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Hey guys - have a question for those of you that have used Dream/Magic.. I notice that most of the really interesting Android apps are location-aware apps.. which got me wondering whether people constantly leave their GPS on and if so, how this goes with the battery life. Or are most of these location aware apps using tower-based triangulation?
For example, some apps let you know if one of your friends is in the area - surely such an app would be kind of useless if your friend had to intentionally turn both GPS and the app on before leaving home.
Thanks!
My understanding is that the Android API has a location call which will use whatever is available... cell tower triangulation, wifi hotspot location and GPS. So apps will just default to the most accurate in any given circumstance, no need to leave on GPS to necessarily get the location features.
Personally I leave GPS and WiFi on and I get about 18 hours out of the battery with some talktime and fairly heavy usage on the screen. I don't get enough for two days even if I turn everything off so the way I see it I'm resigned to charging every day and might as well have the features
georgefrs said:
My understanding is that the Android API has a location call which will use whatever is available... cell tower triangulation, wifi hotspot location and GPS. So apps will just default to the most accurate in any given circumstance, no need to leave on GPS to necessarily get the location features.
Personally I leave GPS and WiFi on and I get about 18 hours out of the battery with some talktime and fairly heavy usage on the screen. I don't get enough for two days even if I turn everything off so the way I see it I'm resigned to charging every day and might as well have the features
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Your understanding is not correct. As a programmer, you can specify minimum required accuracy, which means that you can force it to require GPS over cell tower.
@rahux: cell tower location doesn't use any extra power since it is connected to the cell towers anyways. Regarding "leaving your gps on", that is really an inaccurate way of saying "not force-disabling the gps". The gps does NOT consume any extra power just because you have it enabled in the system settings... it only consumes power when an application/service is actually USING it, and you can tell when something is using it because the GPS icon will be visible. In other words, if all your gps-aware software is well behaved, then there is NEVER any reason to disable the gps, and if any of your gps-aware software is NOT well behaved, then you should probably uninstall that software rather than disabling the gps.
@lbcoder
That makes sense. Thanks That makes a lot of sense. Just curious - how long would it take to get a GPS signal then? I know my current WinMo phone always takes over a minute to find satellites, sometimes longer (on a clear day in the suburbs). Suppose it doesn't really matter anyway.
Thanks!
I leave it on solely because of "Wheres my Android". I get a GPS fix in less than 5 seconds and [knock on wood] if I ever lose my phone, I want the GPS ability. The developer had written somewhere that you used to be able to force GPS on through the app remotely but that functionality was removed.
I have a g1 & with my GPS enabled I am only down about 25% of my charge on the average day of probably about 15 hours of intermintent use mainly on messaging & web apps.. And some apps do not work with the cell location, but do with GPS.. 1 being an atm location finder for my bank,,
I always leave mine on. The difference in battery life is minimal. The only time you need to worry is if you have an app misbehaving in the background that is checking your location CONSTANTLY. My favorite GPS Speedometer app does this, once you run it there's no way to get it to release the GPS and it will kill your entire battery in just a couple of hours.
But under normal circumstances, simply leaving the hardware enabled isn't going to make any significant change to your battery life, it all depends on how much your background processes are using it.
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.
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+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
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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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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?
Battery Saving Tips
1. Keeping mobile data (i.e., 4G or 3G) or wifi on all of the time uses battery. Ask yourself if you really need to be notified in real time about every new email, Facebook post, or tweet. If it isn't that important, then keep mobile data and wifi off until you really need it. Although most devices make it easy to toggle wifi off and on, it's a little more inconvenient to toggle mobile data with the stock controls. I like Power Toggles, which is very customizable and easy to use; another popular choice is Widgetsoid.
2. The biggest power drain is usually from the screen. The longer it's on and the brighter it is, the faster your battery drains. Adjust your screen timeout so that it turns off after 30-60 seconds of idle. Turn the brightness down to 50% or less, which is usually more than enough for indoor lighting. Automatic brightness may or may not help save battery--some think that constant sensing and screen adjustment may actually contribute to battery use.
3. Many apps (e.g., Facebook) by default will try to refresh their data on the web at certain intervals. In order to do so, they have to partially wake the device up from sleep, then try to access the web, and then refresh data, all of which uses battery. If you don't need realtime updates, you can typically change to manual refresh in the app's Settings, which prevents the app from waking up the device. For Facebook, all you need to do when you open the app is just swipe down, and your newsfeed will manually refresh to what's current.
4. Google Currents is notorious for being a memory and battery hog. Many people have reported that battery life improved significantly after changing its refresh setting to manual and/or disabling Google Currents completely. (Update 7/2014: Google Currents has since been replaced by Google Play Newsstand, which manages memory much more efficiently, without the same battery drain.)
5. Along the same lines, consider turning off the device's Background Sync. You can find the switch to turn it on or off under Settings/Accounts/Google, but it's easier to use the stock Power Control toggle or the better Power Toggles or Widgetsoid apps. Turning off Background Sync means the device is spending less time and energy syncing your Google account. If Background Sync is off, you can always manually refresh any of the Google apps within their respective menus.
6. Some apps partially wake a device up from sleep (called a "wake lock") numerous times a day to do things like trying to check the web for data updates as well as reporting location data. Install an app to detect wake locks like Wake Lock Detector. Let it run for the better part of a day, then open it and find out what apps are responsible for the most wake locks. (Update 7/2014: KitKat no longer allows apps like this to report wakelocks unless your rooted.)
7. #6 is how I discovered that Google Maps was burning up a fair amount of battery due to its Location Reporting (previously for Latitude, now used for Google+). If Location Reporting is turned on, then Maps causes very frequent wake locks to check location and report it. I don't think Latitude was that popular--I certainly didn't use it, because I don't really want other people to know exactly where I am, so I turn off Location Reporting by opening Maps, tapping Settings/Google Location Settings, and turning off Location Reporting. Note that this does not affect the ability of your apps to use your location to refine searches, for example.
8. Widgets are definitely a cool feature that makes Android unique, but some of them also contribute to battery drain--specifically the ones that need to access the web to update their information (think weather widgets). Review your widget use and remove the ones you really don't use.
9. Live wallpapers, another feature that distinguishes Android, can also use up power like crazy--typically the ones that are very graphics/animation intensive, or the ones that also access the web for information like weather. Use static wallpapers instead, but if they're too boring.
10. Vibrate uses a lot of power. Do you really need your phone to ring and vibrate at the same time? Do you really need the haptic feedback when you're typing (especially if you're using Swype-style gesture typing)? Turn off vibrate.
11. GPS is another big power-sucker. For most location-based apps, using Google Location Services (based on the wifi hotspot's MAC address or by triangulating your nearest cell towers) is enough, since it generally locates you accurately within about 100 meters. Use GPS only if you need a more precise location, like if you're driving and using Navigation. Otherwise, turn off GPS by changing the setting to "Battery Saving."
12. You never know what kinds of processes the bloatware on your device might be responsible for, but they might be contributing to battery use as well. Go to Settings/Apps/All Apps, go through the list, and disable any bloatware apps that you don't need. Be cautious that you don't disable an important system app--if you aren't sure, just post a question in one of the AC Forums, and someone is bound to know.
13. Understand how Android utilizes RAM, and resist the urge to use task killers. To understand how things work, read this article by the esteemed Jerry Hildenbrand here, as well as this guide by Ambassador extraordinaire Golfdriver97. Apps that you kill manually will often restart on their own, which in itself takes a little bit of CPU and battery power--so if it's happening hundreds of times a day, it can become significant. The main reason to use a task killer is if there is some runaway process that you know is bogging the system down and won't shut down on its own. It might still restart on its own--if the cycle keeps happening, it's probably a problem with the app, which should be uninstalled or disabled.
14. Poor cell reception kills battery, because the radio is working overtime to try to establish the connection. If you know you're going to be in an area of poor reception for a while, consider turning on Airplane Mode to temporarily shut off your cell radio. You can get some idea of how much time you're spending in an area of poor signal by going to Settings/Battery, tapping Cell Standby (if it's there), and seeing if it says how much time without signal there was.
15. If none of the above tips are helping, then try wiping the cache partition, which is the portion of memory where Android stores a lot of temporary data. It's a little different from clearing the cache of individual apps, because the cache partition also stores a lot of temporary data used by the system. You need to access your device's recovery menu in order to wipe the cache partition, and this process varies with the device, so the best way to learn how to do it is to do a web search for "wipe cache partition [your device name]."
Not really a fan of threads like this, basically they say turn the cool features of your phone off to save it's battery? Yes I still read them in case someone comes up with something interesting or innovative but generally all the same don't use some of the best features of your phone.
We're not iPhone users buy spare battery.
Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Free mobile app
Try a custom kernel
So is there a fix for battery drain? i keep reading all these threads about basically turning off everything no your phone. my problem is i used to have everything on my phone on and still was a good 50% battery life left at the end of the day. this was with heavy use as well. a lot internet surfing, youtube, gaming, location was turned on. I was loving my battery life. Now, seemingly over night my battery is horrible. i cannot make it to the end of the day with almost no use, i now have to charge it half way through the day to get it to last me until 9 oclock or so. my battery is now at 70-80% after a couple hours with absolutely no use. any idea or fix for what has caused this sudden drain of my battery?
Personally I use apps that close apps that automatically (autorun pro is my favourite) start block ad's etc I get a good days usage from mine.
It's a compromise but I carry a spare battery as well
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So I found out my issue was my email app. I cleared the data on it and now I'm back to having a 50% battery left at the end of a day with heavy use.
---------- Post added at 08:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:28 PM ----------
So I found out my issue was my email app. I cleared the data on it and now I'm back to having a 50% battery left at the end of a day with heavy use.
Turning off all features that make a phone "smart" is like buying a luxury Mercedes and ignore all those functions and use it as if it's a cheap Chinese car! If I want to use my phone just for SMS and Call why not buy a Nokia 1100 and buy a tablet to check my emails, viber and all other apps!
I bought a Galaxy S5 to utilize those functions. Anyway, previously my phone used to drain its battery in 6 hours! by adjusting my setting to the following I could increase the battery life to 14 hours! (I know it is still low but way better than 6 hours!)
1. Decrease the BRIGHTNESS as low as possible. For casual use we do not need a bright screen! whenever you wanna check an important photo you may increase the brightness temporary. (only by this you can have extra 2 hours or more)
2. Turn off unnecessary syncs, I do not need to have my contacts synced with 10 servers! Allow your phone to sync them with only one account ( I did it for Google only and turned off Samsung acc. dropbox, ChatOn and ...)
3. Do not add so many email accounts to your phone! Just add those you use frequently ( I have 5 emails and only 2 of them are vital for me!)
4. Set your location to use wifi only, and turn your GPS on only when you want to have a turn-by-turn navigation ( built in GPS can drain you battery in less than 1 hour!)
5. Turn off Push notifications for Games. ( you do not miss anything if you attend to your games 1 hour late!)
6. Uninstall those communication apps that are not necessary, you do not need to have BBM, Viber, Line, Whatsapp, Telegram, Hulu, Wechat and ... Keep those that you use frequently (In my case I kept Viber and Whatsapp only)
7. Uninstall any Anti-virus app! The likelihood of getting malware or virus if you install apps from Google Store is almost zero, so you only allocate some RAM to an useless app for doing nothing! If you wanna have any I recommend "360 Security" as I learned it uses only 6 mb of RAM and you can turn off real time protection.
By doing the above things I could get 8 hours extra from my phone!
It also a good idea to check which apps 'Autorun' when your phone restarts. SD Maid (maybe PRO version) has an AppControl option that lets you toggle autorun on or off.
[HOW-TO][NEWBIE GUIDE] Optimize & proper set up your Galaxy S6 Edge (stock firmware)
As I've read across this forum and on several specific threads related to usage, battery life and so on, as well as discussing with some of my friends having a S6 or S6 Edge, I realized that most of the people don't really know how to properly set up their phones or how to use them efficiently.
OK, I get it, this is a fancy phone, not every owner is a developer or tech guy so it might be that many choose it based on the looks and don't really know how to optimize it...then they start complaining about different things like lag or battery drain not knowing that most of the problems are caused by miss-usage or improper setup. Of course there are bugs too, nothing is perfect. Of course there are many firmwares available and some are market or carrier dependent so some features or settings might be missing from some of them or even work differently.
What I will try here is to provide some guidelines and tips for setting up various things on the phone in order to maximize it's battery life and for a better usage. I will also make some recommendations based on my experience, tests and usage that might not apply to everyone. Use common sense and logic to apply similar settings in your particular case. Don't come screaming that you made that or that and now something is not working.
And YES, I know there are similar guides like this posted over the Internet and I'll probably make similar recommendations here too but I couldn't find such a guide here on XDA that is particular to this phone (if there is a better one than you might as well ignore mine).
All these things I'll describe below are applicable to any STOCK, NON-ROOTED 5.1.1 firmware and won't break warranty or your phone.
Now that was a long (and maybe unneeded introduction) but I thought to write this for everyone...let's start.
Model No.: SM-G925F
Android: 5.1.1 r2 (LMY47X)
Baseband: G925FXXU2QOI7
Kernel: 3.10.61-5672012
Build date: Fri Sept 4 2015
Carrier: Orange RO
DISPLAY
First I would like to say some words about the display. We have a great display, high resolution and it is most likely the biggest battery drain factor. There are two major things about it that you should keep in mind and will help you to get a better battery:
1. It's AMOLED...that means that the black pixels on it will consume no power because are not lit. Studies showed that even if not completely black, AMOLED displays use less energy if the displayed picture is darker compared to a lighter one.
2. The brightness level. Most people use it on "auto" or high level settings and this will be a major drain factor.
You can drastically lower the battery drain caused by your screen by selecting as much as possible dark (black) backgrounds and/or themes. There are some nice ones available in the Theme Store (my favorite is the Dalkomm Coffee Theme), that make most screens and menus dark/black. Also choosing a dark wallpaper for lockscreen/homescreens will help.
Don't use screen brightness at maximum...never. You don't need that in 99% of the cases. Also you won't probably need the automatic setting either since most of the people are spending most of the time indoors (either at work or home). A low manual setting will be fine most of the time, I have it set up at about 20% and only need a brighter one when going out. At that time I just tap on "auto" and it'll increase based on ambient light level. So you don't even need to tweak it alot every time. Find a low manual setting that's fine for your eyes and just tap on "auto" when you go out in sunlight.
CONNECTIVITY
Another battery drain factor is your multiple connection/radios features. In most cases you use just several: Mobile Data, WiFi, GPS/location and BT (when applicable). That means you should turn off all the others you don't use...NFC or BT (when not connected to a headset or car-kit or not listening to music). I don't listen to music and don't have a BT headset so I mostly not using BT (just when I'm in my car) and almost never use NFC so I have both disabled and I enable them only when needed via the Quick Settings.
WiFi
WiFi should also be properly setup otherwise it'll have impact on battery. It was incorrectly assumed or considered that keeping WiFi on all the time will drain battery faster. That was proven in different tests that's not true and in fact keeping WiFi on all the time won't make a big difference and in some cases was even better than to turn it off/on. I think is something similar with the car engines that suck more fuel when started that when running at idle. The major power drain is not when WiFi is running while is not connected to any network, but when the WiFi radio is powered up. When is on and not connected, it's going into a lower power state so the battery consumption is negligible.
I had a case with one of my friends that had WiFi setup to turn off when display was off...wrong choice, he got about 30% battery drain overnight because instead of having it connected to his home WiFi, the phone was using his 4G/LTE connection to make all the background sync/updates. That was eating his battery and also his data plan. After setting WiFi to "always" his overnight drain lowered to as little as 2-3%.
In some regions/carriers there are 2 other settings that were proven to help battery life: WiFi calling and VoLTE. I don't have either of them but based on different articles and what people say, they surely help with that so don't forget to turn them off if you don't use these features.
You might also want to try turning off "Always allows scanning" and "Smart network switch". I have the second turned off but I keep on the first one. Basically the first option tell the Location service to use WiFi for locating the device even if WiFi is switched off (by the on/off switch) so that means the radio is active. Second option should make you switch faster from WiFi to mobile data in case the WiFi signal is not strong enough or fluctuating. In my country there are plenty of WiFi hot-spots and they have mostly good connections so I don't use this feature.
GPS
Well here the opinions are split but I am currently having it ON all the time and Location Service is set to "high accuracy". I personally haven't noticed such a major difference with or without it so I preferred to let it on as it is used by many apps or services. You can try to set Location to "wifi and cell only" but don't think that will bring you a major benefit.
RUNNING APPS/PROCESSES
Well this is an important one. I've initially started to turn off/disable/uninstall everything I don't need or use. This can be done mostly from the Settings - Applications - Application Manager or if you want to go further, you can install Package Disabler Pro from PlayStore, about which I'll detail later.
Now why we should do that? There are lots of apps, processes and background services running on our devices that take care about all the things we do on the device. The problem is that ALL are using resources: processor time, memory, space and so on. In the end these are translated for a user in LAG or battery drain. Of course we cannot kill everything and I learned long time ago that installing Task or memory managers on Android it's the worst thing you can do. Android it's smart enough to take care better about it's resources and processes (at least to a certain point) and keep killing a certain process won't give you more battery life but will eat more of it in the end,
What I wanted to say is you shouldn't start disabling, killing or blocking everything cause you might end up with an unstable or not properly working phone (case in which only a factory reset might help). First of all look at the ALL tab in Application Manager and try to identify what you don't need or use. For example I'm certainly not using some things like: music, books, news feeds, Samsung's keyboard (I use SwiftKey), the TouchWiz launcher (I use Nova), health services or whatever, S-Voice, S-Health, S-Finder, I don't have any smartwatches so I don't use any Gear processes, fancy device wake-up functions (like wave gestures) or animated wallpapers either.
So after all considerations above, you decided that you can safely disable some apps/processes. All good but you'll quickly learn that some of them cannot be disabled via Application Manager (the "disable" button is grayed out). Now what? Well here comes handy that Package Disabler Pro that I've told you about in the beginning. That app is able to disable ANY apps/processes on your phone, including those that are protected and cannot be disabled via the normal way (and yes it can do that without being rooted). The downside of it is that you must be careful what you choose to disable not to have something that is needed for the normal functionality or the apps you're currently using. The app has also a backup/restore function (via an xml file) for saving the list with apps you have disabled and easily import them back after a factory reset for ex. I've added to this thread my list of disabled apps as it is exported by the application (just unzip and copy the file on the root of your internal memory and it can then be imported in the Package Disabler app)
Another important thing is WHAT apps you're using. I know that socializing and social networking are some of today's most trendy things but keep in mind that some of the apps used for that are not so well made. An example could be the Facebook app/messenger which are reported to drain alot of battery. RSS feeds, news feeds, multiple weather apps or widgets, all contribute to battery drain and lag. Don't install several apps/widgets for the same purpose (like several calendar apps or weather apps). Each will take resources and won't have an added value. Want to use another weather app/widget than the one coming with the phone? Fine, install it...but don't forget to uninstall/disable the built in one or others that do the same thing. Same goes for keyboard for ex; I use SwiftKey for years and got used with it. For me it's better than any keyboard that Samsung might put on the device, therefore I've disabled the standard Samsung keyboard. I also don't like TouchWiz launcher and use Nova that offers me much more flexibility so...I've disabled both the "easy" and "regular" TouchWiz launchers. I went to the point that I've even disabled the different embedded font types, you have 5 of them and I doubt someone uses more than one at a time.
So as you all can see it's not only a matter of setup but also a matter of usage. When you have a device you have to use it properly otherwise it'll not perform as you expect. Imagine a car that has a manufacturer fuel consumption value of 5.5 liters/100 Km....that's under certain conditions not on ANY type of driving. Fly with 200+ km/hr on a highway and I'll guarantee you won't have 5.5 liters/100 km consumption. That doesn't mean the manufacturer has lied or mislead you. Same goes with a phone, if you don't know how to use it and optimize it, you'll have a bad experience.
I work in the IT industry for years and I mostly laugh when I hear someone advising somebody to reinstall the operating system to solve a problem. Same goes for "factory reset" for a phone. Yes, this method works some times but that won't solve the root cause of an issues if you're using it the same way. After several days it'll perform as bad as before and you'll just say that "factory reset" did nothing. Of course it didn't...YOU have to do something different, not the phone.
Now I apologize for the long post and I do hope that at least some will learn to better manage their devices and to understand what they're doing not just running certain commands or procedures blind. Both S6 and S6e are great devices but we should learn how to properly use them in order to benefit the most from them...otherwise we just come here asking for help or mumbling about what crap devices they are.
Thank you, I will check to see if I get an improvement on the standby battery drain.
Your part about not setting the screen to Auto is flawed. You mention that we are mostly indoors, and you don't need a brighter screen for that. Auto mode also knows that and sets the brightness lower. It already does automatically what you do manually.
Tnx. And yes....keeping screen at 20% brightness and just switching to auto when in outdoors works great for the battery life.
ArmedandDangerous said:
Your part about not setting the screen to Auto is flawed. You mention that we are mostly indoors, and you don't need a brighter screen for that. Auto mode also knows that and sets the brightness lower. It already does automatically what you do manually.
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Click to collapse
Not quite, I've tested it. If you're on "auto" and use a lower setting on the slidebar, in a dark room the screen is too dark, you'll have to turn off "auto" and the manual brighteness set on the same level will be much higher than on auto.
Now if you have such good eyes and you're able to use "auto" in all cases with the slider at 20% that's good for you...unfortunately I am not so that's why I use it as I've described. The point is that "auto" mode consumes MORE battery regardless of how it's set, than a lower 'manual' mode. So I preffer to have it like this than to use auto all the time.
Thanks for the awesome guide. I'll start disabling some useless processes and see how my battery life is working. Anyway without much editing the battery of S6Edge is pretty good. I can use it a whole day and still 19% remaining. As a comparison I wasn't able to do it with my S3 having to recharge it 2 or even 3 times at day.
Again, thanks for the guide!
Enviado desde mi SGS6e mediante Tapatalk
Is anyone having serious battery drain? If so is there a fix for it!!
Not here...
Full charge at 9:00pm and by 6:00am I only see 3% drop, I don't call it a drain
(no root, latest Android Q update, location on, cell data on, bluetooth and NFC off)
Yes there is definitely higher drain on Android 10 overall.
Currently I am on AOSiP10 and getting 3-4% idle drain and about 2-3 SOT less than on AICP Pie. My friend on Stock 10 @ZeroInfinity has noticed a higher drain than Pie as well.
I'm in the process of figuring out what is causing the higher drain.
comp101inc said:
Is anyone having serious battery drain? If so is there a fix for it!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No mine is about the same as with Pie (I haven't noticed any difference ... apart from once when I ran it right down I only got about 8hrs of sot (screen on time whereas on pie I'd get about 9 but it wasn't scientific not sure if I had the exact same settings).
Is an app showing high battery usage (Also use hamburger menu to show full system usage which incl standby)(might even be worth also looking at memory usage for each app under developer settings, if nothing stands out under battery for some reason). If very high usage suddenly maybe an app conflict with latest update. Or possibly even a crypto miner or some other malware. You can also check battery usage when booted into safe mode so no third party apps run.
only got around 2 to 3 hours sot after updating to Android 10
ronFenomeno said:
only got around 2 to 3 hours sot after updating to Android 10
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Click to collapse
Custom is always better than stock on this phone.
Wait for the AOSP ROMs to arrive and you will be able to easily get double that SOT time!
ronFenomeno said:
only got around 2 to 3 hours sot after updating to Android 10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did notice somewhat higher drain on A10, but not too much to worry about. My SOT on a single charge is usually about 5+ hours. Full stock, rooted. I am using WiFi Automatic to disable WiFi when the phone is inactive, so that might be helping, not sure how much...
On AOSiP10 there is no wild battery drain.
My device sleeps like a baby.
My advice? Stay off stock Android 10 if at all possible!
CamoGeko said:
Stay off stock Android 10 if at all possible!
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Click to collapse
Not trying to convince anybody, but I am quite happy on stock. I used to flash custom ROMs a lot, but there is always *something* that doesn't work properly. Could be camera, audio, bluetooth, calls, sensors, whatever... So, optimized stock always seems to work better for me. Especially considering that stock on PH-1 is essentially (no pun intended ) a clean Android, I see no reason to switch. But... To everyone their own.
ronFenomeno said:
only got around 2 to 3 hours sot after updating to Android 10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
something must be wrong, maybe old app dicta restored or similar?
The following is fairly normal for me with web browsing & social media (no gaming), I have background scanning set to off for both wifi & Bluetooth but do have an always on VPN as you can see (that battery drain is from other apps using the VPN, not just the VPN)
kt-Froggy said:
Not trying to convince anybody, but I am quite happy on stock. I used to flash custom ROMs a lot, but there is always *something* that doesn't work properly. Could be camera, audio, bluetooth, calls, sensors, whatever... So, optimized stock always seems to work better for me. Especially considering that stock on PH-1 is essentially (no pun intended ) a clean Android, I see no reason to switch. But... To everyone their own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What optimizations are you using with Android 10?
I'm getting similar results just using Magisk modules: FDE.AI (plus liboemcrypto disabler for on-demand apps and updates).
Also, my phone was ported from Sprint to T-Mobile and I've only recently got a better grip on changing tower conditions with this APN guide from T-Mobile. I had redundant APNs that may have been slowing connection to changing conditions while in motion or changing towers. Support wasn't much help anytime I called. Vacationing in a rural area with limited and slow data had me looking for a better solution. Even better than before coming back home and surfing internet in a passenger car on the freeway. Deleting the redundant ones was key, I believe.
https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-2090
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
samep said:
What optimizations are you using with Android 10?
I'm getting similar results just using Magisk modules: FDE.AI (plus liboemcrypto disabler for on-demand apps and updates).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, same here - I am using FDE.AI as well. I also use WiFi Automatic to turn off WiFi when the phone sleeps (IMO, it was a dumb move to remove that setting from Android). I am also shutting down Internet access with NetGuard to the apps that have no business with it, and limiting or removing location access to most of the apps.
On my previous devices I had to get rid of the OEM and carrier bloat, but PH-1 is using basically a clean Android, making it much leaner...
kt-Froggy said:
Actually, same here - I am using FDE.AI as well. I also use WiFi Automatic to turn off WiFi when the phone sleeps (IMO, it was a dumb move to remove that setting from Android). I am also shutting down Internet access with NetGuard to the apps that have no business with it, and limiting or removing location access to most of the apps.
On my previous devices I had to get rid of the OEM and carrier bloat, but PH-1 is using basically a clean Android, making it much leaner...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried WiFi disabling in years (Juice Defender and profile apps) but I do limit apps' access to Internet with Adguard (unlocked licensed version).
I'll give the WiFi Automatic app a try and see how that goes. I have little use for WiFi outside of those saved networks that auto connect.
Thanks for the reply and suggestion.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
IronRoo said:
something muscat be wrong, maybe old app dicta restored or similar?
The following is fairly normal for me with web browsing & social media (no gaming), I have background scanning set to off for both wifi & Bluetooth but do have an always on VPN as you can see (that battery drain is from other apps using the VPN, not just the VPN)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mine is just a bit weird on the battery usage. the Google play services is the highest usage on the battery but it just use running foreground for an hour. just want to clear the phone cache but it seems that it could not be cleared since my phone is not rooted
ronFenomeno said:
mine is just a bit weird on the battery usage. the Google play services is the highest usage on the battery but it just use running foreground for an hour. just want to clear the phone cache but it seems that it could not be cleared since my phone is not rooted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are sure it's play services you can just go to apps, find it & then go to "storage & cache" and clear cache or if that doesn't work clear data. (you do not need to be rooted)
However I suspect it's more likely another app is the cause as some apps will use services like location that rely on Google play services which then shows high battryr use but it is these other apps that are actually the cause as they are requesting the service. If you can't work out which tureen on developer option and look under "running services" and "memory" watch hopefully will give you a clue.
PS. You can boot to the recovery and wipe the whole cache partition from there
IronRoo said:
If you are sure it's play services you can just go to apps, find it & thin go to "storage & cache" and clear cache or if that doesn't work clear data. (you do not need to be rooted)
However I suspect it's more likely another app is the cause as some apps will use services like location that rely on Google play services which then shows high battryr use but it is these other apps that are actually the cause as they are requesting the service. If you can't work out which tureen on developer option and look under "running services" and "memory" watch hopefully will give you a clue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
clearing data is the last method for me. if it is possible, i would not do it.
actually, the Google play services don't play to much, the battery just drain when the screen is on. however, i have tried to clear the cache of google play service before, it doesn't help.
there is an update today, just see whether it would improve it or not. would it be the issue of the battery indicator?