I installed 3G WatchDog and its in constant use. I installed SpareParts to look at network usage and the first item is 0 and when I tap on it, it FCs. I am going to wipe and reflash the ROM later and take a look later but anyone have this problem or a solution? Or a way to see what app is using my connection constantly?
Not sure if this helps, but in Settings - Wireless & networks - Mobile networks - there is an option for 'Enable always-on mobile data' which I believe keeps your 3g running all the time.
http://androidforums.com/147137-post14.html
That is probably one of the better explanations for what disabling 3G Always on does. Seems like it's a huge battery saver.
OP: have you tested the suggestion in the article donatom3 linked?
Let us know...
My Wifes EVO is having the same issue. Her phone is contantly downloading data. I got a clue when I looked at her data useage and she clock 14GB for the partial month.
I shut down services until I found the culprit. It was "People". I checked sync setting and all and it seems they are all set to 1 hour or more intervals. When I force a close of "People", the data access stops and goes to normal even if I restart "People".
If I shut down the phone and then turn back on, then it seems to start all over again.
As a bandaid, I have set Advance Task Killer to kill the "People" service automatically every 30 min.
I would sure love for someone to find a more permanent resolution.
Can't you just remove it from the home screen, and it will stop using the data?
Follow these steps to change a simple setting in the GPS system that prevents it from eating away at your battery. It has NO NEGATIVE effect on GPS performance. In fact, my GPS works extremely well despite the misleading 30m bug.
Turn on your GPS (from the Status Curtain or Power Control widget).
Open Dialer on your phone and type in *#1472365#.
Tap on "Setup".
Tap on "Position Mode".
Tap on "Starting Mode".
Select "Cold Start".
Another way to prevent unnecessary power usage (Until Samsung fixes this which I suggest people complain to them about) is to disable your EV-DO data connection.
I do it manually though these steps:
Open Dialer and type in *#4636*1111#
Tap on "Phone information"
Press the Menu button
Tap on "More"
Tap on "Disable data connection"
To restore the data, just follow the same steps but the menu will show "Enable data connection"
Other methods are to use the free version of JuiceDefender (Cancel the useless installation of AOSP helper).
Disconnecting data still allows phone calls and text messages to go through. This is perfect for people who have good 4G and WiFi coverage so you'll never be without data and still get good battery life.
Please keep this thread clean of any questions, if you need help just PM me. Only report any feedback or suggestions in here.
arashed31 said:
Follow these steps to change a simple setting in the GPS system that prevents it from eating away at your battery. It has NO NEGATIVE effect on GPS performance. In fact, my GPS works extremely well despite the misleading 30m bug.
Turn on your GPS (from the Status Curtain or Power Control widget).
Open Dialer on your phone and type in *#1472365#.
Tap on "Setup".
Tap on "Position Mode".
Tap on "Starting Mode".
Select "Cold Start".
Another way to prevent unnecessary power usage (Until Samsung fixes this which I suggest people complain to them about) is to disable your EV-DO data connection.
I do it manually though these steps:
Open Dialer and type in *#4636*1111#
Tap on "Phone information"
Press the Menu button
Tap on "More"
Tap on "Disable data connection"
To restore the data, just follow the same steps but the menu will show "Enable data connection"
Other methods are to use the free version of JuiceDefender (Cancel the useless installation of AOSP helper).
Disconnecting data still allows phone calls and text messages to go through. This is perfect for people who have good 4G and WiFi coverage so you'll never be without data and still get good battery life.
Please keep this thread clean of any questions, if you need help just PM me. Only report any feedback or suggestions in here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will try and see how it goes.
arashed31 said:
Follow these steps to change a simple setting in the GPS system that prevents it from eating away at your battery. It has NO NEGATIVE effect on GPS performance. In fact, my GPS works extremely well despite the misleading 30m bug.
Turn on your GPS (from the Status Curtain or Power Control widget).
Open Dialer on your phone and type in *#1472365#.
Tap on "Setup".
Tap on "Position Mode".
Tap on "Starting Mode".
Select "Cold Start".
Another way to prevent unnecessary power usage (Until Samsung fixes this which I suggest people complain to them about) is to disable your EV-DO data connection.
I do it manually though these steps:
Open Dialer and type in *#4636*1111#
Tap on "Phone information"
Press the Menu button
Tap on "More"
Tap on "Disable data connection"
To restore the data, just follow the same steps but the menu will show "Enable data connection"
Other methods are to use the free version of JuiceDefender (Cancel the useless installation of AOSP helper).
Disconnecting data still allows phone calls and text messages to go through. This is perfect for people who have good 4G and WiFi coverage so you'll never be without data and still get good battery life.
Please keep this thread clean of any questions, if you need help just PM me. Only report any feedback or suggestions in here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Solutions not working. Did you test for long enough? 24 hours at least with no reset? Restarts clear cache as does any manipulation *#1472...
My tests show ANY manipulation of *#1472... flushes expired but stuck xtra data so teh poofs are not really valid since you get an instant lock if you change it to cold start and back to hot.
make sure to check after one day with no resets (which flush xtra cache and give you an immediate fix anyway.) I have been testing warm start for 48 hours and thought I was ok, but in fact once emphermis expired, typcial situation of 8 to 11 seen, none in use.
Also staying in same place will render ephemeris checking less valid.
I have three Epics devices. I have been experimenting with old, one warm and one hot, reset, take a fix tonight, turn off gps call applications, and see which are holding expired ephemris and not fixing those seen 10 hours later from a different location.
What I know for sure is of the four Epic location problems*, the main one, seeing sats and not using them, is a clear symptoms of expired xtra data (epehmeris. almanac, and sometimes net time.)
I have been reading for the last few days this:
http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=pl...s.git;a=blob;f=loc_api/libloc_api/loc_eng.cpp
It seems gpstest (author:Lookwood) does have a function to clear xtra but it is not workign on Epic. I beleive the call in android would be
" loc_eng_delete_aiding_data (GpsAidingData f)"
Other notes:
1)It seems omniaII had a similar problem.
2) forcing cold start is not an optimum solution anyway as absent network xtra data source (a sprint connection), aka standalone gps maybe will be forced to pull almanac at each and every LBA gps call, meaning unnecessarily long times before acquisition (TTFF) in true standalone
*Epic location problems I am seeeing
1) GPS. Failure to flush invalid and expired xtra (*ephemeris and almanac)
2) GPS. mediocre to poor SNR ranges
3) GPS: invalid accuracy (false number hardcoded not dynamically calculated)
4) cell based: occasional abject failure to produce location from network alone.
A proper tuning it seems to me is setting the TIMING of the xtra data flush coordinated with QOS timing of a renewed xtra data attempt if Epic sees sats but you cant get a fix in say 2 minutes.
Its time we need a thread like this to ensure every G2 user is getting the best out of their battery.
Here are my tips:
- WiFi: Should ONLY be ON when you are actually using it!
- WiFi Sleep Policy=NEVER: it takes more time and power to seach for a Wi-Fi AP than actually staying connected to it. Settings > Wireless & networks > Wi-Fi Settings > MENU > Advanced > Wi-Fi sleep policy > Never.
- Bluetooth: Should ONLY be ON when you are actually using it!
- Use 2G when possible: If you know you are in a area with NO 3G support, than set your phone in 2G mode so it doesn't use power looking for 3G. Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile Networks > 2G only
- Haptic feedback=OFF: I personally leave this OFF because minor vibrations are annoying plus consume battery. Settings > Sound > Haptic feedback
- Audible Selection=OFF: For obvious reasons, we use the touchscreen the entire time, enabling this will case battery drain everything you make a selection in Android, App, Web. Settings > Sound > Audible Selection
- Display - BRIGHTNESS=30%: I use about 30% brightness when indoors - when I am outside I turn it up brighter using Power Control widget. Settings > Display > Brightness.
Note: You can also leave it on AUTO, which is will provide optimal bnrightness with respect to ambient light.
- Display - Animations=Your choice: I personally have ALL of them enabled, but that is scarificing a small amount of battery power. If you do NOT need the pretty transitions, you can opt for other options. Settings > Display > Animation.
- Display - Screen Timeout=30: I leave mine at 30 seconds, as I think that's ideal for most situations. Settings > Display > Screen timeout.
- Location - Wireless networks=OFF : The phone uses tower and signal strength to calculate your APPROXIMATE location, which is a waste when you have GPS. NOTE: This feature assists in fiding your location indoors. If you plan on using GPS outside on than you should leave it OFF. Settings > Location & Security
- Location - GPS=ON: It should be ON if you plan on using MAPS or Navigation. NOTE: GPS is ONLY used when system needs it! Having it Checked OFF does NOT help battery life. The only time GPS is active is when you see the icon in the notification bar. Settings > Location & Security
MAJOR CONSIDERATIONS
- DATA - (3G/HSPA+) - Hogs the most battery, even more than the brightness of the phone. The reason for that is when you are surfing, searching, texting basically anythin that requires 3G/HSPA+ data the radio, CPU, and RAM are always working to ENCODE and DECODE data going in and out the device. This process requires all 3 major components to work simultaneously which draws more power from the the battery!
- Widgets - Widgets like facebook, twitter, weather, news do have processes running in the back which draw DATA depending on your refresh options. ie, You will draw less power if your facebook/twitter updates every 3 hours instead of 1.
- APPS - Always keep in mind that APPS like messengers and others which constantly need data DO run in the background. Background apps will draw DATA AS needed, which bring it back to the point above. Always make sure that you SIGN OUT of APPS that require background data, IF you don't plan on using them.
- Live Wallpaper - yes, it looks pretty as we all know it. Sadly, the truth is that both CPU and GPU are working hard in the background to bring a smile to your face when you look at the screen. Live wallpaper will affect your battery about 5 - 10%, dpepending on which one are you using.
- Vibration - Considered important as well.... if you are a CONSTANT texter/EMAIL-er AND you dont need Vibration, than you should turn it off. Vibration actually takes more battery power than actualy sounds.
- Volume - Should be considered important because the higher the volume the more battery power it'll take. If you can do just fine with a Mid-level volume than you should set ringer to mid level!
YOU SHOULD NOT USE A TASK KILLER APP
http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/
^^^ That explains everything about it ^^^
I'd be happy if one of the MODs made it a sticky, so we dont get Qs or reposts
and ofcourse I will also include any tips you guys have.... please leave a comment and explain why&how you think it saves battery life. I will than add it in this list
thanks for this.
auto-brightness works for me. also, wireless network location is kind of necessary because gps won't locate you when indoors. when you're indoors you don't really need an exact location anyway because you probably know where you are. but using wireless networks to get your approximate location enables you to quickly search for things nearby.
one more thing I might add - my G2 seems to constantly switch between edge and hspa. I think I recall this being an issue for the N1 too. if I'm not mistaken, switching taxes the battery. so I set the phone to only use 3G (or only 2G depending if I want to use less battery). you have to have Anycut. then crete a shortcut to "phone info." here you can control the radio behavior. WCDMA is 3G, while GSM is 2G.
also, question: anybody ever have any luck conditioning their battery? I keep hearing that it improves battery life but it's never really helped me
Thanks for the tips! Though, what are you sources saying that WiFi sleep uses more battery? Auto-brightness does work for me, it is just very slow to make changes and tends to be on the brighter side.
most of these tips are pretty much universal for most of the current and past android phones.
LET IT BE KNOWN the main reason for battery drain (slow or fast) is APPS. They drain more than talking on the phone. They also are the main reason your screen (the next big battery killer) would stay on. In other words, don't complain about battery usage if you're using your phone constantly throughout the day @ work or home. ITS NOT GONNA BE GREAT!
joebobjoe said:
Thanks for the tips! Though, what are you sources saying that WiFi sleep uses more battery? Auto-brightness does work for me, it is just very slow to make changes and tends to be on the brighter side.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As an Electrical engineer, I work with wi-fi chipsets... The process is that when wifi is "sleeping" it temporarily goes to OFF when you lock the phone. [exception: when not using apps like pandora]. So when you turn the phone back ON, WiFi turns back ON and searches for the AP you were connected to. >> this process of turning OFF, ON, and SEARCHING, requires a more battery power than staying connected. When you are connected the router and phone are exchanging information (packets) on AS needed basis like when we use 3G/2G.
i did try Auto Brightness, its a bit Bright for me, i'm gonna continue to use it for the next few days, see how I like it.
joebobjoe said:
Thanks for the tips! Though, what are you sources saying that WiFi sleep uses more battery? Auto-brightness does work for me, it is just very slow to make changes and tends to be on the brighter side.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Auto-brightness seems to be buggy on the software side. The light sensor is very quick to detect changes, but the brightness doesn't drop back once it goes up. I feel that the brightness gets set to full at too low of a light level too. Using a screen protector and case does help a little by blocking some of the light, but it's not enough.
Actually, having GPS on consumes battery even when it is not used. And quite a lot. I have seen mayor battery boost after I started to turn it off when I do not use it. (on G1).
I've done some monitoring with PowerTutor and noticed that the Facebook app significantly drains the G2's battery (even when all features are disabled). If you sign out of it you should notice a 2+ hour increase in your battery life. People in my other thread have confirmed this and I think it might be a bug with facebook 1.3.2. I recommend making a link on your home page to m.facebook.com instead of using the facebook app.
I have also noticed that the e-mail app (NOT G-MAIL), when using Exchange ActiveSync, drains a good bit of battery when used with a Hotmail account (I'm not sure if other exchange servers have this problem or if the problem is in the e-mail app itself). The remedy that I have come up with for this is to make a new G-mail account, set hotmail to forward to it, and then on the gmail website go to Settings-> Accounts and Import and under the Send Mail As: section, add your hotmail account to it and set it as the default.
This way you get g-mail's lightweight mail pushing (which is just as fast as exchange) and it's transparent to you and everyone who has your hotmail address.
Besides those two tips, I recommend using PowerTutor to diagnose any abnormally low battery life issues you may have. My power usage is way down after fixing these two problems. Once in PowerTutor, go to View Application Power Usage, set Time Span to total, disable LCD monitoring, and set Sort By to Energy usage. Reset the power profiler and lock your phone and let it sit idle for about 30 mins to 1 hr, and then look at the application power usage. PowerTutor will probably be the top one, but you should also see what other applications are sapping your battery life.
Note: PowerTutor itself drains battery, so you should not constantly run it. I think it is set to start automatically so you will want to go in to settings and turn that off.
funkadesi said:
Its time we need a thread like this to ensure every G2 user is getting the best out of their battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 Sticky Please.
pmstc said:
I've done some monitoring with PowerTutor and noticed that the Facebook app significantly drains the G2's battery (even when all features are disabled). If you sign out of it you should notice a 2+ hour increase in your battery life. People in my other thread have confirmed this and I think it might be a bug with facebook 1.3.2. I recommend making a link on your home page to m.facebook.com instead of using the facebook app.
I have also noticed that the e-mail app (NOT G-MAIL), when using Exchange ActiveSync, drains a good bit of battery when used with a Hotmail account (I'm not sure if other exchange servers have this problem or if the problem is in the e-mail app itself). The remedy that I have come up with for this is to make a new G-mail account, set hotmail to forward to it, and then on the gmail website go to Settings-> Accounts and Import and under the Send Mail As: section, add your hotmail account to it and set it as the default.
This way you get g-mail's lightweight mail pushing (which is just as fast as exchange) and it's transparent to you and everyone who has your hotmail address.
Besides those two tips, I recommend using PowerTutor to diagnose any abnormally low battery life issues you may have. My power usage is way down after fixing these two problems. Once in PowerTutor, go to View Application Power Usage, set Time Span to total, disable LCD monitoring, and set Sort By to Energy usage. Reset the power profiler and lock your phone and let it sit idle for about 30 mins to 1 hr, and then look at the application power usage. PowerTutor will probably be the top one, but you should also see what other applications are sapping your battery life.
Note: PowerTutor itself drains battery, so you should not constantly run it. I think it is set to start automatically so you will want to go in to settings and turn that off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think with exchange rather than having the user select the refresh interval (ie 30 mins, 1 hour) the system is a ALWAYS ON connection which constantly checks your e-mail. As oppose to G-Mail..... they as get PUSHED to your phone by google's servers every time you get an e-mail as oppose to an ALWAYS ON system.
There is a lot of hush going on about the facebook app draining the battery... hence I addressed the widget/app parts..... as of now I think we should wait for an update to see how things change, it is a software bug.
Location - Wireless networks=OFF
By turning this off won't you in turn be turning off assisted GPS?
IE - the GPS will not have an approximate location and begin locating from there but will rather have to cycle much further to dial in and take much longer to calculate your position?
Just asking - if you haven't noticed a difference then that's cool.
I also noticed shop savvy was taking up alot of my battery drain. Looks like it was running in the background non stop. I uninstalled it.
Isn't WCDMA the HSPA+ network and CDMA the 3G? I currently have mine set to edge only since the speeds are slow all across the board in my town. Even on the phones down at the tmobile store. Hoping its just a minor tower issue in my area.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
funkadesi said:
i think with exchange rather than having the user select the refresh interval (ie 30 mins, 1 hour) the system is a ALWAYS ON connection which constantly checks your e-mail. As oppose to G-Mail..... they as get PUSHED to your phone by google's servers every time you get an e-mail as oppose to an ALWAYS ON system.
There is a lot of hush going on about the facebook app draining the battery... hence I addressed the widget/app parts..... as of now I think we should wait for an update to see how things change, it is a software bug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exchange activesync should push email. I had set it to push and hotmail supposively supports this. Even if it doesn't, I tried setting it to polling and it still seemed to use a decent amount of battery life. Anyways something is wrong with activesync pushing.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
funkadesi said:
i think with exchange rather than having the user select the refresh interval (ie 30 mins, 1 hour) the system is a ALWAYS ON connection which constantly checks your e-mail. As oppose to G-Mail..... they as get PUSHED to your phone by google's servers every time you get an e-mail as oppose to an ALWAYS ON system.
There is a lot of hush going on about the facebook app draining the battery... hence I addressed the widget/app parts..... as of now I think we should wait for an update to see how things change, it is a software bug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exchange uses Activesync, which pushes messages as well. The ongoing sync is for contacts and calendar items which if you do not make a lot of changes, change to off and sync then yourself manually.
markdurant said:
Exchange uses Activesync, which pushes messages as well. The ongoing sync is for contacts and calendar items which if you do not make a lot of changes, change to off and sync then yourself manually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had turned all Syncing off besides mail and it was still eating battery on push mode... just something to keep in mind for Activesync users who are experiencing abnormally low battery life
raqua said:
Actually, having GPS on consumes battery even when it is not used. And quite a lot. I have seen mayor battery boost after I started to turn it off when I do not use it. (on G1).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPS ONLY uses battery when it is in use. You will know this because the icon will appear when it is being used. It doesn't use battery just being on. WiFi and Bluetooth do because they have to constantly "keep their eyes open" for things like networks and bluetooth devices that want to pair/communicate.
ddgarcia05 said:
I also noticed shop savvy was taking up alot of my battery drain. Looks like it was running in the background non stop. I uninstalled it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed this too on other Android phones but not on my G2. It would just show up in Battery Use even though I wasn't using it. If you want to see what is keeping your phone awake you can use the hidden Battery History menu. The "partial wake usage" is usually a big contributor for bad standby times. You could also try changing from WCDMA Preferred to GSM Auto PRL. This helps some people.
khaosxiii said:
Location - Wireless networks=OFF
By turning this off won't you in turn be turning off assisted GPS?
IE - the GPS will not have an approximate location and begin locating from there but will rather have to cycle much further to dial in and take much longer to calculate your position?
Just asking - if you haven't noticed a difference then that's cool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of people have been reporting that this feature as of NOW updates every hour, regardless of which services/apps need it. If you ask me, I haven't noticed any significant amount in the time it takes to get GPS location having that feature turned OFF. If you do a cold start (i.e. restart your phone) than the GPS will take a couple of more seconds to initialize for the first time use. However, from than on everytime you use the GPS it shouldn't take more than 10 seconds to acquire your position.
hah2110 said:
I noticed this too on other Android phones but not on my G2. It would just show up in Battery Use even though I wasn't using it. If you want to see what is keeping your phone awake you can use the hidden Battery History menu. The "partial wake usage" is usually a big contributor for bad standby times. You could also try changing from WCDMA Preferred to GSM Auto PRL. This helps some people.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you explain more about this settings, and how would one get to this setting.... If it helps save the battery I'll add it to the list
funkadesi said:
Could you explain more about this settings, and how would one get to this setting.... If it helps save the battery I'll add it to the list
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure... At the phone menu (must be the native dialer), dial *#*#4636#*#*. Then chose Battery History and you can use the drop downs to control what you view. If you go to "phone information", you can change the preferred network type. Here you can force 3g only, etc. WCDMA Preferred fights to get a 3G signal and keep it. GSM Auto PRL uses a downloaded list to choose whether to use 3G or 2G, thereby saving battery in certain cases.
Hello all,
I'm pretty new to all this Android stuff...and forum stuff, for that matter. Your patience is appreciated.
I have a SG Note 3.
I've been learning a bit about battery drain issues and how I can mitigate some of them by shutting down apps in different ways, and have recently been messing around a bit in the application manager and turning off some of the "bloatware" in there.
I live in quite a rural setting, on the fringes of cell reception. There are a couple of different reasons why I am interested to know if it's possible to turn off the phone app when I know that my phone will not have good reception (which causes it to constantly search harder for a signal, thus draining the battery PDQ) but I don't want to power down the device....For instance, when I'm out on my boat, or hiking/camping where there is little or no signal, and I want to use the GPS-related apps.
In the application manager, for some apps you have the choice to 'turn off', and for others the only option is to 'force stop'. The warning prompt that appears somehow seems more ominous for the 'force stop' option. Perhaps I'm just more cautious about 'forcing' any function because of my son having warned me years ago, with computer related issues, about how it's to be used as a last resort, and using it too often is potentially flirting with disaster.
I do NOT want to root my phone, as I don't trust my level of understanding with these types of thing. If it comes down to buying another battery or two and a charger for them and rotating them in and out of the phone, I suppose I may resort to such a PITA, but hopefully some better ideas come up here.
Thanks in advance,
Bruce
Disabling the phone app won't help. What you need to do is turn on airplane mode, then turn on the radios you want on individually (wifi, bt, etc). On stock at least, it'll leave the cellular connection off, and turn on the individual selections until you turn off airplane mode.
Sent from my leanKernel 3.4 powered stock 4.4.2 (NF4) SM-N900T