battery life suddenly gone awry - Hero, G2 Touch General

hi all,
I've installed a raft of apps in the last few days (perhaps that was foolish) on my sim-free white Hero, and suddently the battery life has gone to pieces. It now won't even last the night *in standby with wifi off*.
Any ideas as to the known battery killers, or any way I can track down which is causing this? I don't really have to want to start removing apps at random and monitoring.
There's nothing particularly unusual in my list of running apps, following a power cycle (is there?):
Shake Awake, NetCounter, AK Notepad, OI Update & Countdown, Tube Status, Battery Widget, BBC News widget, Peep
(although that does raise a separate question: why do things like ShopSavvy, AK Notepad, start at boot, when presumably they're not really doing anything until you use them?)
Of course, I have other things that get started asynchronously, just not at boot, e.g. SMS Popup.
anyone got any ideas, please?
thanks much indeed.

cdmackay said:
hi all,
I've installed a raft of apps in the last few days (perhaps that was foolish) on my sim-free white Hero, and suddently the battery life has gone to pieces. It now won't even last the night *in standby with wifi off*.
Any ideas as to the known battery killers, or any way I can track down which is causing this? I don't really have to want to start removing apps at random and monitoring.
There's nothing particularly unusual in my list of running apps, following a power cycle (is there?):
Shake Awake, NetCounter, AK Notepad, OI Update & Countdown, Tube Status, Battery Widget, BBC News widget, Peep
(although that does raise a separate question: why do things like ShopSavvy, AK Notepad, start at boot, when presumably they're not really doing anything until you use them?)
Of course, I have other things that get started asynchronously, just not at boot, e.g. SMS Popup.
anyone got any ideas, please?
thanks much indeed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue when i put on battery widget, I saw the % going down while watching the phone.

oh! that's ironic
I do get the impression that it's more recent than that, but it could well be, I suppose. I'll remove it and see... thanks.

I've heard that the bbc widget drains the battery.

This is something Google should address with android market. The system should apply various forms of stress testing to all applications and rate them according to connectivity requirements, CPU load, power consumption etc.

I think for people who have a serious drain they need to hard reset and start again, put 1 program on at a time and leave it a day or so with that program on, finding out whats causing the drain.
Logically thinking, i'd expect it to be a program that is using internet in the background, like the bbc widget which could still be downloading without you knowing.

good points, ta.

I already noticed this. I checked the CPU load in idle mode and normally it should be around 10% (using "System Monitor").
Sometimes however, depending on what apps were running, it is increased to 30-40% and staying there constantly.
Closing all apps (incl. Sense) does not help either, the CPU load won't go down again until i make a complete device reset.
So i guess some processes are stuck in thise case causing the high load (and draining the battery empty).

My GPS did not disconnect, after foto geo-tagging, and that goes quick as well.
Also the BBC-app was installed, but got rid of it because I didn't use it. Might be a coincidence.

The BBC app polls really often. There's no setting to tell it how often to poll. It really kills the battery fast

I wonder though: even when the phone is in standby? something is killing me in standby. Oddly, it seems better if the phone is on
I'll try removing the BBC app overnight, and see...
then the battery widget tomorrow, etc...

cdmackay said:
I wonder though: even when the phone is in standby? something is killing me in standby. Oddly, it seems better if the phone is on
I'll try removing the BBC app overnight, and see...
then the battery widget tomorrow, etc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turn on usb debugging... download the SDK.. cd into tools.. and run
adb logcat
or to send it to a file:
adb logcat > log.txt
(and ctrl + C to stop logging)
Inspect the log file and you'll see what its upto pretty quickly. Maybe its overkill, but I fire that up when it starts behaving strangly.
EDIT: err to answer your question.. yeah the widgets wake the phone up to grab new data, which eats battery. The BBC news one seems to be polling reallllly often, which is unecesarily using power.

quick update: removed BBC News and Battery Widget (separately), no change; phone still dies overnight, in fact in about 5 hours on standby, from a full battery, to totally dead.
I just this minute discovered that my phone whilst in standby is still polling my IMAP server to try and connect, and I have a huge inbox, which it was prob failing to get the headers for. Seems like a possible bug that it still does this whilst in standby, but I've disabled that account anyway. It might be the cause...

What do you mean by Standby? Just inactive? Airplane Mode?

sorry, poor terminology, perhaps. No, not airplane mode, just the screen-off state it goes into after a few minutes.
It does seem a little bit of a waste, if the phone is going to spend all night checking for new Twitter, Gmail, etc, updates, when I'm not awake to read them? So I'd naively assumed that perhaps it wouldn't do that when it's in the screen-off state. Unless you've asked for notification other than on the top bar, of course?

cdmackay said:
It does seem a little bit of a waste, if the phone is going to spend all night checking for new Twitter, Gmail, etc, updates, when I'm not awake to read them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be fair, the phone doesn't know when you're going to asleep now does it? (especially if you're a night worker).
I notice that there's an application in the market now which can automatically turn airplane mode on according to a schedule, so that may help but of course this does mean you won't get phone calls!
Regards,
Dave

foxmeister said:
To be fair, the phone doesn't know when you're going to asleep now does it? (especially if you're a night worker).
I notice that there's an application in the market now which can automatically turn airplane mode on according to a schedule, so that may help but of course this does mean you won't get phone calls!
Regards,
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it doesn't but I'm developing a widget which will disable data access at certain times (dependent on user) so overnight it wont use data and save battery.

foxmeister said:
To be fair, the phone doesn't know when you're going to asleep now does it? (especially if you're a night worker).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right; I really meant the following, but worded it wrongly...
I had expected apps not to do data access when the phone's screen is off, unless they have been configured to notify via sound, vibrate or light.
i.e. if an app either isn't notifying, or is only notifying via the top bar, then it should disable its data access when the screen is off.
That would mean a short delay in getting updates, when the screen is back on, but I'd rather have that than spending much battery time pointless checking for updates when I'm not going to see them for ages, whether that's at night or just when the phone is sitting on the desk for hours.

nicelad_uk said:
No it doesn't but I'm developing a widget which will disable data access at certain times (dependent on user) so overnight it wont use data and save battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
aha! that sounds great, thanks in advance
would you update us here when you have something testable, please?
and if it's not pushing my luck to ask: any chance that it might also have a manual switch too, for those of us who go to bed at wildly different times?
Or perhaps there is already a way to disable data access manually, with a single setting change, without disabling the phone? I think there might be...

ah yes indeed, there's even an HTC widget to disable mobile networking, whilst leaving phone enabled. That will do for now

Related

Battery Drain

Ive installed a whole bunch of apps and I'm pretty sure one of them is causing a severe battery drain. Any suggestions on how to figure out which one it is, without checking one at a time?
My initial guess it that you have a program that is either constantly running a cpu intensive process or keeps you online at all times.
To check your processes, look in Task Manager -> View -> Process and look under the CPU column.
Online status may be harder to determine. Likely apps are email/Exchange syncs and IM clients.
Also, what are your backlight and auto-off settings?
I do have exchange but Im doubting that it is the reason. Also, backlight goes off after 30s, and it goes to sleep after 1m. I have a spb mobile shell, pocket plus, time, and weather. Initially i thought it was S2U2 because the problem developed after installing that. But removing it doesn't help.
Maybe weather is auto updated?
weather is set to update every hour. i just changed it to every 5 hours. im doubting this is the cause either. thanks for the input though.
prattner said:
I do have exchange but Im doubting that it is the reason. Also, backlight goes off after 30s, and it goes to sleep after 1m. I have a spb mobile shell, pocket plus, time, and weather. Initially i thought it was S2U2 because the problem developed after installing that. But removing it doesn't help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exchange does maintain a constant data connection, i have mine set to recieve email as it arrives, and gmail (imap) set to check every 5 mins, SPB weather updating every hour, pocket plus, time and phone suite installed as well, and s2u2
when im not running anything else i get 8-10 hours on a full battery, but i usually have skype and IM+ running as well, which cuts my battery down to about 3 hours, lol (which is fine for me, i have it docked probably 20 hours a day)
spb mobile shell is known to use up alot of CPU I hear, but don't know its effect on battery drain :/.
Are you using WIFI though?
not using wifi. gonna buy a new battery and see if maybe i have a lemon.

[TIPS] How to make your G2's Battery last longer

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.

I have figured out the solution to the battery problem many of us have with Froyo

- Update to AOSP Email.
- If you are using Exchange, use Push only. Do not use the interval syncs.
- Uninstall / Disable Juice Defender
- Uninstall / Disable ATK
The whole problem is wake locks. The current Email client has an issue with wake locks if you use Exchange ActiveSync and do not have Push selected.
As well, if you have ATK installed, and it kills Email, then when it starts up again it will enter another wakelock.
Juice Defender causes the same problem by disabling the radio - basically, Juice defender makes the battery use worse, not better, because the re-sync of the email every 5 minutes makes it go into wakelock mode and never let go of the CPU.
After fussing with upteen dozen kernels and roms and modems, making these 3 changes has had a REMARKABLE decrease in battery use. I am burning my battery at less than 1/2 the rate I was previously.. I now burn less than 3%-4% / hour. Which means I will easily get through a full day with the phone.
EDIT: The other thing to make sure of is that you don't have the buggy version of Gallery3D that drains your battery due to holding onto the sensor. Your best bet is to just totally delete the APK from your ROM, and install the one from the market if it is an app you want.
Title is a bit misleading, please add problem with email battery drain, because a lot fo the froyo drain issues is for people not using the email and not even connected to data network mode.
You said update to AOSP mail ... anything wrong with the stock Email.apk?
Here's something i discovered, but wouldn't mind confirmation from others.
When waking your phone (with the charger not connected), is there a one second delay for the screen to come on? If there is, the phone is sleeping fine. If not, and the screen wakes instantly, something is preventing the phone from sleeping properly, thus wasting battery..
Its not really a good second but yeah there is a delay, never noticed it was instant.
Metalzoa said:
You said update to AOSP mail ... anything wrong with the stock Email.apk?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I can determine both AOSP and stock email APK have this issue, it hasn't been fixed in source yet. But, I have switched to AOSP so I can only report on results when doing that.
EarlZ said:
Title is a bit misleading, please add problem with email battery drain, because a lot fo the froyo drain issues is for people not using the email and not even connected to data network mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have to be connected to data network. In fact that can be the cause of the whole problem!
If you use email and either
- It gets killed
- you lose network access or it is turned off (a-la Juice Defender)
.. then it goes into this wake-lock state and hangs onto the CPU forever, draining the battery.
Every person I have seen complain about the excessive battery drain was using Email like me.. the most common comments are along the lines of "all I have going is email and..." so I suspect this (along with the Gallery3D issue) is the cause of most everyone's problems.
so if I'm not using the Email app at all (I removed it entirely)
it SHOULDN'T be munching through my mAh?
You don't have to uninstall juice defender. Simply adjusting settings so that it does not force a sync on schedule. Then it actually saves battery again.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
brunes said:
- Update to AOSP Email.
- If you are using Exchange, use Push only. Do not use the interval syncs.
- Uninstall / Disable Juice Defender
- Uninstall / Disable ATK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have any battery drain (Doc's 7.6.2 JPO).
I use stock gmail app 'cause I only use three gmail accounts with data sync enabled.
I never installed Juice Defender nor ATK...
My battery lasts 2 days.
lpy said:
When waking your phone (with the charger not connected), is there a one second delay for the screen to come on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hummm maybe 1/2s. Not instant, but not a whole second either...
Mycorrhiza said:
You don't have to uninstall juice defender. Simply adjusting settings so that it does not force a sync on schedule. Then it actually saves battery again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, just turning the radio on and off causes the Email app to lose connectivity and go into the wake lock.
Update - my phone burned through only 8% overnight from 11 PM-7 AM. Previously it would burn through 40%+ overnight, no matter what kernel or modem or other options I turned on or off.
Adevem said:
so if I'm not using the Email app at all (I removed it entirely)
it SHOULDN'T be munching through my mAh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you roll back the Gallery app?
Also it is possible you have another app with this wake lock problem. Run Spare Parts, Battery History, and change the dropdown to since last boot/Last charge and "Partial Wake Use". Click on whatever 1 or two apps are on top.
If the time listed is more than a small % of the time since last boot or charge, then that app has a wake lock problem.
In the case of the Email app it will easily have a wake lock use time of nearly half of the time since last boot.
Any app with a wake lock is a huge battery consumer since your phone never goes to sleep mode.
I'm not having any major batteries actually ;p I mean, if I can somehow improve battery life by changing some more stuff, why not?
I'm on the Gallery off Market (no sensor issue). on another thread if users are reporting Stock Gallery not having any battery drainage, I might roll back to try it out.
brunes said:
- Update to AOSP Email.
- If you are using Exchange, use Push only. Do not use the interval syncs.
- Uninstall / Disable Juice Defender
- Uninstall / Disable ATK
The whole problem is wake locks. The current Email client has an issue with wake locks if you use Exchange ActiveSync and do not have Push selected.
As well, if you have ATK installed, and it kills Email, then when it starts up again it will enter another wakelock.
Juice Defender causes the same problem by disabling the radio - basically, Juice defender makes the battery use worse, not better, because the re-sync of the email every 5 minutes makes it go into wakelock mode and never let go of the CPU.
After fussing with upteen dozen kernels and roms and modems, making these 3 changes has had a REMARKABLE decrease in battery use. I am burning my battery at less than 1/2 the rate I was previously.. I now burn less than 3%-4% / hour. Which means I will easily get through a full day with the phone.
EDIT: The other thing to make sure of is that you don't have the buggy version of Gallery3D that drains your battery due to holding onto the sensor. Your best bet is to just totally delete the APK from your ROM, and install the one from the market if it is an app you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sorry for noobness, but how do I do these things you suggested? I cant find this configuration to disable checking mail besides push.
I am using stock email app and my gallery doest have sensors problem. But my cell is draining like 20% overnight (6 hours while cell was sleeping). This is insane and I cant track what is using this much.
PS: I am using Doc rom with cfroot
respider said:
I am sorry for noobness, but how do I do these things you suggested? I cant find this configuration to disable checking mail besides push.
I am using stock email app and my gallery doest have sensors problem. But my cell is draining like 20% overnight (6 hours while cell was sleeping). This is insane and I cant track what is using this much.
PS: I am using Doc rom with cfroot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Open email, go into Account Settings. Under Check Frequency, make sure it is set to AUtomatic / Push. Then make sure you don't have any auto task killers or other things running that kill apps or turn your radio on and off.
I think email is the problem...
automatic/push selection
brunes said:
Open email, go into Account Settings. Under Check Frequency, make sure it is set to AUtomatic / Push. Then make sure you don't have any auto task killers or other things running that kill apps or turn your radio on and off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
forgive my noob question but I cant find automatic/push in my email settings at all (it only allows for never, or other time intervals up to an hour). This is on the AOSP email app.
arul said:
forgive my noob question but I cant find automatic/push in my email settings at all (it only allows for never, or other time intervals up to an hour). This is on the AOSP email app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK I should have mentioned Push is applicable to outlook email only. If you are using some other POP email you can't use push. I am not sure if Push is applicable to IMAP.
using email and settings switch to "Never"
did not seem to encounter this b4.
My data is usually turn off. I only turn on manually when i need to check mails or surf net.
I dont have sensors issue with gallery and I have removed all email programs from my SGS.
Still have battery issues. It drains really fast when data is on and I cant track what is using so much power

We need a stickied battery improvement thread

I am happy to make one.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
My battery tips
1. Latitude : If you are logged in, it will update your location every few minutes. This will make a phone that should be on a very low power state, re-enable lots of things that suck power. (5hrs)
2. Home screen weather clocks : Just change the update interval to something more like every 3 hours and it won't kill your battery as quick. Make sure you don't have it use GPS for location. If you don't mind, set the location to be static. (1hr)
3. Chat programs that don't rely on push. If the program needs to keep your data connection alive, it will kill your battery.(1-5hrs)
4. Anything that will update automatically. The craigslist app for example will poll the site for changes, waking the connection and the processor each time.(1-5hrs)
5. Bluetooth. : I know it isn't an app, but if you aren't using it, don't have it on. It takes enough power to eat a few hours of battery life. Pretty major. (3hrs)
6. Leave 4G on. : This might not work for everyone, but when 4G is asleep, it doesn't seem to suck juice the same way 3G does. My EVO dies quick on 4G, my Epic battery lasts longer on 4G. (as long as you are in a 4G area). (3hrs)
Disable these things and you should get battery life that you hear others bragging about.
"Latitude" on my phone and others I've seen, does not update that often and really only constantly updates is when you have maps open. My wife and I both run latitude and have not noticed anymore of a battery drain than not running it.
sdrawkcab25 said:
"Latitude" on my phone and others I've seen, does not update that often and really only constantly updates is when you have maps open. My wife and I both run latitude and have not noticed anymore of a battery drain than not running it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine updates every few minutes on WM and Android. Turn on your history and you will see it updates hundreds of times a day. After my froyo update, I couldn't make it through the day. You might have location set to wifi or wireless, I probably should do that too, but I'd rather keep it active.
I subscribed to it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=884684
i thought the whole idea of push was that it doesn't use data cause its a server side push instead of the phone polling at a set schedule
roghaj said:
Mine updates every few minutes on WM and Android. Turn on your history and you will see it updates hundreds of times a day. After my froyo update, I couldn't make it through the day. You might have location set to wifi or wireless, I probably should do that too, but I'd rather keep it active.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Weird, I have history on and the setting to update automatically, and still only updates only once every few hours on it's own. Maybe mine is "broken", but glad it is then. I'm on an htc Incredible.
If you are getting excessive drain while on wifi, check for unusual traffic on your network as the problem is probably not your phone and something else polling your device keeping it awake.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1087278
For me, the problem was HP's wireless printer software on one of my laptops.
I'm wondering if one of these 2 is a big sleep preventer:
1. "Background Data" (I used to think all you had to do was disable "Auto Sync" but when I uncheck "Background Data" I get a popup saying something about how I will save battery power if I agree to disable)
2. "Use Wireless Networks" (even if GPS is off).
I usually have been getting good results after unchecking a combo or both of these and sometimes I even have to reboot to get back to normal Epic sleep.

Notifications wonky after Pie update

Has anyone else noticed that notifications seem to be super slow in coming after the Pie update? Line and Email can take up to two hours to exhibit a notification. I've looked at the notifications area of the apps, and nothing appears to have changed that I can see, and I can't find anywhere in Pie to tell it to allow more background time for these apps. I've tried force stopping and restarting with no change.
If anyone has any idea on what is going on, and how to fix it, your help would be most appreciated. Being told your wife left you a Line message 2 hours after she did so, or that your kid sent an email 2 hours earlier, is NOT conducive to a happy home life.
Nobody else has this issue? It appears to be connected to the fact that the phone is sitting undisturbed for a long period of time. If I am carrying the phone around with me, the notifications seem to come as expected, but if the phone is just sitting on my desk for a while, they seem to come from minutes to hours later.
You could try to whitelist those apps on Battery Optimization
I'm no expert, but from what you describe sounds like the phone is entering into Doze and notifications cannot come until the next maintenance window
If a user leaves a device unplugged and stationary for a period of time, with the screen off, the device enters Doze mode. In Doze mode, the system attempts to conserve battery by restricting apps' access to network and CPU-intensive services. It also prevents apps from accessing the network and defers their jobs, syncs, and standard alarms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://developer.android.com/training/monitoring-device-state/doze-standby
I think white listing the app prevents this behaviour
It does sound like you are correct and the phone is entering Doze mode, delaying the notifications. Thanks for that!
I will check into how to add the email and Line app to a whitelist for Doze. Hopefully it's a simple task, but I don't see anything under Battery doing a quick scan.
Just a follow up. After much searching and reading, I finally found where to turn off battery optimization for the two apps I needed notifications from. FYI:
Most things on the web say to go to Settings->Battery, then hit the three dot menu and select Battery Optimization. This does not appear on my phone. (see screenshot) To get to the list of optimized apps, you need to Search->Battery Optimization, select Battery Optimization from the results (it will take a few seconds to load), then tap Not Optimized and select All Apps. Find the app you want, tap it, then select Don't Optimize. You can also go to Apps and Notifications->Advanced->Special app access->battery optimization.
Whether this will actually fix the problem is another question entirely as most posts say that Doze continues to work. I guess we shall see.
I hope this saves someone the aggravation of trying to find something directly relating to Pie. Most things out there are for older builds.
Also, I turned off Adaptive Battery to see what the actual difference is in my light usage use case. If you are interested in the results of this test, let me know and I will post here.
Glad you were able to whitelist those apps.
I think it's weird anyway, as far as I know deep doze takes hours to trigger and the device has to be completely still. Any movement would take the device off deep sleep and enter a less aggressive doze (where notifications would be checked more often)
You did mention this is your case (you were leaving your device on your desk) but just for curiosity, how long approx would you leave your phone unattended?
Thanks and I hope this solves your issue.
Tepig said:
Glad you were able to whitelist those apps.
I think it's weird anyway, as far as I know deep doze takes hours to trigger and the device has to be completely still. Any movement would take the device off deep sleep and enter a less aggressive doze (where notifications would be checked more often)
You did mention this is your case (you were leaving your device on your desk) but just for curiosity, how long approx would you leave your phone unattended?
Thanks and I hope this solves your issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlike some folks, I am not tied to my phone. It often sits on the desk undisturbed for 3 or 4 hours during the day unless a notification comes in and I pick it up to look at it. Most of my screen time is on my computer, so the phone is the external brain when out and about, but not used much otherwise. At night, I turn on airplane mode until I get up the next day, then turn it off. I'm a retired software engineer, so have no real need for constant communication anymore, and I like it that way.

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