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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Click to collapse
+1. I had just read a lot of silly things and ur comment relaxed me a bit. Blame a PHONE because some apps keep the phone awake... this is crazy, people should have a bit of experience before posting in this forum with so much arrogance.
This might help...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmvCpR45LKA
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4
badboy47 said:
This might help...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmvCpR45LKA
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4
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Click to collapse
That helped me so many times till I understood it....
The place to go, to get a definitive understanding of wakelocks is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1179809&highlight=betterbatterystats
This is the thread for BetterBatteryStats, which is really all you need to troubleshoot why your device doesn't sleep enough.
Also, look at Greenify, which hibernates the apps you tell it to, a pretty unique trick.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2155737&highlight=greenify
And as a last suggestion (frowned on by the purists at the betterbatterystats thread, but I find it really useful) use DS Battery Saver Pro, which will switch off wifi and reconnect every 10 minutes, amongst other tricks.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2030696&highlight=ds+battery+saver
As an aside, I hear that iOS7 has impressed its user base with all sorts of hidden options which stop the phone resting, so maybe it's just a question of complexity . The good news is that, especially with the knowledge that is shared in betterbatterystats, it won't take you long to troubleshoot what your problems are, and the other 2 apps which will resolve your issues are pretty straightforward to use.
There are free versions I recall in the first post of these threads, I use the Pro version of DS Battery Saver since I prefer to configure my own profile.
Thank you everyone for replies.
I have not rooted the phone, so Greenify is no option for me, not really up to going through all rooting and ROM installing process in order to maybe succeed in solving the issue.
Specifically talking apps that leave speaker ON (It keeps hissing) and keeps phone awake, if you do not close them are following : Asphalt 8, Need For Speed Most Wanted.
The thing is I am not sure who to blame really, yes there are many apps that work normally and don't cause these issues, but then again why is the keeping the phone awake allowed in the first place, downloaded apps that would need to work that way should need special permissions. I understand there might be apps that want to keep ON/playing something after you have quit them, but if that's the case, then user should be able to deny certain permissions to prevent this from happening. The OS is complex enough, why not give even more options then or just this one at least.
Not sure how other people manage with this problem, I can't find anyone mentioning anything about Asphalt 8 and Android having this problem, people just deal with that they have battery draining to 0% in 5 hours? I know many people with smartphones 75% barely ever closes any programs from multitasker, most of them are iPhone users though. But how do they manage to live with their phone if they have this. I did manage to find people complaining about Pou draining battery, solution was to just uninstall the app, ridiculous.
I can't be the only one having these issues.
Well, the Android "style guide" has the back button as the exit function, so instead of leaving it running in the background, you may want to try backing all the way out.
It's been about a year since I played Asphalt (6 I think it was), but I vaguely remember it had an exit button which explicitly closed down the app.
Could be worth trying that. All the same, install the free xda edition of BetterBatteryStats (in the first post I think) and then look at the partial wakelocks, you'll quickly see what is stopping the phone sleeping.
paul c said:
Well, the Android "style guide" has the back button as the exit function, so instead of leaving it running in the background, you may want to try backing all the way out.
It's been about a year since I played Asphalt (6 I think it was), but I vaguely remember it had an exit button which explicitly closed down the app.
Could be worth trying that. All the same, install the free xda edition of BetterBatteryStats (in the first post I think) and then look at the partial wakelocks, you'll quickly see what is stopping the phone sleeping.
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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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Related
So I am reading the tips and tricks article - GREAT article by the way! - and I come upon the note stating to not use task killer (shown below in bold).
SHOULD I USE A TASK KILLER?
Absolutely not. You have the best OS and one of the best spec'd phones ever. You would be doing more harm than good. If you do have one, uninstall, reboot and let me know what you think!
In addition, even Google at Google I/O 2010 addressed app developers and asked them to no longer include "quit" or "close" as options within their apps. I think Andronica (another great android site) summed it up well with their article, found here.
XDA user iunlock created a thread with some good debate based off this sticky. You can read all the thoughts by clicking here. In short, the overwhelming majority agreed and some have commented on seeing an increase in performance after deleting their task killers. Awesome job guys.
That having been said, I went a day. Sure, it ran smooth, but my battery life stunk.
I'd like to hear from other users on the pros/cons of using a task manager on your Vibrant. Not trying to start a flame war, just wanting to hear thoughts other than my own (and the little voices that come from the ear piece of the phone )
Personally I am completely for it, as long as you are not killing off critical processes or apps that you use on a regular basis. Bottom line here - know what you're doing.
Feedback please?
I had the exact opposite reaction after getting rid of the task manager, battery life increased.
I kept ATK, battery life improved with it. If i play games and then hit the Home button which i always do. it stays running in background and kills the battery. Didnt really notice much of an impact with performance but my battery life increased
I use task manager. people can say what they want, but lowmemorykiller is designed to kill apps when the system needs memory. our phones have a lot of memory so they are capable of keeping so many apps open, if no one believes me download a task killer and just open it up to see how many apps are really running on your phone, its ridiculous, especially if you still have the bloatware. I don't necessarily use it because my phone bogs down from so many apps (that reason was back in the day with my g1) i do it because theoretically your battery life should go up. What's worse, a task killer running, or the last 20 apps you've used? All I know is my phone runs fine, smooth, and has battery life that I really cant complain about. It's hard to really tell what is correct though, I mean theres's hundreds of posts about the gps on our phone and mine launches up, finds my exact location within 30 seconds, and navigates perfectly. Got mine the day it came out, so ive really never worried about what other people have said, i just find out for myself. try both and see what you observe to be best.
I own(ed) a G1, Google Ion, myTouch, CLIQ, Behold II, Nexus One, myTouch Slide, GARMINfone, and Samsung Vibrant.
I have never used a task killer / manager on any of them and have never experienced lag on any of them.
My battery has also lasted from wake (9am) to bed (im usually in the bed by 11pm, sleep comes much later) on all of them and that includes at least 2 hours of stereo Bluetooth music. WiFi, GPS and Sync on all day. Bluetooth and brightness are managed as needed.
I'm no developer, but I have flashed my fair share of roms, and run plenty of tests. I don't know what is best, but I do know that they are NOT NECESSARY. Are they helpful or useful to you? Possibly. If you want to use one, have fun. I see no reason for me to start now...
EDIT: I also play a fair bit of SNESoid, GENSoid, and now PSX4droid....
Also, I don't have a car charger or office charger. I only charge overnight.
If you have to use a charger during the day, you blew it.
Task Mangers slow my phone down more. I don't use them.
joe.kerwin said:
I use task manager. people can say what they want, but lowmemorykiller is designed to kill apps when the system needs memory. our phones have a lot of memory so they are capable of keeping so many apps open, if no one believes me download a task killer and just open it up to see how many apps are really running on your phone, its ridiculous, especially if you still have the bloatware. I don't necessarily use it because my phone bogs down from so many apps (that reason was back in the day with my g1) i do it because theoretically your battery life should go up. What's worse, a task killer running, or the last 20 apps you've used? All I know is my phone runs fine, smooth, and has battery life that I really cant complain about. It's hard to really tell what is correct though, I mean theres's hundreds of posts about the gps on our phone and mine launches up, finds my exact location within 30 seconds, and navigates perfectly. Got mine the day it came out, so ive really never worried about what other people have said, i just find out for myself. try both and see what you observe to be best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android has a task killer built in to kill apps if memory is low automatically.
Couldnt enjoy my phone without one.
laristech said:
Task Mangers slow my phone down more. I don't use them.
Android has a task killer built in to kill apps if memory is low automatically.
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Click to collapse
I know, read. I referenced that in the first line. It's a low memory killer, my phone still has 100mb of memory available even with 15-20 apps open. I'd rather have those tasks not running if i've finished with them. Plus apps also reopen periodically by themselves, auto-kill on a 3rd party task killer will kill this as soon as the phone is sleeping, the build in task killer will not.
AndroidZ28 said:
I own(ed) a G1, Google Ion, myTouch, CLIQ, Behold II, Nexus One, myTouch Slide, GARMINfone, and Samsung Vibrant.
I have never used a task killer / manager on any of them and have never experienced lag on any of them.
My battery has also lasted from wake (9am) to bed (im usually in the bed by 11pm, sleep comes much later) on all of them and that includes at least 2 hours of stereo Bluetooth music. WiFi, GPS and Sync on all day. Bluetooth and brightness are managed as needed.
I'm no developer, but I have flashed my fair share of roms, and run plenty of tests. I don't know what is best, but I do know that they are NOT NECESSARY. Are they helpful or useful to you? Possibly. If you want to use one, have fun. I see no reason for me to start now...
EDIT: I also play a fair bit of SNESoid, GENSoid, and now PSX4droid....
Also, I don't have a car charger or office charger. I only charge overnight.
If you have to use a charger during the day, you blew it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no way your g1 ever lasted 14 hours, let alone consistently with that usage. Either that or you dont understand how some of us use our phones. The only reason this must be such a debated topic is because there truly isn't much of a difference. Will your phone have a weeks worth of battery life with one? No. Without one? No. Users preference I suppose, but before i deleted bloatware, my telenav and slacker radio were always open and i honestly never even opened them to even check them out.
That having been said, I went a day. Sure, it ran smooth, but my battery life stunk.
I'd like to hear from other users on the pros/cons of using a task manager on your Vibrant. Not trying to start a flame war, just wanting to hear thoughts other than my own (and the little voices that come from the ear piece of the phone )
Personally I am completely for it, as long as you are not killing off critical processes or apps that you use on a regular basis. Bottom line here - know what you're doing.
Feedback please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People will give all sorts of anecdotal evidence one way or another about this topic. Just keep in mind that anecdotal evidence won't answer the question. It's not a simple yes/no question either.
Here's the deal. *IF* you have errant tasks that are causing partial wake issues (running too much or too often when the phone is supposedly asleep), those applications will be the culprit for your bad battery life.
These are not likely to be core tasks of the OS, or OS bundled bloatware either...but they can be. When I had my Behold II and was running ADW.Launcher, for instance, I had to use a task manager to keep parts of Touchwiz from waking up and complaining about the UI not being front-and-center. And the reason WHY I used a task manager was a simple one. It was a core data task of the embedded software that could not be REMOVED.
The best solution to partial wake issues is to identify the tasks that are causing them, and GET RID OF THAT APP. In my very specific case above I was unable to do so, so a task killer had value.
The reason why task managers can be a very bad idea are legion. The Android OS runs a lot of interdependant tasks, and killing one seemingly innocuous task can and often will start a domino effect with other tasks that rely on them. It can even cause other dependant apps to eat 100% of cpu time during sleep cycles or at other times, and make your battery life mysteriously go to hell.
So far on this Vibrant, I've found no core tasks causing partial wake issues. Third party apps and widgets however, I've found quite a few that "wake up" and cause partial wake issues (i.e. they are spending too much time working and running when the phone is in "sleep" mode). Pure Messenger Widget being one of the nastiest I've tried lately.
What do I recommend? Use the built in battery statistics, and install the market app "Spare Parts". This combination will give you the ability to glean useful information about exactly what is running and what it's doing. There are other tools and whitelist managers that you could employ as well, but this is enough for me.
And even if you are running task managers and killers, you should be using the above to know whether what you are doing is a complete waste of time or even making matters worse.
When left to its own devices, Android 2.1 does a remarkably good job managing tasks and memory, PROVIDING THAT 3RD PARTY APPS ARE BEHAVING. Since we all run a very different set of 3rd party applications and widgets, it's no wonder that people are having battery life issues (great, bad, not so bad, etc..) all over the map.
I use Advanced Task Manager Pro and I love it. The close-all widget is great because it closes everything except what you have told it not to kill, and it kills itself to that is not running down your battery either.
joe.kerwin said:
There's no way your g1 ever lasted 14 hours, let alone consistently with that usage. Either that or you dont understand how some of us use our phones. The only reason this must be such a debated topic is because there truly isn't much of a difference. Will your phone have a weeks worth of battery life with one? No. Without one? No. Users preference I suppose, but before i deleted bloatware, my telenav and slacker radio were always open and i honestly never even opened them to even check them out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what to tell you other than it did.
I am a pretty heavy user, but I do have fantastic coverage and work in a bright environment so brightness stays down. SetCPU works wonders.
I tested my Vibrant today. Came off the charger at 5:30am. It's now 10pm & my phone is freaking out for juice. I think my G1 could match this.
I'm constantly pulling from Gmail & Exchange (usually on Edge - poor reception in the office). I used GPS for about 10 min on the way home. Once home I started wifi. I turned it off an hour ago to play a few rounds of Let's Golf.
That's not terrible for such a badass smart phone, I think.
-bZj
_____
-sent from my Samsung Vibrant via XDAapp
I personally will only have a task manager installed for when I'm working on my game / app projects, as to make sure they properly close when exited or to kill them if something goes wrong (neverending looping media), so I don't have to reboot the phone.
I was using atk before my last factory reset. I've decided against it now though. I've also decided not to use any more web apps when I have a perfectly good browser. Just seems like a waste of resources to me and my phone is much quicker without them. That and launcher pro have made this feel like a different phone. I think the combination makes atk unnecessary.
If I decide to keep this phone I'll reroot and clean out all the crapware. I'd prefer to keep this phone well-maintained like my computer sip that a task killer would be mostly unnecessary.
Anyone used this app? I tried it and it boosted my memory from 123 mb to 180 mb.
i know "if you have free memory you're wasting it". but in my opinion this combined with advanced task killer will improve battery life a lot.
its on android market, just type memory booster
Lol I experimented with these kind of apps, my opinion is that they are pretty much pointless.
I simply tell things not to auto update and removed unused junk.
Did the trick for me.
Swyped from my rooted X10i using Tapatalk.
I'll bite. How will having more free memory improve battery life?
You don't need third party apps. You have to determine which app is eating your battery life. The only thing memory booster is doing is disrupting Android's memory management processes.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
if it could activate the full ram potential of the handset then it would be worth while but i dont see the point in the extra mem for app's.
Like I said I simply stop stuff auto updating and therefore save battery life as no apps are active, merely sitting in ram.
Swyped from my rooted X10i using Tapatalk.
I only kill programs when I want my phone in standby because I know I won't be using it. Or with programs that can still run in the background and stay active when they shouldn't.
Other than that, don't be a frequent task killer. It's not an iPhone, it's an Android phone. As much as I loathe my Xperia X10 it's far better than an iTurd.
bongd said:
I only kill programs when I want my phone in standby because I know I won't be using it. Or with programs that can still run in the background and stay active when they shouldn't.
Other than that, don't be a frequent task killer. It's not an iPhone, it's an Android phone. As much as I loathe my Xperia X10 it's far better than an iTurd.
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Click to collapse
Way to try to prove your cool by trying to inject irrelevant crap into the discussion. Especially ****e you obviously know sweet fa about. You do realize that when you get down to the nuts and bolts the memory management is almost identical in iOS and Android? Only difference is how it's exposed to apps. My gf has my iPhone 4 now, trust me, calling it an iTurd just makes you look a bit special - and not in a good way either.
P.S. task killers made sense on phones like mt3g that were memory limited, when you went to launch a big app like gallery it popped up straight away if there was free ram - when memory was all spoken for, the system would have to kill a bunch a tasks, so it'd hang for a while before launching your app. Can't say I noticed the need for that on my X10.
rynoon said:
I'll bite. How will having more free memory improve battery life?
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Click to collapse
It isn't the free memory that saves battery. It's the applications being "killed" that otherwise would need some battery power as they lie in the background doing things. Even sleeping applications have some "attention" from the kernel and that will drain (slightly) on the battery too. Every drip-drop counts.
SysGhost said:
It isn't the free memory that saves battery. It's the applications being "killed" that otherwise would need some battery power as they lie in the background doing things. Even sleeping applications have some "attention" from the kernel and that will drain (slightly) on the battery too. Every drip-drop counts.
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Click to collapse
And every time you want to use an app, will have to be reloaded in memory wasting more power for that task.
Anyhow, do it your way ...
The rest of the world is just stupid.
This constant debate of whether app management apps work or not is really irrelevant. Some work, some don't. Just try and find that out.
Once I listened to posters here and decided not to use ATK because of the reasoning that Android is efficient by itself. Wrong. My battery kept draining fast. Once I started using ATK and modifying the program here and there, my battery's energy consumption actually slowed down and I can go through a whole day without charging. My settings? Put ATK on safe mode and auto kill every half hour, and ignore SE's own backup app (for some reason, killing SE backup caused a disruption with the data/signal for a second).
So for everyone, just try and see whatever is recommended works.
Exactly my point. I used to use atk with similar settings to yourself and experienced greater battery drain.
I get better results with my method.
We all use our phones in different ways so it follows we would experience differing results.
Swyped from my rooted X10i using Tapatalk.
I'm trying to figure out how some people drain the batteries so fast. I have my phone set up as a wifi accesspoint, I'm using bluetooth, autosyncing my gmail and calendar but still I get more than a full day use out of it. If I listen to music over a bluetooth headset constantly I can't last a day but the juice in my headset tends to run out faster.
I can't for the life of me figure out what people do. I'm not using any task killers or what have you but still get between 18 and 24 hours of heavy usage.
I was using a task killer before reading on here about how they are useless and whatnot. But I find my phone freezes up more now that I am not using it. The battery seems to be around the same. All I do is text and use facebook and it seems to freeze up when texting or typing half the time. I am kind of wondering if it's because I text so quickly..
Just to clear things up a bit:
Many applications out there are bad.
Applications that are some real heavy battery hogs, even when prefetched in the background.
Those bad applications keeps downloading adverts now and then, executing instructions while in the background, and so on. Those applications doesn't have any sleep/standby routines , or the routines are empty.
Some applications are so badly written, they're running at "full speed" no matter what. Those extremely bad applications keeps the CPU at full speed even when in standby mode.
A good sign of this is when the phone gets hot, even when not used. It's the CPU that heats up the device.
The programmers of these bad applications have no whatsoever experience with Androids "sleep and standby" functions and therefor left them empty or half-done.
This is why killing applications helps for some, and not for others.
It all depends if one got one or more "bad" applications installed.
And Android aren't too smart either. It'll just prefetch, to what it seems, a random bunch of applications.
For me Android prefetch apps I rarely use, and skips the applications I use everyday. Weird?
If one would keep the device clean and keep those bad applications out, (of which noone can tell if it's a bad app or not. There's nothing visibly wrong about them) one wouldn't need a separate task-killer. Or if EVERY single application out there where perfectly written, accordingly to the Android model.
Hai,
Since nobody bothered to answer my call to track down what drains the battery I decided to just post my findings and you do with it whatever you like...
In recent couple of months I've been experiencing quite nice battery life, almost a week on standby, which is basically on par with original LG ROM. The trick is simple:
It's happening as long as the Gallery app is NOT running.
I don't know what this piece of software does but when it's loaded to memory it stays in there and ignores attempts to terminate it, doesn't sleep when phone wants to and eats battery in a matter of single day. Unfortunately it seems some other apps use it directly or indirectly, like when Wi-Fi starts and/or by Market for example. Thus my solution is just to force close the Gallery after I finish activities which seem to require it.
I don't know whether root of the problem is with the app itself (like, CM modifications made so it's more cool, at the price) or it's just something else unearthed by certain SwiftDroid's configuration. To anyone who wishes to furher investigate my sincerest good luck. And I'd be grateful if results were published too.
hmskrecik said:
Hai,
Since nobody bothered to answer my call to track down what drains the battery I decided to just post my findings and you do with it whatever you like...
In recent couple of months I've been experiencing quite nice battery life, almost a week on standby, which is basically on par with original LG ROM. The trick is simple:
It's happening as long as the Gallery app is NOT running.
I don't know what this piece of software does but when it's loaded to memory it stays in there and ignores attempts to terminate it, doesn't sleep when phone wants to and eats battery in a matter of single day. Unfortunately it seems some other apps use it directly or indirectly, like when Wi-Fi starts and/or by Market for example. Thus my solution is just to force close the Gallery after I finish activities which seem to require it.
I don't know whether root of the problem is with the app itself (like, CM modifications made so it's more cool, at the price) or it's just something else unearthed by certain SwiftDroid's configuration. To anyone who wishes to furher investigate my sincerest good luck. And I'd be grateful if results were published too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i deleted this slow sh** from /system/app and installed QuickPic!
hmskrecik said:
almost a week on standby
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Click to collapse
Are you joking? Should i use my phone as a doorstop,or what else?
EDIT: And,an old trick: when an app stays opened,to prevent it to reload again you have to delete his user data (works with Maps and Gmail too)
Eth4n said:
Are you joking? Should i use my phone as a doorstop,or what else?
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Click to collapse
You do with your phone what it damned pleases you. In case you haven't noticed the battery life is most often reported as either standby time or call time. In my typical usage battery lasts no less than two or three days but what 'typical usage' means may mean totally different things to me and to you.
Eth4n said:
EDIT: And,an old trick: when an app stays opened,to prevent it to reload again you have to delete his user data (works with Maps and Gmail too)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, even more shotgun approach to what I described. Having user data could be the primary reason for keeping the app installed. But thanks for tip anyway, may come handy one day.
There is gr8 app on xda, better batery state. With this app you can see what aplication keep wake lock, use cpu, gps, etc...
Hi guys, I know that some people say to disable location services and/or GPS because they drain the battery (under Android system in battery usage). I just want to clarify. I came from an iPhone, and on the iPhone I leave location and GPS on, but as long as the app is closed, the GPS will NOT run (just that its functionality remain on) so there is no drain.
Is this the same on Android? Is it okay to leave them on but not run any location-based apps?
Bump...
It'll constantly bounce the GPS signal AFAIK, so will use it up. buuuut, on 4.4.2, you can edit your location preferences GPS accuracy etc and it tells you battery use on it. However I believe it's on perma unless you disable it totally
I wouldn't be so sure. I have GPS, WIFI, BT and all other crap 24/7 and I loose about 3% charge over about 7hrs sleep, personally I don't think it's worth bothering or lifting my finger to shut it off. Also when I drive I see my correct location on the map, after screen goes off and I need to check again few min later, the map shows my last location and it takes few seconds to update to new one. If it was working with screen off it should have been updated right away, no? At least it's working in some low power mode. I think what really kills the battery is all those push services like e-mail etc, especially when not set properly, but the best way is to test yourself.
fterh said:
Hi guys, I know that some people say to disable location services and/or GPS because they drain the battery (under Android system in battery usage). I just want to clarify. I came from an iPhone, and on the iPhone I leave location and GPS on, but as long as the app is closed, the GPS will NOT run (just that its functionality remain on) so there is no drain.
Is this the same on Android? Is it okay to leave them on but not run any location-based apps?
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Click to collapse
Technically 100% the same.
However for practical reasons things are not quite the same - as long as you have many, many apps and your data (WiFi and/or Mobile) active certain apps will try to connect from time-to-time, and some will try to get a location. Unfortunately Google Services is one of those, and an older version of that was generating a really huge amount of power consumption. The problem is reported to be a lot better now but I can not confirm since I am anyway keeping my data connections OFF for most of the time when I am not really using those.
xclub_101 said:
Technically 100% the same.
However for practical reasons things are not quite the same - as long as you have many, many apps and your data (WiFi and/or Mobile) active certain apps will try to connect from time-to-time, and some will try to get a location. Unfortunately Google Services is one of those, and an older version of that was generating a really huge amount of power consumption. The problem is reported to be a lot better now but I can not confirm since I am anyway keeping my data connections OFF for most of the time when I am not really using those.
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Click to collapse
I guess this is one of the few things that iOS is better than Android at - managing how apps run. I use Greenify to freeze inactive apps, but the limitation is that I will not receive push notifications. On iOS apps are frozen yet push notifications are functional (that's ironically the downside of iOS too - no true multitasking). I don't disable my data connections because I want my push notifications, but I do turn off GPS. :/
fterh said:
I guess this is one of the few things that iOS is better than Android at - managing how apps run.
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Click to collapse
Well, when coming from a situation when there was absolutely no multitasking at all (and that was successfully sold as a "feature" for quite some time) I can really see that being easier
fterh said:
I use Greenify to freeze inactive apps, but the limitation is that I will not receive push notifications.
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Click to collapse
I think the latest Greenify PRO version has something to improve that too. But I will have to test a lot more to see the real limits of that.
I've got a problem with my S8 which is running latest, official, non-rooted XEO firmware. Specifically, it uses battery like crazy and heats up whilst doing nothing. This smells like a virus / malware infection or just... well, the last update was in December 2021 so it's also possible some system component is wonky OR... <shivers> some rootkit? I'm generally rather careful when installing apps, most of which will be coming in from official sources (Google Store) or at least fairly trusted sources.
Every so often I'll get a warning that a system component is using too much CPU and I should restart the phone - which obviously doesn't help at all. Also the battery drain is reported primarily by Android System and System Core (29 and 15% respectively). Battery usage stats generally don't add up because the listings don't add up to 100%. :/
I know the S8 is an old phone... and I know there are probably steps I should take prior to asking here - like a factory reset. But I'm really sceptical of doing a factory reset simply because I've got so much stuff on the phone that, while not impossible to backup, is certainly annoying (authenticator or banking apps for example - and I don't think the standard backup tools like those available from Google or Samsung backup such apps).
So I'd rather try some solutions or methods of dealing with the damned thing without resetting the phone first. Is there anything I can do?
You need to find the root cause. It may be a 3rd party using one or more of the Samsung system apps running under Android services, lol Legend for there are many... all lumped together.
A firewall with logging can help. Karma Firewall is what I use, uses almost no battery. Being rooted you have more options... use them.
Malware is always a possibility.
3rd party apps can cause hell. I don't allow any social media apps on the phone, ever.
Try in safe mode... if things calm down it's likely a 3rd party app. If so start going through the installed apps.
Clear system cache.
blackhawk said:
You need to find the root cause. It may be a 3rd party using one or more of the Samsung system apps running under Android services, lol Legend for there are many... all lumped together.
A firewall with logging can help. Karma Firewall is what I use, uses almost no battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will try that, thanks!
blackhawk said:
Being rooted you have more options... use them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone is NON-rooted.
blackhawk said:
Malware is always a possibility.
3rd party apps can cause hell. I don't allow any social media apps on the phone, ever.
Try in safe mode... if things calm down it's likely a 3rd party app. If so start going through the installed apps.
Clear system cache.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, safe mode! I'll try that too! Thanks!
Shaamaan said:
Will try that, thanks!
The phone is NON-rooted.
Oh, safe mode! I'll try that too! Thanks!
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Click to collapse
Sorry about the root thing, my bad.
If you're running on Android 9 or lower Karma Firewall's logging feature is fully active otherwise not. Samsung store>Galaxy Labs> Battery Tracker can be useful.
I use Accubattery's history page to get a quick idea of charge/discharge rates.
I use Device Care>storage>clean as well.
Make sure no cloud apps are running in the background.
Update: in safe mode the phone doesn't heat up and battery usage seems normal. So it's probably some app.
Alas, the firewall wasn't very helpful - it seemed that apps that attempted accessing the internet were your usual suspects - Play Store, One Drive or other sync apps, Vanced.
Any other suggestions on possibly nailing down the culprit?
PS. I've also decided to send Samsung an error report via the Members app - I don't know what their reply times are and I honestly don't expect much from them but who knows? Perhaps they'll come through.
Shaamaan said:
Update: in safe mode the phone doesn't heat up and battery usage seems normal. So it's probably some app.
Alas, the firewall wasn't very helpful - it seemed that apps that attempted accessing the internet were your usual suspects - Play Store, One Drive or other sync apps, Vanced.
Any other suggestions on possibly nailing down the culprit?
PS. I've also decided to send Samsung an error report via the Members app - I don't know what their reply times are and I honestly don't expect much from them but who knows? Perhaps they'll come through.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why other than maybe text messages is anything syncing? Take out the trash and go from there.
The ones that are connecting every minute or more when not open are prime suspects.
Some apps like Brave browser need to be closed out when not in use or they eat battery.
You can also try a hard reboot.
Update!
I left the phone in safe mode overnight. I mean, it seemed like things were better, so at least I'd have a stable phone.
Well, in the morning I was greeted with a severely depleted battery (went from 100 to 40 in the span of 6 hours) and I got the "high CPU usage" warning popup. The phone wasn't as hot to the touch tho.
So... Whatever is going on seems to happen also in safe mode, albeit less often? Or perhaps it's less "severe" where it doesn't heat up the phone but the drain is still there? But since safe mode is affected it's probably NOT an app, right?
At this point I'm completely baffled. Any other ideas?
Shaamaan said:
Update!
I left the phone in safe mode overnight. I mean, it seemed like things were better, so at least I'd have a stable phone.
Well, in the morning I was greeted with a severely depleted battery (went from 100 to 40 in the span of 6 hours) and I got the "high CPU usage" warning popup. The phone wasn't as hot to the touch tho.
So... Whatever is going on seems to happen also in safe mode, albeit less often? Or perhaps it's less "severe" where it doesn't heat up the phone but the drain is still there? But since safe mode is affected it's probably NOT an app, right?
At this point I'm completely baffled. Any other ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hard reset... hold power button until it powers off.
Try temporarily disabling Google play Services at night, see what that does.
OK, I'm baffled. I feel like I didn't really do anything but the phone is now running fine. Battery drain now might be better than ever!
Warms up on usage, obviously, but when idle it's nice and cool and battery drain seems minimal. I'll... leave it for a few days to see how this develops. It's very difficult to tell what the heck's the case here.
Shaamaan said:
OK, I'm baffled. I feel like I didn't really do anything but the phone is now running fine. Battery drain now might be better than ever!
Warms up on usage, obviously, but when idle it's nice and cool and battery drain seems minimal. I'll... leave it for a few days to see how this develops. It's very difficult to tell what the heck's the case here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Retrace what you did. Reason being you may need to do it again. Really most times all you need to do is just "play" with it a bit (a lot). Almost impossible to crash a stock load, so explore and learn by playing with it. You are what you load and download; be careful with 3rd party apps they are the biggest potential hazards.
Once you have a fast, stable OS that's fulfilling its mission, let it be. Don't update or upgrade it.
Updates can and do break Sammy's. This N10+ is still running on Pie, current load is over 2yo. Rock solid stable and it runs like a bat out of hell with minimal maintenance. Security isn't an issue.
blackhawk said:
Retrace what you did. Reason being you may need to do it again. Really most times all you need to do is just "play" with it a bit (a lot). Almost impossible to crash a stock load, so explore and learn by playing with it. You are what you load and download; be careful with 3rd party apps they are the biggest potential hazards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a suspicion this might have been some Samsung app (my bet's on Bixby) since those are likely still able to run in Safe Mode that got updated and then fixed...? Does that make sense?
blackhawk said:
Once you have a fast, stable OS that's fulfilling its mission, let it be. Don't update or upgrade it.
Updates can and do break Sammy's. This N10+ is still running on Pie, current load is over 2yo. Rock solid stable and it runs like a bat out of hell with minimal maintenance. Security isn't an issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm concerned about the last bit. I mean, upgrading to a new Android version is one thing but security updates are common, no?
Shaamaan said:
I have a suspicion this might have been some Samsung app (my bet's on Bixby) since those are likely still able to run in Safe Mode that got updated and then fixed...? Does that make sense?
I'm concerned about the last bit. I mean, upgrading to a new Android version is one thing but security updates are common, no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kill wittle bixby... you read it EULA?☠
It's more than one apk though. Takes a while to optimize a Sammy the first time
Well... if it's set up and used right Android 9 will run securely in the real world. No saving dumb bunnies anyway; they'll still get tagged even with the latest version
The proof is in my hand. Loaded over 2+ years ago and this N10+ UI version 1.5 is running clean like a bat out of hell. If I do get malware I can't erraticate in an hour or so, factory reset and change passwords.
My data is redundantly backed* up 4+ times, plus the onboard SD card used as a data drive. I'm ready to reload right now if I have to...
A malware forced reload is still less trouble than constantly updating and having the updates screw things up. That means more troubleshooting, finding new work arounds and still maybe needing a factory reset on top of all that. No.
Not vaxed either... not buying the hype.
*critical data must be redundantly backed up or sooner or latter it will likely be lost. Never encrypt data drives as you are the most likely to be locked out!
blackhawk said:
Kill wittle bixby... you read it EULA?☠
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I'd love that - but it's a system app and removing those without root is kind of... impossible? I can look into disabling it completely however - I never use it anyway. Since it's not a single app - any chance you got a link to the list of apps that need manual disabling?
Anyway, I'm still getting those damned warnings. The phone isn't constantly hot however, which is some improvement.
Shaamaan said:
Oh I'd love that - but it's a system app and removing those without root is kind of... impossible? I can look into disabling it completely however - I never use it anyway. Since it's not a single app - any chance you got a link to the list of apps that need manual disabling?
Anyway, I'm still getting those damned warnings. The phone isn't constantly hot however, which is some improvement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Package Disabler kills bixby proper.
You can also disable it with an adb edit. That's one of the first things I do.
Bixby is a hot mess best dump along the interstate... like Google Assistant it needs external servers for many of its functions. I may change my mind but it's eula is like eating dry hardtack for breakfast.