much worse, even though I have the same homescreen setup (ie., I'm not using any of Samsung's widgets. I also would say the experience has gotten laggier and less smooth. There is often a "catch " at the pivot point between homescreen, very momentary, and but not there for me before the update. The browser too force closes for me often, unless I regularly remember to open up Samsung's task manager and clear memory. I like some features of the update, like being able to type in the forums without lag, for instance, the but wish these other issues hadn't come along with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like something went wrong with your update imo. A lot of people are happy about TW not for the UI changes etc, but for the performance and stability improvements.
Have you tried a factory reset?
Hello doesn't know if it can be helpfull...but i experienced a laggy TW...and in order to try chrome bookmark to sync i tried to delete browser cache and data, and to stop it. The i relaunch the browser...and reconfigure my account for bookmarks sync...now there is a new folder called chrome, but still no my chrome bookmarks...but..tadaaa...i have no more lag on my honeycomb desk, and even the application draxer are very smooth...i was nearly decided to make a full wipe ...but right now i'm not, and i'm really happy with the smoothy interface of honeycomb...i will post a video for new features on my blog so you will be able to see if you consider it laggy or not, but i don't. It's in french but, well videos are videos ;-)
http://honeytab.eklablog.net/
Figured out some things, much happier camper now
Just to update:. I did a factory reset which didn't seem to make all that much difference, but in looking through the settings I noticed the gps was set continuously on and the screen brightness was not on auto. Turned off the gps and set brightness to auto and battery life has more than doubled now. A huge improvement, and and the "catch" when pivoting between homescreens seems gone too. Don't knowing it was any one of those things by themselves or the combination, and but I feel much better about the update now.
I keep the display at what looks like about 30%. I always leave GPS on. My battery life is fine.
However, on the first day after the download it went down much quicker than normal. I believe that's because it was a Saturday and I was spending a lot of time lurking around TouchWiz. Since then I see no difference than before TW.
My battery used to last a couple of days with light usage. Now im lucky if i can get 6 hours. I even wiped battery stats but still battery life is terrible....
UPDATE
I fully charged my battery, reset battery stats in recovery, unplugged and rebooted. After 10 minutes im at 78% battery. I hope its not pershoots new kernel thats causing it....
no issues here; try a reflash
Yeah i went ahead and did that. Went to stock, updated to 3.1, updated to google movie, and now when I go to update, it says no update available. Is the touchwiz update fully available yet? I would rather get the ota instead of a rom version...

Apps preventing phone from sleeping

So I am really angry at Android now, with all the issues and difficulties it is getting me through. Although visually and practically I still prefer it to iOS, there are some really annoying issues with it, that concern battery life/stability.
So there are apps that prevent your phone from sleeping, either leaves speaker on, or other BS. I have to close them every time I stop using the phone, to avoid a really stupid issue I had today. I recharged the phone 100% in the morning, later that day I went to check e-mails, sent a couple sms etc. and then I played this game called Pou, I left it running, the screen was off, but I didn't close it. Ended up with empty battery in 3 Hours.
This is ****ing ridiculous, what kind of smartphone is that, if it can't understand that I'm not playing games when the screen is off.
Is there at least a faster way to close all open apps, other than swiping from left to right 20 times every time you stop using the phone?!?!
What apps are causing the issue?
You're blaming the OS for the behavior of an app made by a bad developer. The vast majority of applications will not do that. iOS avoids that by limiting the cases in which an app is allowed to run in the background. You can argue that it's a superior solution for the end user, but it limits the ability for an app to actually do anything in the background.
Many custom ROMs build in a "kill all" button in the recent apps view. It's really not necessary though. You've identified an application that has this issue, so just make sure to kill that one app when you're done with it. Again, most applications won't have that problem.
raptir said:
You're blaming the OS for the behavior of an app made by a bad developer. The vast majority of applications will not do that. iOS avoids that by limiting the cases in which an app is allowed to run in the background. You can argue that it's a superior solution for the end user, but it limits the ability for an app to actually do anything in the background.
Many custom ROMs build in a "kill all" button in the recent apps view. It's really not necessary though. You've identified an application that has this issue, so just make sure to kill that one app when you're done with it. Again, most applications won't have that problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. I had just read a lot of silly things and ur comment relaxed me a bit. Blame a PHONE because some apps keep the phone awake... this is crazy, people should have a bit of experience before posting in this forum with so much arrogance.
This might help...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmvCpR45LKA
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4
badboy47 said:
This might help...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmvCpR45LKA
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That helped me so many times till I understood it....
The place to go, to get a definitive understanding of wakelocks is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1179809&highlight=betterbatterystats
This is the thread for BetterBatteryStats, which is really all you need to troubleshoot why your device doesn't sleep enough.
Also, look at Greenify, which hibernates the apps you tell it to, a pretty unique trick.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2155737&highlight=greenify
And as a last suggestion (frowned on by the purists at the betterbatterystats thread, but I find it really useful) use DS Battery Saver Pro, which will switch off wifi and reconnect every 10 minutes, amongst other tricks.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2030696&highlight=ds+battery+saver
As an aside, I hear that iOS7 has impressed its user base with all sorts of hidden options which stop the phone resting, so maybe it's just a question of complexity . The good news is that, especially with the knowledge that is shared in betterbatterystats, it won't take you long to troubleshoot what your problems are, and the other 2 apps which will resolve your issues are pretty straightforward to use.
There are free versions I recall in the first post of these threads, I use the Pro version of DS Battery Saver since I prefer to configure my own profile.
Thank you everyone for replies.
I have not rooted the phone, so Greenify is no option for me, not really up to going through all rooting and ROM installing process in order to maybe succeed in solving the issue.
Specifically talking apps that leave speaker ON (It keeps hissing) and keeps phone awake, if you do not close them are following : Asphalt 8, Need For Speed Most Wanted.
The thing is I am not sure who to blame really, yes there are many apps that work normally and don't cause these issues, but then again why is the keeping the phone awake allowed in the first place, downloaded apps that would need to work that way should need special permissions. I understand there might be apps that want to keep ON/playing something after you have quit them, but if that's the case, then user should be able to deny certain permissions to prevent this from happening. The OS is complex enough, why not give even more options then or just this one at least.
Not sure how other people manage with this problem, I can't find anyone mentioning anything about Asphalt 8 and Android having this problem, people just deal with that they have battery draining to 0% in 5 hours? I know many people with smartphones 75% barely ever closes any programs from multitasker, most of them are iPhone users though. But how do they manage to live with their phone if they have this. I did manage to find people complaining about Pou draining battery, solution was to just uninstall the app, ridiculous.
I can't be the only one having these issues.
Well, the Android "style guide" has the back button as the exit function, so instead of leaving it running in the background, you may want to try backing all the way out.
It's been about a year since I played Asphalt (6 I think it was), but I vaguely remember it had an exit button which explicitly closed down the app.
Could be worth trying that. All the same, install the free xda edition of BetterBatteryStats (in the first post I think) and then look at the partial wakelocks, you'll quickly see what is stopping the phone sleeping.
paul c said:
Well, the Android "style guide" has the back button as the exit function, so instead of leaving it running in the background, you may want to try backing all the way out.
It's been about a year since I played Asphalt (6 I think it was), but I vaguely remember it had an exit button which explicitly closed down the app.
Could be worth trying that. All the same, install the free xda edition of BetterBatteryStats (in the first post I think) and then look at the partial wakelocks, you'll quickly see what is stopping the phone sleeping.
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Click to collapse
It really is like that, this fixes a small part of this issue! If you exit the game using the back button, the application closes the resource, but leaves it available at the multi task panel.
But, when I had iPhone, I could play the game, lock the screen, go home, for example, and continue where I left off, no battery drainage or anything. Only when you fill up the RAM memory it stops least recent processes.
Often it is very annoying to tap multiple times the back button (Sometimes even on screen you have to press quit multiple times (Quit current game & quit menu)) until you get to exit the application. And you can't continue where you left off, if you do that.
What the most bothers me about this is if I suddenly have something urgent and I don't turn off the application, my phone could drain a heavy amount of battery percentage till I remember to close them or check something on the phone/continue where I left off.
raptir said:
You're blaming the OS for the behavior of an app made by a bad developer. The vast majority of applications will not do that. iOS avoids that by limiting the cases in which an app is allowed to run in the background. You can argue that it's a superior solution for the end user, but it limits the ability for an app to actually do anything in the background.
Many custom ROMs build in a "kill all" button in the recent apps view. It's really not necessary though. You've identified an application that has this issue, so just make sure to kill that one app when you're done with it. Again, most applications won't have that problem.
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luiseteyo said:
+1. I had just read a lot of silly things and ur comment relaxed me a bit. Blame a PHONE because some apps keep the phone awake... this is crazy, people should have a bit of experience before posting in this forum with so much arrogance.
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Guys, this isn't the only issue with the OS. I had bad battery drainage from Wi-Fi & mobile network location setting also. I have various Google app problems, also with drainage, freezing and lag with Google Chrome, Google+ keeping phone awake. I would consider that as a property of Android OS, because the software was already installed when I got the phone. Chrome is the default and only internet browser in the beginning and it should work properly.
So I am not sure who to blame, maybe the developers can't find a workaround from the problem, because the OS is not behaving correctly, and I don't think that it's inappropriate to blame also the OS, since even the default apps and settings have problems same as some apps do.
I have used Chrome daily since it was first released for Android and have never had any real issues with it. Occasionally it will give me a problem where I need to restart the app but that's probably about once a week. Google+ should only keep the phone awake if you have it set to upload your photos automatically, and even then there's a setting to force it to only do the uploads when on the charger.
I think the key issue is that you're used to an OS that does not involve any thought from the user. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it's a distinctly different approach from Android. Apps are allowed to run when the phone is asleep because that can provide additional functionality. I'm sure you wouldn't complain if Pandora was playing music and thus running when the phone was asleep. And that would hit your battery hard. iOS only allows applications to run under very specific conditions, thus limiting what they can do but making sure you don't end up with any "runaway" applications. Android puts the responsibility on the developer to make their app handle battery life well and on the user to make sure they're using decent applications.
Things like the mobile network and WiFi location are used by Google Now to provide location-based data. If you would rather have the improved battery life, turn Google Now off. Some of us would rather have the functionality, but you have the option to disable it.
Keep in mind also that the Nexus 4 just doesn't get as good battery life as the iPhone 4 or newer.
raptir said:
I have used Chrome daily since it was first released for Android and have never had any real issues with it. Occasionally it will give me a problem where I need to restart the app but that's probably about once a week. Google+ should only keep the phone awake if you have it set to upload your photos automatically, and even then there's a setting to force it to only do the uploads when on the charger.
I think the key issue is that you're used to an OS that does not involve any thought from the user. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it's a distinctly different approach from Android. Apps are allowed to run when the phone is asleep because that can provide additional functionality. I'm sure you wouldn't complain if Pandora was playing music and thus running when the phone was asleep. And that would hit your battery hard. iOS only allows applications to run under very specific conditions, thus limiting what they can do but making sure you don't end up with any "runaway" applications. Android puts the responsibility on the developer to make their app handle battery life well and on the user to make sure they're using decent applications.
Things like the mobile network and WiFi location are used by Google Now to provide location-based data. If you would rather have the improved battery life, turn Google Now off. Some of us would rather have the functionality, but you have the option to disable it.
Keep in mind also that the Nexus 4 just doesn't get as good battery life as the iPhone 4 or newer.
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I have never had a OS that I am fully satisfied with, that is normal, but I am always very aware for issues, always scanning for issues, I really hate that about myself, I am a perfectionist, I will not calm down until I get everything just the way I think it should be... So that makes up very difficult relations with any software I use, too bad for me.
Android apps do have more functionality, more freedom than iOS, and I very much appreciate that. BUT if that functionality results in 90% to 0% in 3 hours, when you forget to turn off 1 app after using it... please, I feel like it's a duty to take care of my smartphone, close app after you are done or the phone will die, and you will be left without a phone for the entire day.
I don't like that instability when you can make 1 thing wrong and it all goes to pieces, not when there are people using other phones with almost the same functionality and no problems like that.
No matter who I have to blame this on, I have this issue and it is because of Android & because of the developer of the app.
It's very sad, I really want Android to be more stable with this
Yukicore said:
It's very sad, I really want Android to be more stable with this
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There are hundred millions of Android users, we don't all gets wakelocks. I don't have this problem and my phone is stable. Once you are using Android, you are no longer special and pampered in a walled garden like iOS users.
If you have battery drain due to Google services, see here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2385843
I suggest doing a factory reset and not install crap apps like anything by Gameloft, just play them on Apple devices. If you gets a wakelock, make a shortcut on your desktop to Apps and check on what apps are running in the background, one of the app in the list could be the issue.
I know you don't want to root, but I suggest do it anyway and install Greenify, hibernate any apps you don't want autostarting when you boot up the phone. Watch out for apps that both runs in the background and ask for too many permissions. I know there is an app that limit the maximum app that can run in the background, but I don't know the name, you can set it in the phone's Developer mode, but it doesn't persist on reboot.
Maybe the difference is like moving from an automatic car (iOS) to a manual (Android).
At least before "multitasking" arrived to iOS, an app no longer in the foreground was effectively exited. Android's memory management is much more complex than that, and apps are kept in memory until a new app requires the RAM being held by a previous one.
There is a clear advantage to this since apps "reopen" instantly, but if you're not careful there could be continued drain from apps still open but not in the foreground.
Incidentally - I don't follow Apple closely - iOS7 has been slated by users for the scenario you describe, I believe!
Google's apps offer all sorts of wonderful location-based features, for which the phone inevitably needs to know its location. Coarse location (via triangulation of radio towers) is not a problem, but "fine" requires the GPS to be used, and that does drain the battery.
So you need to consider whether you want all that location based stuff from Google.
Wifi is also a big drain, and that is why I get my phone to switch on every 10 minutes via DS Battery Saver. The upside is that the phone sleeps regularly, but the downside is that Whatsapp messages etc don't arrive immediately.
As you can see, Android offers you the ability to choose to be uber-connected/always on, or to have a better battery consumption. Since each individual is different, you can choose what is important to you.
I just had that drain second time happening. I don't remember how I left that stupid game, but I ended up with 2% battery and phone turned off.
I think I exited using the back button. What the hell.
Pou is known to kill your battery.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-4/253092-media-server-draining-my-battery.html
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130606043957AA9Tq7N
Since it's a virtual pet game the developer probably did not code it to close when you hit the Back button, so you need to kill it through Recent Apps. Or just uninstall it.
raptir said:
Pou is known to kill your battery.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-4/253092-media-server-draining-my-battery.html
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130606043957AA9Tq7N
Since it's a virtual pet game the developer probably did not code it to close when you hit the Back button, so you need to kill it through Recent Apps. Or just uninstall it.
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This is bad... Now it is developers fault, but why on earth should Android OS allow this kind of behavior on any app... This is not a simple background service, this was running fully when the screen was off. 2-4 hours is the screen on time averagely I get, 3.5 hours without screen on, it's damn fast draining.
Yukicore said:
This is bad... Now it is developers fault, but why on earth should Android OS allow this kind of behavior on any app... This is not a simple background service, this was running fully when the screen was off. 2-4 hours is the screen on time averagely I get, 3.5 hours without screen on, it's damn fast draining.
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We've already been through this. You're fine with your phone's music player running in the background when the screen is off, right? It's the exact same behavior, just that Pou uses more resources and has no reason to be running. Apple puts heavy restrictions on what an app can do in the background (playing music being one of the only exceptions). Google leaves it up to the developer and user to manage it.
If you think that is a problem with the OS, I really recommend you go back to the iPhone. Not being mean or anything, but you clearly either do not understand the differences in philosophy between the two operating systems or you understand it and prefer the iOS way.
raptir said:
We've already been through this. You're fine with your phone's music player running in the background when the screen is off, right? It's the exact same behavior, just that Pou uses more resources and has no reason to be running. Apple puts heavy restrictions on what an app can do in the background (playing music being one of the only exceptions). Google leaves it up to the developer and user to manage it.
If you think that is a problem with the OS, I really recommend you go back to the iPhone. Not being mean or anything, but you clearly either do not understand the differences in philosophy between the two operating systems or you understand it and prefer the iOS way.
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You said that user and developer can manage resources of apps, how can a user manage them? Can I fix this specific problem myself somehow?

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