boost battery, minimize data usage and improve performance - Android General
INTRODUCTION.
The world celebrated the advent of mobile smart devices because of their abilities to carry out most of the office tasks on the go. One of the greatest challenges that came with such event was the power on time limitations as their batteries could hardly go for the time we wished for without the need for a recharge. This research was done to manage power consumption in order to reduce the frequency of charging the battery, increase operation smoothness and save us from the unnecessary internet data misuse by some applications of android operating system. We shall actualize all these without the need for a root access privilege.
Fig. 1 is a picture of what we intend to achieve.
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Fig. 1
1. Download the following applications as shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2
2. Install Autosync free application and set it as shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3
Note that this will delay email and Gmail (a bit) from delivering messages on time except when connected to external power, you may download third party applications like Yahoo Mail to get your messages instantly or check your mails by opening the applications and Synchronize or do manual synchronization of accounts in setting.
3. Download Hibernate application and hibernate as many applications and processes as possible.
Do not hibernate the applications shown in Fig. 4 and anyone that may show up as insistent process as shown in Fig. 5 and applications in step 6 and any application you use very often or applications that are constantly restarting in application manager (running applications).
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
4. Go to Application manager in setting and turn off some of the default background processes, services and applications that you do not need as shown in Fig. 6 (Android Version 4.3, TouchWiz UI).
You can know all running applications by opening All-in-One Toolbox applications (process menu before whitelisting any of them) or by opening Hibernate application, click on the search icon and CHECK all boxes.
Do not turn off applications that appear in step 3 and 6 or anyone that affects the features you are interested in.
Fig. 6
NOTE
· By turning off Google Search, you will not be able to use voice search/typing features.
· PagebuddyNotiSvc is for earphone and S Pen attachment and detachment notifications but does not affects their operations
· Software update is for updating the device firmware, you can turn it ON just to update (when there is an OTA update for your gadget) and turn it OFF when done.
· Calendar Storage though can be turned off but it works with SNS and Facebook to get the birthdays of friends and any stored event or task on your device. Therefore do not turn it off but it can be safely Hibernated to stop it from running on background.
· Wi-Fi Direct Share can be turned off but it will affect sharing of files between different devices through Wi-Fi.
· What we TURNED OFF are not necessarily all the applications we feel we do not need (debloating), but the ones that always run at the background that we do not need. These background processes are what have (negative) effects on battery life, ram space and other system resources. The rest applications are inactive until any activated command triggers them to be active (for a while). Therefore, I will advise that they (the applications that do not run on background) are left but hibernated to keep them inactive after they have performed their tasks. THEREFORE WE ONLY TURNED OFF UNHIBERNATABLE BACKGROUND APPLICATIONS THAT WE DO NOT NEED.
· You may turn off (UNCHECK) notifications from background processes that you do not need as seen in Fig. 7. PLAY SAFE HERE IN ORDER NOT TO TURN OFF NEEDED NOTIFICATIONS. IN CASE OF ANY ERROR, JUST TURN THEM ON AGAIN.
Fig. 7
5. Install Mobiwol firewall application.
Go to connection log in the application and restrict any application that uses data that you do not want. Whether on background, foreground or wifi
Do not restrict
SNS
DOWNLOADS
MEDIA server
Note that firewall might inhibit tethering with other gadgets. Turn it off if this happens during tethering and then turn it back on when through (except you can get the workaround).
Note that Version 4.1.2 of this application is buggy. It makes wi-fi hotspot and normal wi-fi operations to conflict with each other. Use other versions that do not have this issue.
6. Install and enable 2 Battery application (preferably the pro version which gives more control and options). See Fig. 8.
This application helps to shut down internet radio of your phone when not in use thereby conserving battery and internet data. It however turn it on periodically (15 minutes by default) so as to receive any hanging message that depends on internet connectivity.
Fig. 8
Ensure you whitelist DOWNLOAD MANAGER and any downloading software you have (e.g. tubemate, loaderdroid.apk (the best downloader I know) etc). You can only whitelist one application in the free version, go pro to unlock any limitation.
Do not whitelist any instant messager like Facebook, BBM, skype, line, whatsapp, mail etc.
Note that these applications/processes cannot show up for whitelisting except they are active. Therefore to whitelist DOWNLOAD MANAGER, start a downloading process etc. I noticed that opera browsers/downloader do not show up here, so do not bother yourself if you noticed same.
Sometimes, this application cuts off internet when there is an ongoing download process. This do happen when whitelisting could not be applied like Opera scenario or when you are using the free version. To solve this, start wifi tethering process. This will make this application to stop cutting off internet connectivity. Do not forget to turn off tethering when through with the download process.
In the application Settings, under Utilities, Auto screen off, you may install but do not enable (due to battery power implications) AUTO SCREEN OFF. This provides a widget called SCREEN that one can use to manually turn off screen display instead of pressing the power button which has frictional and mechanical implications. See Fig. 9 below.
Fig. 9
7. Install All-in-One Toolbox application and its timer plugin. Set the timer to 1 hour. See Fig. 10.
Fig. 10
This ensures no unused application is left running in memory (RAM) for more than one hour (or your preset time). Ensure you always save your job before switching to other applications to avoid accidental loss of data due to the effect of this application.
Whitelist all Foreground processes, they can be found in Hibernate application homepage by clicking on the search icon.
Fig. 11 below is a glimpse of my setting.
Fig. 11
8. Install Screen Brightness application and set it as shown in Fig. 12 below.
Fig. 12
Place it on your HOME pane and at a spot you will easily locate even when the screen display appears to be very dim (e.g. under bright sun rays). Refer to Fig. 13 for details.
Fig. 13
Ensure your screen display is as dim as possible using the installed screen brightness application (between 0% and 30%) as shown in Fig. 13 above.
NOTE THE FOLLOWING
1. Instant messagers like Skype and BBM may demand more battery.
2. Ensure you did not restrict background processes in Developers option.
3. Ensure your wifi, haptic feedback, vibrations, bluetooth and GPS are off when you do not need them.
4. Do not install any process killer except the All-in-One Toolbox application above.
5. Check to see if there is any unnecessary download processes going on at the background.
Also see if there is live streaming (MEDIA SERVER) going on in sites you visited like Youtube and stop them.
6. Stop auto update notice.
7. Reduce the numbers of widgets you use to the barest minimum.
8. Check the running processes in application manager in setting to see if any is constantly RESTARTING. Look for a way to stop such. One method is to click on them and then click Stop. Another method is to remove such from list of the hibernated applications and restart your device or whitelist them in All-in-one toolbox application.
9. Restart your device once in a while (at least once in every three days) and anytime you notice issues.
10. Sensors consume much power. Therefore reduce the numbers (and duration of use) of SENSORS. Below are some Sensors related activities.
i. Auto screen dim during call (proximity sensor)
ii. Voice call, Voice Search and Voice Commands (Mic)
iii. Auto Screen brightness adjustment (Light sensor)
iv. Internet Services (Inbuilt Radios) etc.
Therefore, turn ON power saving mode, do not enable SMART STAY/PUASE, do not set your Display brightness to AUTO, ensure your screen timeout is one minute or less, stop all forms of unnecessary vibrations and sounds, turn off pen detection for Samsung Note Series, disable Hand Swipe for screen capture and use other methods for capturing screen images like pressing down both power and home buttons for about 3 seconds (For Samsung Note Series users, you can press and hold the button by the pen side and press its tip against the screen for about 3 seconds). Disable voice command activities etc. Remember that AutoSync Free application helps to control unnecessary continuous background synchronizations.
These new features on smart devices are what has turned them into power sucking monsters. Only enable them consciously when you need them.
Please note that SENSORS as used here is contextual and not generalized.
11. Any hibernated application will not start as quickly as it would have done if unhibernated, but this is often unnoticed and will run more smoothly (once started) because some other application activities that would have competed with it for system resources would be in their hibernated states.
12. Your device will still consume power, data and system resources when you engage it to carry out different tasks (especially those that are sensors related as mentioned in point No. 10, though far lesser than before). The major conservation takes place in idle mode as revealed by Fig. 14 and 15 below.
Fig. 14 & 15
13. To occasionally free up ram, do not CLEAR MEMORY (Task Manager) but you can clear RECENT APPLICATIONS. The former will kill important background processes that will consume battery and CPU resources in order to restart. See Fig. 16.
Fig. 16
14. Mind the applications you install, reduce them as much as you can, avoid duplication of functions by multiple applications doing the same thing. Some of these applications run down your battery, clog ram and connect to internet illegally at background.
15. The applications in your device may vary from the ones in Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo, N7502 Model which was used for this research. Nevertheless, try to use the prescribed applications, outlined principles and ideas to get same results in your device.
16. Above all, what consume power most when you are using your device is the Screen (display light) as evident in Fig. 1. This is why you should always (manually) keep your screen display light as low as possible (between 0% and 30%) using Screen Brightness application.
ADVANTAGES.
1. You do not need to root your device
2. All the official status benefits are retained like warranty and Over The Air (OTA) updates, etc.
3. Your data usage is controlled and minimized.
4. Your gadget security is enhanced. Unsafe internet access to your device from unnecessary applications are restricted by Mobiwol firewall.
5. Faster internet connectivity. This is because by appropriate restriction of unwanted connectivity by Mobiwol Firewall and hibernation of other applications by Hibernate application, your available internet bandwidth is maximize by your browsers and other internet dependent applications.
6. Your device works with more ease (increased fluidity).
7. Battery life is enhanced.
8. All the processes are reversible.
9. Faster charging.
10. It can work on other Operating Systems with some amendments.
11. Your device can still do everything you want it to do even with more ease.
12. All the applications are free or has free versions.
RESULTS
Fig. 17 below are some outcomes I got when I left my device (Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo n7502 version) overnight in three different instances and full use for two days in an instance.
Fig. 17
Here, it can be noticed that the results of the idle mode (overnight) instances varied. One of the reasons is using the device for many days without restarting it. This is another emphasis on the need to always restart (refresh) your gadgets at least once in every three days for optimal performances.
SUMMARY
All you have done is to put your device in SMART Deep Sleep Mode when the screen is dim and SMART Flight Mode when screen is active.
SMART as used in this context means your device can still carry out the necessary standby functions like receive calls, messages and access internet facilities etc but at minimal system resources costs.
CONCLUSIONS
With full understanding of the methods, ideas, processes and theories used in this project, one can extend such to other platforms wholly or partially in order to get same effect.
Let take a look at Fig. 18 below which is the last screen capture I did for this research after final fine tuning, here the Device idle was the highest battery consumer while Android OS which used to be the highest in idle mode is now at third position. This is a clear indication that the device has been idle all through the period. Until you can record this kind of sequence in idle mode, you have not achieved the full potential of this project.
Fig. 18
Personally, this research is a breakthrough for my official and personal operations.
RECOMMENDATIONS
I wish to encourage Smart device manufacturers to look into this project to see if they could incorporate these points into future devices.
1. Provide different background synchronization options as in AutoSync Free application.
2. Provide side scrollable button (like volume type) for manual screen brightness adjustments.
3. Create different power profiles that can group some of these power related activities together that users can enable or disable in order to harness the intended benefits.
Nevertheless, if you could not get enough power on time from your device after applying all the settings outlined above, I will recommend that you change your battery or/and buy a portable power bank as a back up.
Finally, I wish to draw the attention of software developers to this research in order to see if they could develop an application that combines the useful processes and services utilized from the combination of the different applications used above. Android users would be ever grateful to such fellows. All I will ask from such developers are proper credits for my work.
You may view my blog for review and updates.
GRATITUDES
1. Google Incorporated.
2. Hibernate.apk developer.
3. Screen Brightness.apk developer.
4. Autosync free.apk developer.
5. All-in-one Toolbox.apk developer.
6. 2 battery.apk developer.
7. Mobiwol.apk developer.
8. Samsung Incorporated.
9. XDA Developers Forum.
10. DutchDogg54
11. The God of Wisdom.
REFERENCES
1. XDA Developers Forum.
2. Android OS.
3. TouchWiz UI.
4. Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo, N7502.
5. Screen Brightness UI.
6. Autosync free UI.
7. All-in-one Toolbox UI.
8. 2 battery UI.
9. Mobiwol UI.
10. Hibernate UI.
11 My Blog
Excellent thread
Hi,
You wrote it in one of your posts that you will come up with a thread like this and you did it. Very well done!
Fantastic effort. Your hard work is clearly visible in your post.
I was getting excellent battery life before with my Note 8 and Note 3 Neo. On Note 3 Neo I get SOT of 5hrs 30 to 6 hrs over a period of 5 to 7 days. Sometimes even 8 days (without power saving mode and flight mode)
All the tweaks that I applied on Note 8, Note 3 Neo and Note 2 are connected to rooting. And I want to get 10 hours SOT on my device over 4 days or 3 days or 5 days. That is my target.
What makes your effort even more fruitful is hibernation of apps can be done WITHOUT rooting.
IF I root using Chainfire method then Knox will be tripped and if I get some hardware problem then I won't be able to get it serviced at Samsung service Centre.
Now after reading your post looks like I don't have to root for a while at least till alternative method comes up.
My device N750
Personally, I have downloaded hibernate app. My RAM usage was very high with 1.41 GB and had to manually stop the running services/processes.
My hibernation list
1) all share control share service
2) Bluetooth test
3) bubbles
4) chat on
5) chrome (even this is a good browser, I found better results with chrome frozen on my other devices)
6) Enterprise VPN services ( dont use that much)
7) Exchange services
8) Gear manager
9) Google play books
10) Google Search
11) Google play games
12) Google +
13) Group play
14) Help
15) Index Service ( I am little unsure about this one)
16) Knox
17) Knox store
18) Knox Notification Manager
19) Live wall paper picker
20) NFC Test
21) Polaris viewer
22) Page buddy
23) S Finder
24) S planner widget
25) S voice
26) SNS
27) Samsung link
28) Samsung Push
29) Samsung account
30) Scrap book
31) Software update
32) Story album
33) Story album widget
34) Talk back
35) Voice recorder
36) Wlan test
37) Yahoo finance
38) YouTube
39) Knox event manager
40) Knox attestation
41) Policy updates
42) Wssyncmlnps
43) DRM
And rest of the hibernated apps are all downloaded apps.
I tried Greenify latest version which had the option to hibernate without rooting but it didn't work that well.
Hibernate works. I was able to hibernate nearly 111 apps/process etc.
Almost all of my downloaded apps have been hibernated using hibernate app EXCEPT Nova launcher.
Auto-sync will help lot of people out there who need to check multiple emails on the go.
It covers all options one can think of.
All-in-one toolbox has Junk cleaner and other tools which replaces Cleaner app. File Manager, Startup manager
It has App2SD, Startup manager
Previously, I was using Startup Manager free for preventing auto start of certain apps/services.
I have used battery doctor, Du battery saver and other battery saving apps but they didn't help much.
I will give a try for this battery 2x and see how it goes.
Once again, thank you so much for coming up with wonderful post and some of them can be tried on other Samsung/Android devices too.
Cheers!
Sam
Samavb said:
Hi,
I have used battery doctor, Du battery saver and other battery saving apps but they didn't help much.
I will give a try for this battery 2x and see how it goes.
Once again, thank you so much for coming up with wonderful post
Cheers!
Sam
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi sam,
This is not boasting, what we have here is a breakthrough for us.
These applications are the best of their kinds.
This project spanned over two years of intensive research.
Some of the facts were noticed by you that hibernate is more effective than greenify. Same thing goes for the rest.
let keep updating ourselves on positive knowledge to get what we want out of android.
please let developers create something like this for us.
Thanks for your encouragement.
It's all good but when it comes down to really using your phone, the only real way to improve battery significantly is replace it with a high capacity one. It's similar to tweaking for the benchmarks. In any case, great info btw :good:
ericbajana said:
It's all good but when it comes down to really using your phone, the only real way to improve battery significantly is replace it with a high capacity one. It's similar to tweaking for the benchmarks. In any case, great info btw :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your review, the truth is that if any one could achieve the type of battery life i get now and compares it with the the way it used to be out of the box, then there is a reason to celebrate.
that notwithstanding, what you suggested was part of my 'conditional' recommendations.
Very good information about Android phone, I really like this phone because it supports many android apps.
9 hours 50 min Screen on Time in 2 days 11 hours
omorofos said:
Hi sam,
This is not boasting, what we have here is a breakthrough for us.
These applications are the best of their kinds.
This project spanned over two years of intensive research.
Some of the facts were noticed by you that hibernate is more effective than greenify. Same thing goes for the rest.
let keep updating ourselves on positive knowledge to get what we want out of android.
please let developers create something like this for us.
Thanks for your encouragement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
9 hours 50 min Screen on Time in 2 days 11 hours and extremely happy with the result.
I have mentioned about your excellent thread in my post in another thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=55173252&postcount=167
Hope many more people will benefit from your thread.
I used only Hibernate app which resulted in good improvement in my results.
Attached my screenshots
Cheers!
Sam
you made my day
Samavb said:
9 hours 50 min Screen on Time in 2 days 11 hours and extremely happy with the result.
I have mentioned about your excellent thread in my post in another thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=55173252&postcount=167
Hope many more people will benefit from your thread.
I used only Hibernate app which resulted in good improvement in my results.
Attached my screenshots
Cheers!
Sam
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
knowing that i was able to make you smile make me feel like a king. The pleasure is mine.
Thanks for your encouragement.
Very Very good
Hi, i discovered this thread by a chance, but i think it should be linked on every android forum and all the people guessing how to reduce battery usage should know about it.
I surfed a lot of thread trying to find a way to avoid to hidden process to wake up my phone when it should be sleeping. I tried to freeze and deactivate apps, or at least the app that i could deactivate (i have galaxy note 3 neo and no root). The problem in fact is that when i put in airplane mode, the phone sleep like a baby, so the problem was SURELY connected to data usage.
The request of data connection wake up both the radio (wifi of 3G) and the phone itself.
So i think and experimented the biggest part of this energy saving is avoid application to go on the internet without our permission.
That is why i think Mobiwol no root firewall ( and partially autosync) make 90% of the energy saving here.
Our phones have infinite app that theoretically should not need to acces internet, but they do indeed. And there is no stock firmware realized to avoid this (even because who develops firmware want their app to go on the internet too as much as they can: Samsung for example).
So mobiwol helped me to see that a file explorer (!!??) tried to access internet, helped me to avoid internet connections of samsung app that i was enable to uninstall or freeze.
Concerning things like autosync, and screen dimmer, etc.. i think thoose kind of settings depend on the user. For instance i want to have enough light on the screen, and that dim automatically when needed ( i use Lux lite and i am very happy of that). I don't want to have a worst experience using the phone, only to allow the battery to last 4 days. What I WANT is the battery to last when the phone is in standby: i don't want it to surf the web on his own!!
So thank you very much for you help, i hope more people see this and wish admin put it as Stick everywhere.
the pleasure is mine
cubalibre0975 said:
Hi, i discovered this thread by a chance, but i think it should be linked on every android forum and all the people guessing how to reduce battery usage should know about it.
I surfed a lot of thread trying to find a way to avoid to hidden process to wake up my phone when it should be sleeping. I tried to freeze and deactivate apps, or at least the app that i could deactivate (i have galaxy note 3 neo and no root). The problem in fact is that when i put in airplane mode, the phone sleep like a baby, so the problem was SURELY connected to data usage.
The request of data connection wake up both the radio (wifi of 3G) and the phone itself.
So i think and experimented the biggest part of this energy saving is avoid application to go on the internet without our permission.
That is why i think Mobiwol no root firewall ( and partially autosync) make 90% of the energy saving here.
Our phones have infinite app that theoretically should not need to acces internet, but they do indeed. And there is no stock firmware realized to avoid this (even because who develops firmware want their app to go on the internet too as much as they can: Samsung for example).
So mobiwol helped me to see that a file explorer (!!??) tried to access internet, helped me to avoid internet connections of samsung app that i was enable to uninstall or freeze.
Concerning things like autosync, and screen dimmer, etc.. i think thoose kind of settings depend on the user. For instance i want to have enough light on the screen, and that dim automatically when needed ( i use Lux lite and i am very happy of that). I don't want to have a worst experience using the phone, only to allow the battery to last 4 days. What I WANT is the battery to last when the phone is in standby: i don't want it to surf the web on his own!!
So thank you very much for you help, i hope more people see this and wish admin put it as Stick everywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
vaibhavud said:
You have posted very helpfull data,thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am glad to learn that my post was helpful. do me a favor by referring other people seeking for same information in other threads to this one and pressing the thanks button too.
Opera Max = Data Savings!!
Our team at Opera have a pretty neat app called Opera Max. It uses a unique compressions algorithm to help you save your data upto 50% and extend the life of your data plan!!
TechnoYou are rightGeek123 said:
Our team at Opera have a pretty neat app called Opera Max. It uses a unique compressions algorithm to help you save your data upto 50% and extend the life of your data plan!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right. This is why only opera and the stock android browsers are my only browsers. Even chrome was disabled by me as revealed in the write up.
The off road mode need to be improved upon as regard quick connections.
All said and done, OPERA ROCKS.
This project is not for browsers alone, some other applications use megabytes illegally hence the need for mobiwol firewall and other tweaking.
Opera Max = Data Savings!!
omorofos said:
i am glad to learn that my post was helpful. do me a favor by referring other people seeking for same information in other threads to this one and pressing the thanks button too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good Job bro. Been looking for this for ages. Please can one use this procedure on custom roms such as Note 4 mini rom for the Neo?
Thanks.
mcfwesh said:
Good Job bro. Been looking for this for ages. Please can one use this procedure on custom roms such as Note 4 mini rom for the Neo?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@mcfwesh; yes it works on all android platforms.
Sorry for the delay in reply.
Related
[Q] Transitioned to WP7 - ex iPhone/Android/Symbian power user
Hi everyone I have been a cell tech freak for about 10 years now, and have owned almost all the smart phones that have come out. Although am not a programmer, but I try to use the phones to the fullest, and have recently decided to share my experience with you all by writing my first in-depth review on the lines of 'a day in the life of...' for each of the current hot phones - HD7, Vibrant and iPhone 4. However, before I begin on that review, there are a few questions that I need clarity on (could not find through search): 1. What does the option 'run behing lock screen' mean? In my case, I turned it on with autoupdate on 10 mins for facebook app, but when I reopened the app hours later, it was not updated. 2. Notification system - is there a system to collect notifications, similar to android? or this is more like iphone where the popup comes and goes away? 3. Push notifications - how does it work? for example, I use task lists with reminders set for online services like rememberthemilk.com, however even though I have alarms on, nothing happens on the device. 4. Is there an official website/etc to give feedback to wp7 team or vote on new features? Would love to aid in the development. 5. I normally guage the suitability of a platform by assessing how many of the good developers on other platforms are planning or have started developing for a new platform as well. For example, seesmic client on WP7 is good and has seen consistent improvement. What other major developers are we sure about that have / have not begun work on WP&? (examples: tweetdeck team, hootsuite, nimbuzz, trillian, etc) Would be great if I got your feedback on these. Cant wait to share my review on all three phones
1. It means the app will continue running even if you "lock" the screen. It has nothing to do with multitasking - which the OS does not currently do (for third party apps). 2. It comes and goes. Unfortunately. IMO it goes away too fast as well, I hear the notification sound but by the time I've picked up the phone all I see is the notification sliding away. 3. Depends on how the developer has implemented it. However, you cannot get an alarm going off without having the app running - and since you can't multitask, well... 4. No 5. From what I've seen pretty much all the usual suspects have already or are planning to deploy on WP7. Both the marketplace and developer uptake is higher than what it was for iOS/Android. There are a few well-knows devs holding out, but that's their loss really.
for 4. no official way but read this article http://www.wpcentral.com/how-provide-microsoft-feedback-about-wp7
2. Collected notifications are displayed on the bottom of the lockscreen.
Thanks for the answers. I have a couple of other things though: 1. I have assigned a custom ring to my wife's number from the people hub, however whenever she calls me from her number the generic ringtone rings...what gives? 2. When u mean it runs under the lock screen, does that mean exactly this: If I open an app that has the option to run under lock screen and autoupdate after x minutes, and if I lock the screen while the app is still running in the foreground, it will continue to autoupdate in the background..? Thanks people appreciate it
[APP] ISee You
Hi, copied from Nexus Forum works very well on HTC One X with Android 4.0.4 cheers starbase64 Mirarchi said: Hi guys! My name is Mirarchi and i'm an italian software developer that comes from Windows programming. Recently i bought a fantastic Galaxy Nexus and i started a project called "ISeeYou". This program recognizes your face while you seeing the phone keeping on the screen. When you don't look the phone, the screen will go off after a specified timeout. So this is similar to a popular app integrated in the new Galaxy S III. Developed for device targeting Android SDK rel 14 (Android 4.0 and later) No 3rd party libs. Uses only integrated system libraries(so it SHOULD work on every Android 4.0 based device). Detectes the face, not the eyes(for now). Customizable timeouts and app starts. Requirements for using the app Android 4.0 or later. Front facing camera that detects your face. You can use the integrated Camera app to verify if the camera can detect your face (this app uses the same face detection system) Known Issues While using the app you can't use the Camera application because the camera use is reserved for one application at time. So if you want to use the camera, you should stop the app. The app will constantly use the camera while the screen is on, so it will drain your battery faster than normal. Cheers! The demo version will run only for 5 minutes, then it will stop automatically. When the app detects your face, an "eye" icon will appear on the left side of the status bar such as a notification. Enjoy the app and let me know the results. Suggestions are also appreciated. NOTE: UNISTALL ANY PREVIOUS VERSION OF THE APPLICATION OTHERWISE YOU CAN HAVE STRANGE ERRORS! Edit 20120616: Upped a new version that should be compatible with devices other than the GNex. Now the app doesn't use constantly the camera, but now polls the camera every N seconds where N is a custom parameter. Also you can specify the maximum scan rate that is the maximum time that the camera is occuped by the ISeeYouService. In the next few days i will releasea FREE version with reduced features. Enjoy!! Edit 20120617: Released the "free" version based on build 20120616. This version hasn't the 5 minutes limit, but there is no possibility to change settings. This will be available in the "PRO" version and i will sell it in the next few days. Stay tuned! Edit 20120617-2: New version available! Added a persistent notify icon that links directly to the app. Now when the service is running, will show a "closed eye" icon. When the service detects your face, the eye will "blink" for a split second. Now the service runs in foreground mode. This will prevent undesidered closes of the app by the android system and should solve the FC issues. Cheers!! Edit 20120617-3: Link for PRO version. Enjoy!! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iseeyoupro&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLmlzZWV5b3Vwcm8iXQ.. Click to expand... Click to collapse
I am using this now, haven't had a large amount of time to test it but so far it works well enough. Some of the reviews on the market mention it causing their videos to stutter, but I have not yet run into that issue. I tried to record a video and then watch it and had no problems. Obviously an app like this will differ from device to device and setup to setup. I am most interested in what effect it will have on my battery. I set my screen timeout to 15 seconds and will probably change the polling time to every 25. That would make a potential 40 seconds before the screen times out on its own but I usually manually turn it off if I am not using it. It will be great once someone discovers the perfect setup for it Sent from my HTC One XL using Tapatalk 2 Edit: my timing logic failed me as the timers were not in sync. I will try a 30 second screen timeout and 25 second polling then it has leeway on either side
[APP][2.2+] BATTERY INFORMER & TASK MANAGER - Find out what is crippling your device
[APP][2.2+] BATTERY INFORMER & TASK MANAGER - Find out what is crippling your device Greetings, fellow Android enthusiasts. If you're like me, that is, *very* curious (not to say, almost paranoid) about what is happening inside your shiny Android device, you've surely ended up with a lot (well, say 5+) apps to manage different aspects of the Android OS. Optimization you got in one hand are lost by the mere fact that all those apps starts overlapping in terms of features at best and take opposite actions, or affect each others at worst, while trying to optimize your system. Not to speak of different user interfaces spread in different packages with inconsistent visual feedback (some reporting free resources, other usage/percent, see what I mean ?) This is the reason why I decided to write this app called "Battery Informer Task Manager" (not the sexiest name around, I know) to integrate in one single and most lightweight package everything I thought I would like to have to manage my system the best, extend my battery life the most (I will show you how later,) know what is using my data plan and ultimately dissect my system to keep control of what is running in there and what is the impact of each hardware and software component. Nothing less, nothing more :> First of all this app is free (well, Ad-supported, and there is a donationware version if you're supporting developpers,) as my day-job is not Android developer (I'm a telecom engineer.) So, what do we have in the package ? A power usage reporting tool This module tells you everything about hardware components and software packages' power consumption. Including the underlying UNIX platform. You get power distribution between display, CPU, WiFi & BT, cellular, with the amount of energy shared between each component's states (power spent at different brightness levels by the display, at different frequencies by the CPU, at different receiving power by the radio subsystem, and so on.) Software-wise, you get the power usage distribution between the different software packages. This is (in my opinion) the most relevant part when you're looking for what is draining your battery so fast (even when your device should be idling.) This is the part where you can see the (infamous) wakelocks that prevents your device to go to deep sleep. This is also here that you'll see network data usage by software packages. You can go down to single process power usage from here. Select a package (or the OS itself) and get by-process power usage and time spent by the CPU executing that one (I'm pretty sure you'll have the Android window compositor up in the charts :> ) Battery usage reduction tools (what commercial apps call 'energy saver') Very simple energy saving tactics : - Turn off Wi-Fi and/or mobile data when you turn off the screen. - Activate mobile data only when certain apps you choose are running (example: data is off, and the app turn it on as soon as I launch the browser. I switch to the email app, close the browser in the meantime, but data connectivity is kept up since the email client is still running. As soon as the email client ends, mobile data is turned off.) - Automatically kill a process that goes over a CPU usage limit. You can set this limit for peak usage (the app suddenly uses a lot of CPU but was dormant before) or on average usage. This is set in term of % of CPU power. This feature can use root privileges if your device is rooted and you've enabled it in the app's settings. However be warned that root privileges might kill a foreground application. This is always very surprising (even to me, the developer) and can become very irritating if you're gaming or watching a video. So, I do not recommend it, but it can be fun from time to time :> - Automatic background tasks cleaner. Set it to run every 5 to 120 minutes, to terminate background tasks and free memory. All of those are optional, and are not enabled by default. So if you're willing to give the app a try and take advantage of these features, do not forget to go to the settings! System & task manager There are two parts in the manager. Firstly, the system analyzer will present you with aggregated system-wide real-time indicators about your device. Battery details (including estimated remaining time at present or on average usage rates) and instant current (in mA) solicitation on the power cells. This last value is calculated in case the kernel does not report it correctly, but you don't need to perform "battery calibration" or cycle to get it. It might be a little wrong if you swap the stock device's battery. The battery events are stored, so don't worry if you plug or unplug your device, this won't wipe those data like the standard Android battery gauge does. But you've to clean it yourself from time to time :> The system analyzer also gives you system CPU and memory usage, along with network usage & cellular reception, all graphed in real-time. The second part is the task manager itself. Well, this has become a bit more than a simple task manager. Of course you get the list of running processes and associated data with each of those, but I decided yo keep track of dead processes (don't worry you can hide them.) I did that because I thought it was quite convenient to find out if a now-terminated process has used a lot of CPU or downloaded a lot of information from the network. In the process list tab, you can terminate one or multiple processes at once, like every task manager around. But if your device is rooted, you can choose to kill the process at the OS layer rather than with the standard Android API. In other terms, root allows you to terminate foreground processes. You can chose if you want to use root privileges or not, this is not related to the fact your device is effectively rooted or not. When you select a process, you get a screen with real-time CPU and network usage graphs along with numerical data. You also can terminate this single process from here. What about real-time charts ? You've got them too. Process are sorted real-time by peak or average CPU usage and network data volumes exchanged. Refresh rate is synchronized with the app's service heartbeat and can be adjusted, of course. At last, you've got a big panic button in the home screen to recycle everything if something in your device is making the CPU heating to the point you can't hold it anymore without taking the risk to burn your hand. Goodies - A persistent notification indicating CPU, memory and network usage levels. You can disable it if you want to. - Two widgets, one for system stats another for power-related values. Screenshots We all love screenshots, don't we ? A few on my site : www(dot)starnode(dot)net/screenshots/ And, most importantly, you get all of these in a 2.6MB only software package :> I've successfully tested (real hands-on) the app on the following devices : - Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100 (stock 2.3.x, stock 4.0.x and CM9 ROMS) - Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 (stock 4.0.x ROM) - Google Galaxy Nexus - Sony Xperia S - HTC Desire S (2.2 stock ROM) - HTC Desire HD (2.3 stock ROM) - Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (AOKP 4.0.x ROM) - Archos 101G9 Tab (4.0.x stock ROM) I hope you'll find this useful, and I'm very very very open to feedback. If you need a new feature, do not hesitate to drop me a few words and I'll look into it (donationware users have higher priority ;p) Please don't get angry if the app crashes or whatever, remember it's free (I know, the ads may be a little annoying, but you get full functionality in the free version!) Instead, send me the crash report when you are proposed to in the Force Close dialog, and I'll make sure to correct the issue for you ! You can find the app in Google Play, just search for "Battery Informer Task Manager" Cheers & Have fun with Android!
CHANGELOG Version 1.3.3 : * When the device ROM does report inconsistent power profiles, they're replaced with standard values instead of nulls. This will allow the application to still produce usable outputs, rather than empty fields (although less precise.) * In case of erroneous power profiles are detected, the application will suggest to send a report summary by mail to help correct the issue. Version 1.3.2 : * Corrected two issues relative to the monitoring service (didn't properly start in some situations.) Version 1.3.0 : * Initial public release.
"Could not retrieve Ad from network. The application will close in 15 minutes." Not fun :-/ Go ahead, flame me.
Znuff said: "Could not retrieve Ad from network. The application will close in 15 minutes." Not fun :-/ Go ahead, flame me. Click to expand... Click to collapse Same here Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Are you using an ad blocker or were your devices totally offline at this time (no mobile data nor WiFi) ? I guess I'll have to add a connectivity check before throwing this message, the app could disconnect itself too...
starnode said: Are you using an ad blocker or were your devices totally offline at this time (no mobile data nor WiFi) ? I guess I'll have to add a connectivity check before throwing this message, the app could disconnect itself too... Click to expand... Click to collapse Yes I am using a ad blocker... Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Understood. I will consider removing this in the future if the majority ask for it. But rest assured that the monitoring service does not close itself, this only concerns the UI (which you can restart immediately.)
I had to push an update to solve a critical bug on some devices, so I made something less intrusive if you're blocking the ads. (sorry for double posting)
A few users (thanks to them) reported that their devices' ROMs were not correctly reporting some power profiles. So I pushed a new version that will replace inconsistent values with standard ones so the application could complete all the calculations and produce a readable/usable output. When such an inconsistency in power levels is detected, the application will suggest to send a report by mail so I could try to correct the issue.
Trying this app out to try to resolve some huge "android os" data consumption.
Recommend me some Apps, Please
I'm swapping from Android to Windows Phone, and was hoping if anyone is bored enough to read this they might suggest some Windows Phone Apps that might suit my needs. In no way do I expect anyone that hops in to respond to each type, or google around for me, but I expect I'm not the first person to make the Android -> Windows phone swap, so maybe some of you will have a quick idea of ones to try out. You don't need to spend a lot of time explaining every app, if you're busy. Every platform is different though, so rather than spend 10 hours looking for something that everyone in the community already knows, I thought I would just toss out some quick questions. 1. RSS feeds. On Android I use gReader Pro. It's a pretty basic app that allows easy setup for RSS feeds and syncs them with your google reader account. Not very exciting, but it's easy to use because my feeds are already set up via google, so a decent app that can do the same would be nice. 2. Google Voice. I'd like to make and receive texts, as well as make calls on wifi (receiving calls isn't a big deal, but would be a plus). I downloaded GoVoice, which seems like it will be pretty decent, but am open to suggsetions. 3. Podcasts. I used Doggcatcher on Android, which allows you to stream, download + save, and sync podcasts. It has a decent search function to help you get started. 4. Tasker. This one is more difficult to explain, but essentially it allows you to program a set of tasks, like a macro function. Essentially I have it set up for "Off" (as in data/wifi/bluetooth/gps/gsm disabled), "Data" (same as off but wifi enabled), "Loud" (same as data but with notifications and media volumes all the way up), and "Car" (same as Loud but wifi off and speakerphone and GPS enabled). Basically I use this to change the state of the GPS, WIFI, and volumes, so that I can quickly switch a number of settings at once. Great app, if you have some patience and have an Android kicking around. 5. Astrid Tasks. A pretty basic reminder app. I'm sure there are plenty of these for Windows Phone, but any suggestion would great. If it can store backups to the computer, or sync with a cloud based system, that would be a plus. 6*. Something to show running applications quickly. I'm not sure if this is actually an issue for Windows Phone, but sometimes apps go "rogue" on Android, so being able to make sure that a particular app isn't a battery drain would be nice. I was using System Panel on Android. If this isn't needed, disregard the question. 7. A good alarm app. I was using Gentle Alarm on Android, which has a widget to show you the next alarm that will go off, and allows easy creation of various alarms, which can be set for audible, vibration, specific days of the week to repeat on, etc. You can also ensure that alarms will always be audible, regardless of if everything else is muted, which is nice for at night when you don't need an email waking you up, but need to make sure the alarm is at maximum volume in the morning. 8. Anything else you can think of that is a must have for daily use. I'm a student and don't really have a lot of time to play with the phone for games, but hey, we all have to pass the time every once in a while. 9. Onenote. I like how this app syncs easily, but I can't view my handwritten notes that I write on my tablet. Is there a workaround that allows you to see these? ------ I'm only using this Lumia 710 on WIFI, essentially as a PDA + GPS, so anything handy that can prevent battery drain is a plus, as I don't require GPS to constantly be on, and I certainly don't need phone/data(non-wifi) to constantly be on. In short, I appreciate any input you might have, even if it's only for one of the things I have listed. The phone seems great in general, and had most of the important things already installed (the email, calendar, navigation, office, etc., is fantastic as is, which is a great bonus compared to Android, where I had to use 3rd party apps for most of the core aspects). Regards, --bb
Weave Skype Music and Video with Zune Not possible Ask Ziggy not needed Default alarm Board Express Pro Sent from my HD7 using Board Express ---------- Post added at 06:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:14 PM ---------- Nokia Drive Crackle Nokia Creative Studio Contract Killer Sent from my HD7 using Board Express ---------- Post added at 06:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:16 PM ---------- Box SkyDrive MetroTube Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
pvt_nemesis said: Weave Skype Music and Video with Zune Not possible Ask Ziggy not needed Default alarm Board Express Pro Sent from my HD7 using Board Express ---------- Post added at 06:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:14 PM ---------- Nokia Drive Crackle Nokia Creative Studio Contract Killer Sent from my HD7 using Board Express ---------- Post added at 06:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:16 PM ---------- Box SkyDrive MetroTube Sent from my HD7 using Board Express Click to expand... Click to collapse Thanks for all of the suggestions. That should keep me busy for quite awhile. :good:
Try also fantasia painter for photo editor. Is awesome and free. The only app i am missing since switching from wp7 to android Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda app-developers app
Before I get into my list, I'm just going to run down how apps and multi tasking work on WP7 in case you don't already know. #1: No app can truly run in the background. The only way to get an app to continue running is either to have it up and prevent the screen from turning off, or (if supported by the app) allow it to run under the lockscreen, which means when you press the power button, only the screen turns off, the phone does not enter a sleep state. -----------------The exception to this rule is when an app is playing music. If the app dev has done it correctly, he should have handed the music playing off to the system, so once you set up the music source in app, you should be able to minimize it and use the next/previous/play/pause controls. In fact you can even go to grooveshark's beta html5 in internet explorer; HTML5 can plug in to this system media playback! I was very excited to learn that. But at least on grooveshark, next/previous controls don't work. #2: HOWEVER each app can have a "daemon" which is essentially a set of tasks that are run periodically by the system (minimum of every half hour). So if you use google latitude, latitude apps will only be able to update your position every half hour (or at longer intervals, but no shorter). This system of background daemons is actually very very good as it encourages unique thinking from the developer side, and still gives the user the benefits of true multi tasking without the battery drainage. What a daemon can do isn't that limited, but it's the fact that no internet connection can remain active in the background that poses a lot of problems (for example, IRC clients cannot have multi tasking for this reason). Since things can only run every half hour, you don't have to worry about things like turning off your gps, since nothing is allowed to just turn on the GPS and keep it on. #3 : Also there's still push, of course. Lemme break that down for you: push notifications can either be through the live tile (rather than having a background daemon update the tile, things are pushed to it immediately as they arrive), or push can be used through statusbar notifications. One unfortunate oversight in this system is that if you have an app that you do not pin to the start menu, and if it has a notification and you did not hear it... there is no list of missed notifications. This doesn't come into play that often; for me it only happens with eBay, where I don't want to bother having that on my start screen but I might miss some alerts. #4: Battery Saver mode is YOUR FRIEND. You can get nearly another day out of your phone (or I can with my Titan) when battery saver kicks in. You can enable it so that it turns on when the battery is low (%20), or manually. However, it disables all background daemons and push notification in order to save battery. #5: Multi tasking and switching between apps. Hold down the back button to see the list of the last several apps you used (or in the case of my unlocked ROM, all of the apps you have used since boot). When you minimize an app (press the start button), it gets "dehydrated" which means it's just suspended to RAM. It works like you'd expect; start typing something in one app, switch over to another to look something up and switch back to the first to resume typing. To remove an app from the list, or "exit" the app (since it isn't actually running the only thing this does is remove clutter or perhaps free up some slots), you "back" out of them. Press the back button until the app goes away. One of the reasons, in my opinion, that windows 8 is getting a lot of negative flack is because people don't know that live tiles are good. It doesn't help that, last time I checked, there were no useful live tile apps in the 8 marketplace yet. So frustrating! People hate what they don't understand, because hating on the internet is the standard state of existence. I encourage you to think about what you do on the internet every time you sit down on your computer, and see if you can find an app with live tile to do it for you. For me, I had a routine of checking my email(s), going through a lot of webcomics, reading news feeds, etc. That was my daily routine. Now with WP7, I have each aspect of my routine as a live tile, so I can literally replace that entire process with just looking at the start screen. The other thing about live tiles and metro that people fail to understand is that active push notifications, where unnecessary are BAD, for a few different reasons. Push notifications are "active" and live tiles are "passive". This is because live tiles do not make any noise or otherwise prompt you to look at them; they are simply there and deliver content when you pull out your phone. Let me put this in perspective: say I pull out my phone to look up something on wikipedia. I can see that I have 2 new emails, some new RSS articles and a facebook notification. Number 1: I don't feel the urge to go and clear the unread count of all of these things, as I would if they were all aggregated in the statusbar like on android (because you need that statusbar for things, and if it's cluttered and you don't keep up on it, it quickly fills up and becomes overwhelming). I can leave them alone for now and go to wikipedia. Now if this were an android/IOS device, I would have gotten an audible notification for each of those three things, and I would have taken time out of whatever I was doing IN LIFE to tend to my phone. Some points about stressors here (and when I say stressors, I don't mean overwhelming stress you can feel, but stress in the clinical sense, which is objective): having your phone beep at you constantly stresses you; for most people it's difficult to put their phone out of their mind until they have seen what the notification was. This is not good. Moreover, feeling the need to go and clear unread counts/managing your statusbar is also somewhat of a stressor; if it starts overflowing you'll either learn to not use things that create notifications (somewhat limiting your experience with a smartphone), give up all hope and never look at the statusbar again, or just clear it out and miss out on things you wouldn't have if the information was presented in an orderly fashion. Live tiles, being passive, are also more efficient in terms of time spent on the phone and your phone's battery life. Notice how in my example, I observed the new content only when I was already pulling out my phone to do something else. With things aggregating in bulk, I can view them in bulk at points of the day where I was already on my phone. This is opposed to pulling out my phone every 15 minutes because something new happened... which wastes time pulling your phone out of your pocket many times a day, wastes battery when turning the screen on/off many times a day, and if you use wifi; wastes even more battery when the wifi radio is turned on/off sporadically many times a day. So yes, live tiles are an objectively less stressful approach to mobile devices and less distracting from tasks at hand. The same concepts can be applied to windows 8; rather than having popup notifications for all your facebook, email, rss, etc bombard you while you're trying to write a paper... all of that information is silently aggregated for you in the background. ------------The List------------------- For alarms, 627.AM Built in Alarm app. For task / project management Tasks by telerik Or just use the built in calendar app Or use Onenote and Pin your task list to the start screen. For RSS Wonder Reader hands down, none of the other google reader clients are quite as fully functional and polished. Fuse is pretty but I never got the hang of using it. For Wifi Video calls Tango. It's pretty limited in that the android and IOS client are updated with better features, and you can only call other people with tango... but the service itself is more efficient and more reliable than the skype app was last time I tried it. Moreover it supports push for accepting calls, something skype doesn't. Also I like the concept of not having "online / offline" states. You call someone, and they choose to answer it or not. Why would I need to log into a phone... I used to take notes on a tablet at school, and ran into the same problem as you. Only solution I know of is to print your notes back into onenote. You'll have duplicates of everything unfortunately. Podcast functionality is built in. For random recommendations... das Image (Better image search) Image Map (Renders all of your pictures on a map based on GPS loc info) Dynamic Background (Unlock) (Updates the lockscreen picture every half hour choosing randomly from a pool of selected images) Battery Status (Unlock) (Live tile for current battery percent, also tracks battery usage and graphs it for you) EnClock (there is no stopwatch built in to WP7, and you never know when you need one) eBay HandyScan (Helps you take good pictures of papers, backs up to skydrive. Better to keep documents in here than with regular pictures). Keep Alive (by jaxbot, it prevents wifi from turning off) Nokia Drive (Unlock unless you get a nokia device) MetroPaper (Read it later / pocket) Metrotube + Supertube (youtube apps. 1 is awesome, 2 lets you download videos and even create offline "music" playlists) Photo2cloud (back up full res photos to skydrive independent of PC) Supreme Shortcuts (Unlock) (Lets you pin any setting page to the start screen) WeatherLive (There are plenty of other weather apps... but weatherlive works, it's incredibly thorough, updates live tile using GPS location, is pretty, etc) Zite (Gives you news articles based on google reader feeds and who you follow in twitter, good for every time I go to the toilet ) If you use IRC or SSH The SSH Client Pro TinyIRC And now that you are a part of the WP community, you should invest in AND pin the live tiles of each to your start screen: WPCentral WMPoweruser Games! I Don't like to play serious games on my phone; I like something I can whip out at any time and turn off at any time, no consequence. That said, I make an exception for the Final Fantasy updated / rerelease for WP7 COLLAPSE (Probably my favorite mobile game. It's an easy puzzle game, but satisfying to plow through at ludicrous speed. There are some very hard rounds with special conditions though.. story mode is dumb but it has unique challenges and you need to play through it to unlock all the quick play modes). Final Fantasy Wordament Fruit Ninja Dodonpachi Maximum (Genre: Bullet Hell. If you don't know what that means then try it before you buy it. If you love bullet hell; buy this. It's by CAVE). Wizard's Choice (A casual text adventure).
link68759 said: Lots of good info Click to expand... Click to collapse Thank you for the detailed response! I've started using Onenote as a to-do list, but I made a recent post as to why that's causing me problems (or so it seems). I seem to be syncing everything from onenote, and my device has basically filled up overnight as it downloaded my files. Microsoft told me to contact Nokia about it, and then disconnected? It seemed like a good plan to me as well. I don't really need to see detailed graphs and notes on the phone, just a couple simple folders. I may just reset the phone and give the other apps you suggested a shot, and not connect with my microsoft live ID at all. I went from plenty of space on the device to none, in a matter of days. I'm not sure if podcasts were an issue as well, and how it saves and deletes them. I only stored what I would consider a small amount, maybe 200 megs or less. Nokia drive works great. It takes up a lot of space, but I have it on my feature phone as well, and the GPS acquisition time on the Lumia 710 blows away my E5-00, and my Droid X. It's just incredibly fast at locking in. I'll do a reset tomorrow and give the other apps a shot, and try to avoid anything that could be crushing my storage. All I really need for storage is email, nokia drive, and basic apps/news/podcasts, which on my android (nav aside) shouldn't really take more than 1 gig of space. A few small games to pass the time, and some apps for productivity, and I should be back in business. Unfortunately I can't seem to find a way to determine what is using X amount of space, so I'll have to do a full wipe and install items slowly, to sort it out. There isn't a proper app to view this kind of thing, is there? Regards, --bb
I'll reply to your other thread about one note. You can't not connect with your live ID if you plan to download apps unfortunately. For viewing used space, Zune does divide it up for you, I don't remember how specific it gets but it should be divided into space used by music, videos, podcasts, apps. I don't think it's possible for an app to view usage, because each app is sandboxed; that is they have their own folder on the device and they are not allowed to leave it. Nokia Drive shouldn't need to take up a lot of space; you can just download the maps of where you live and where you might possibly go spontaneously, as opposed to your whole country XD. Yeah I've had good luck with my phones and GPS, WP7 in general does an excellent job with GPS. Oh I forgot to mention in my first post; WPCentral and WMPoweruser are good because they do a lot of app/game reviews, usually the reviews are on new apps in the market. This is pretty much the only way I discover new apps
link68759 said: I'll reply to your other thread about one note. You can't not connect with your live ID if you plan to download apps unfortunately. For viewing used space, Zune does divide it up for you, I don't remember how specific it gets but it should be divided into space used by music, videos, podcasts, apps. I don't think it's possible for an app to view usage, because each app is sandboxed; that is they have their own folder on the device and they are not allowed to leave it. Nokia Drive shouldn't need to take up a lot of space; you can just download the maps of where you live and where you might possibly go spontaneously, as opposed to your whole country XD. Yeah I've had good luck with my phones and GPS, WP7 in general does an excellent job with GPS. Click to expand... Click to collapse Gotcha! I will look into setting up a new windows live account for OneNote to-do type lists. I know Office sometimes used to have issues with multiple live accounts on the same computer, in Windows 7, but I think that's mostly fixed now. I use google calendar anyways (to sync), so realistically it's not the end of the world for me to keep the accounts disconnected from my school Onenote live account. I guess I synced all of Nokia North America at once (1.9 or so gigs of a download). I certainly don't need more than 20% of it. In fact, my whole state, now that I look at it, is only 36 megs. Now that you've given some ideas of how to approach it, I'm liking this more than any of my other previous phones (iPhone, BB Bold, Droid X, etc). It needs some time to grow as an operating system, and Nokia really needs to put an LED notification light on future models [shakes tiny fist], but I think they're back in the game! Thank you very much for all of your help. //Edit: I read your other post responding to mine. I think you're right. I could probably do a wipe, use the same account, but move the basic to-do lists to a separate folder, pin them, and make sure to never ever open the school folder itself in Office on the phone. That sounds like it would work ok as well, as I must have opened a school folder that overwhelmed it and just started syncing massive amounts of pdf's, inking, and so on, along with the simple things.
I just wanted to also mention that all that you typed out would make for a great sticky. That's a ton of great info. Thank you again for all of the feedback. You made some excellent points about how smartphones add lots of unnecessary stresses when they're constantly distracting us with notifications, as well as how live tiles really help ease you into information you need, and information you might not, but are willing to take a brief glance at. I'm a big Windows 8 fan, and have used RP, RTM Pro (currently), and RTM enterprise. I think Live Tiles are fantastic, whether it's on my phone, my convertible laptop, or my desktop. I think you're absolutely correct about how people just don't quite understand how handy it will be yet. //BTW: I bookmarked your post as a sort of "zen" explanation I can refer back to, or link to a friend, so they understand the unity and purposes in the next stage in Windows products. ///Afterthought: I still would like a notification LED on the phone, as long as it's customizable. On Android and Blackberry I would always disable the light for all of the nonsense things, but keep it enabled for things like a missed call (because that could be my son needing a ride, or something else that's important), or for a severe weather alert. Random emails would just have to wait until I turned on the screen.
Sorry to bump my own thread again, but I have a question about three of the apps that link68759 mentioned. "Supreme Shortcuts (Unlock) (Lets you pin any setting page to the start screen)" "Battery Status (Unlock) (Live tile for current battery percent, also tracks battery usage and graphs it for you)" "Keep Alive (by jaxbot, it prevents wifi from turning off)" By "unlock" I'm assuming he meant an unlocked bootloader, and not locked to a cellular carrier? I did the basic test today, and mine appears to be locked, which is a shame because both of those functions would be great. As far as "Keep Alive" goes, I can't seem to find that specific app/dev combo in the market. I don't use 3g/4g data on this phone, or any phone anymore, so is that an app that is better than keeping the scanning on, or is it a battery drain? I'm just not sure I follow the concept, because I can't find a description of it. Regards, --bb
bladebarrier said: Sorry to bump my own thread again, but I have a question about three of the apps that link68759 mentioned. "Supreme Shortcuts (Unlock) (Lets you pin any setting page to the start screen)" "Battery Status (Unlock) (Live tile for current battery percent, also tracks battery usage and graphs it for you)" "Keep Alive (by jaxbot, it prevents wifi from turning off)" By "unlock" I'm assuming he meant an unlocked bootloader, and not locked to a cellular carrier? I did the basic test today, and mine appears to be locked, which is a shame because both of those functions would be great. As far as "Keep Alive" goes, I can't seem to find that specific app/dev combo in the market. I don't use 3g/4g data on this phone, or any phone anymore, so is that an app that is better than keeping the scanning on, or is it a battery drain? I'm just not sure I follow the concept, because I can't find a description of it. Regards, --bb Click to expand... Click to collapse You'll need to flash a custom ROM, which you can luckily do on your 710. The a wifi radio turning on/off takes more power than one that is idly connected. So if you use the phone frequently, it's better to stay connected. If you aren't going to touch it for many hours at a time, better to let it disconnect and turn off. But if you aren't using cellular then you'll need wifi to update information in the background.
Some more here Dialpad7 Handyscan Photogram Skype Sleep Bug Tango UC Browser whatspp= messenger Yelp = to find nearby things
Coming from Windows Phone & need advice...TIA
Coming from a couple years on the Windows platform mandated by the office but now they allow Android & I chose LG G3 - but there are some things on the Windows phone I miss and can;t find solutions for on the LG... 1 > The Nokia 920 had a great way of displaying the time on the time out screen - can't get that to work at all on the LG with any app.. 2> The Windows platform will read texts to me while in the car on Bluetooth. There is an droid app called ReadItToMe but it is awfully inconsistent. I had heard the Samsungs come with svoice that do this well...anything similar for the LG? 3> Windows had a way of killing apps automatically in the background and keeping just 5 or so open...this allowed the battery to last for an entire day for over two years. I can not figure out how to do this on the LG. I dl Advanced task killer but it seems more manual than auto...maybe my fault. Thanks for any productive input!
DPLOY said: Coming from a couple years on the Windows platform mandated by the office but now they allow Android & I chose LG G3 - but there are some things on the Windows phone I miss and can;t find solutions for on the LG... 1 > The Nokia 920 had a great way of displaying the time on the time out screen - can't get that to work at all on the LG with any app.. 2> The Windows platform will read texts to me while in the car on Bluetooth. There is an droid app called ReadItToMe but it is awfully inconsistent. I had heard the Samsungs come with svoice that do this well...anything similar for the LG? 3> Windows had a way of killing apps automatically in the background and keeping just 5 or so open...this allowed the battery to last for an entire day for over two years. I can not figure out how to do this on the LG. I dl Advanced task killer but it seems more manual than auto...maybe my fault. Thanks for any productive input! Click to expand... Click to collapse Welcome to android and in answer to your questions: 1. What you are referring to is a feature of some Nokia Lumia Windows Phones called Glance Screen and I have not seen any android phone with this feature. Sorry but I don't know of any apps that can do this as this currently appears to be hardware specific to the Lumia line of phones. 2. I believe the phone has the capability built in under "System Settings" "Sound", "Message/call voice notifications". There is an option for it to read text messages it loud. I think once you turn it on, it is on all the time though and not exclusive to bluetooth. If you are willing to buy an app and learn how to use it (depending on your knowledge it may be a steep learning curve), Tasker may be able to create a profile that sets the conditions under which this turns on. 3. This is an area of contention. I personally will no longer use Task killers. For the most part, various research and tests I have found states that it has no positive impact on the battery, and in some cases, actually makes worsens it. Android does a good job of managing memory and many of the active tasks should be left running (i.e. google services, weather, and/or any app you may want to keep in sync or have widgets for). In my opinion, ATK's only potential "good" use would be to kill a rogue app but you can do that without the program. I would focus more on the apps syncing in the background and how often they do so, along with other common things such as screen brightness, to get better battery life. For me, I will swear by Greenify over task killers (I am rooted so it is very effective) because certain persistant apps can be hibernated and can be set up to do so automatically when the screen shuts off. With Greenify, the apps remain hibernated while the screen is off and for the most part when the screen is on, unless I open the apps. An example is Facebook for android. I personally do not care about notifications received on my phone for my FB account. Even though I have chat, notifications, and contact sync off, FB persists to run as an active background process (not to be confused with cached background processes which get dumped as android needs active RAM). With Greenify, this is not an issue.
Thanks aybarrap1! I see you are in Jax near me - thanks for helping a local out! I will try Greenify asap. Also - in the stock contact app how do you copy (or forward) someone's contact information & text it to someone else? WP made this easy but I can not figure it out... THANKS AGAIN aybarrap1!
DPLOY said: Thanks aybarrap1! I see you are in Jax near me - thanks for helping a local out! I will try Greenify asap. Also - in the stock contact app how do you copy (or forward) someone's contact information & text it to someone else? WP made this easy but I can not figure it out... THANKS AGAIN aybarrap1! Click to expand... Click to collapse Open messaging, open the thread of the person you want to send TO (or create a new message), tap the paper clip button to the left of the text box to get a list of things to attach, then tap contact and select the contact to forward
DPLOY said: Thanks aybarrap1! I see you are in Jax near me - thanks for helping a local out! I will try Greenify asap. THANKS AGAIN aybarrap1! Click to expand... Click to collapse Glad to be of assistance. I don't think you will be disappointed with Greenify. Keep in mind you need to be rooted to be able to hibernate system apps.