[Q] Is battery saving apps really worth it? - General Questions and Answers

Hi
Just curious if battery saving apps are worth it or is it better to manually turn mobile data, wifi, etc off? Cause those apps of course run a lot in the backgrounding checking if they can improve anything, so curious if it better to manually do those things sometimes?
Cause right now I have DU battery saver, but I don't see it doing a lot that I couldn't do myself.
So short, are those apps worth it or do they use more battery than they save?
Thanks in advance

I've tried a few but in the end I felt manually managing it was best for me. I anyway find myself making sure the automated tasks work, so if I'm putting in that effort I might as well just only do it manually.
I think setting automatic rules always has some problem or the other. For example, timed settings do not work for me because my daily timings are not the same everyday. Location based wifi is good to set, but doesn't always work. Data off when the screen is off also doesn't make sense for me because then messages or emails wont come or come at certain intervals instead of real-time.
One very useful thing I found though, was to use one of the many available apps to automatically switch my phone to 2G whenever its connected to my home or office wifi. That saves tremendous amounts of battery and hassle!
This is my opinion though, others probably have had different experiences...

Related

[REQ] A Better Solution for Data Auto-Disconnect... with Peak Time/Push Mail

Hi folks
I've searched around the forums and have seen a couple of solutions out there for automatically terminating data connections (Bandswitch, WMLongLife, the registry tweak) but each seems to lack some of what I need and do a lot that I don't need.
Here's the lowdown:
- I've already tweaked the Comm Manager to add the 3G on/off switch so I don't need something that messes with that
- I use push email for business so I need the data connection to stay on during the "peak times" that I've set in Activesync (for me, that's 8am-11pm)
- Outside of peak times, I've got the phone checking email every hour. Right now, it seems to be leaving the connection on afterward.
- I want to keep the automatic updates for HTC Sense's weather and stock tabs. Not every 5 minutes, of course, but at least a couple of times a day. Also tends to leave the connection going when used outside peak hours.
As I understand it, the registry tweak won't work for the Sense tabs. Bandswitch and WMLongLife mess with the 3G radio and, as far as I can tell, don't let you set a timeframe (re: the latter - I suppose when you've got push mail going it pings the Exchange server regularly so in theory it shouldn't consider the connection idle, but why mess with it?)
So, in short, anyone got a solution that could switch off an idle data connection outside of the peak times set in Activesync?
If you just want to kill connections during certain times (ie, night time) try G-Profile. I have it set to kill data connections during the night, works fine for me although I am using a new beta version which is available from their site.
Looks interesting but reading through the manual it looks as if you can only set a profile to disable the data connection during certain hours. I'd like to leave the data available, just switch on auto-disconnect.
Plus, again, there's a lot of extra stuff in there that's really not necessary. I'm looking for something more lightweight...
I haven't tried it, but you might want to take a look at CommMgrPro.
It's also from the creator of Bandswitch.
PhoneAlarm can do this.
I had PhoneAlarm installed on my previous phone. True, it can do this.
But again, it's like using a tank to kill a fly. Sam with CommMgrPro.
Is there no lightweight solution?
+1 for this. It has to be possible, everyone just seems to lump the functionality in with a load of other stuff I'm not interested in.
Up, I'm looking for this also
+1
This kind of app is missing...
SO.... last night I left my charging cable at the office and I only had around 20% of the battery left at 11:00pm. For some reason, the thing kept opening the data channel even though it was outside of "peak" hours for push! I had to reset and turn manually turn off all data... couldn't have the phone die overnight as it's my alarm clock!
Any ideas here?
DialUp Enabler Disabler v06
What about this one
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=610657

New to Android- a few questions (Data Tethering and Battery)

Hi!
So I'm new to Android (not so much XDA...left WM after a few years).
I switched to Verizon from AT&T right before VZ dropped the unlimited data and secured a Droid Charge based off some of the rave reviews from Engadget among others.
I've installed Humble 1.4 and it seems to be working great (Thanks!). I have run into a couple questions that I was hoping to get some conclusive answers to.
With regards to Data Tethering I use tethering about once or twice a month and not for a lot of data so I feel less inclined to pay $30/mos for something I'll hardly use. However, for those occasional occasions I installed android-wifi-tether and it seems to work, but I saw a comment indicating that VZ could track the unauthorized usage through that app- how is that possible? What is the best tethering app I could/should be using? (I'm good with any connection, wifi/bluetooth/usb)
Now for my biggest point of pain- the battery- I've read through the various guides, and tried bump charging (extensively)- tried the simpler methods with wiping stats via CWM etc, and at most I seem to get about 10-12hrs of minimal usage...I haven't been able to tell conclusively are there truly 'defective' batteries, or just miscalibrated ones? I don't want to make a futile attempt at calibrating this if it'll never work right. Since I'm new to Android is there anything I could be missing in general that's being blatantly assumed in all the battery discussion threads? I've tried Juice Defender, but it's been spotty for me with re-enabling mobile data which is frustrating in its own right.
Finally- are there any 'must have' or cool apps out there? What are your favorites? Also- what would you recommend for the following areas: Speech-to-txt for text/e-mail etc; profile automation (e.g. when at gps location 'x' turn off mobile data, turn on wifi etc)
Thanks!
Edvard_Greig said:
With regards to Data Tethering I use tethering about once or twice a month and not for a lot of data so I feel less inclined to pay $30/mos for something I'll hardly use. However, for those occasional occasions I installed android-wifi-tether and it seems to work, but I saw a comment indicating that VZ could track the unauthorized usage through that app- how is that possible? What is the best tethering app I could/should be using? (I'm good with any connection, wifi/bluetooth/usb)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They can do it by analyzing the traffic going through their network. There are a variety of hints that the traffic is coming from a PC instead of phone, in addition to more obvious things like requests hitting Apple or Microsoft Update (our Android phones won't need to update iTunes or Windows 7 ).
Edvard_Greig said:
Now for my biggest point of pain- the battery- I've read through the various guides, and tried bump charging (extensively)- tried the simpler methods with wiping stats via CWM etc, and at most I seem to get about 10-12hrs of minimal usage...I haven't been able to tell conclusively are there truly 'defective' batteries, or just miscalibrated ones? I don't want to make a futile attempt at calibrating this if it'll never work right. Since I'm new to Android is there anything I could be missing in general that's being blatantly assumed in all the battery discussion threads? I've tried Juice Defender, but it's been spotty for me with re-enabling mobile data which is frustrating in its own right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not totally hopeless, but ultimately if you have LTE on with this first generation of phones the battery life won't be the best. It has a tendency to wander on and off of it in my case (especially 3 bars and lower), there are two radios running drawing power and the re/connection process is the most power-hungry thing they can do. Disabling LTE with one of the apps or digging into wireless settings is the number one way to get more out of the battery.
Edvard_Greig said:
Finally- are there any 'must have' or cool apps out there? What are your favorites? Also- what would you recommend for the following areas: Speech-to-txt for text/e-mail etc; profile automation (e.g. when at gps location 'x' turn off mobile data, turn on wifi etc)
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For speech I don't know of anything better than the Google service already there (maybe Vlingo?). I don't know if anything exists for that automation though, it'd be helpful for me too though - got a promotion and my new desk has horrible signal.
If you plan on getting into ROMs you can't go wrong with Titanium Backup, restoring apps quickly with data intact is absolutely wonderful as even if the ROM doesn't require they tend to always run fastest when data is wiped when you install. Alternative SMS apps and Launchers can add a lot to the experience (I like GO SMS and GO Launcher or LauncherPro).
Danrarbc said:
I don't know if anything exists for that automation though, it'd be helpful for me too though - got a promotion and my new desk has horrible signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally found the apps I was thinking of...take a look at the following (still haven't decided which I like best)
Locale
Tasker
Setting Profiles
Timeriffic
Smarter Profiles
Tasker appears to be one of the most powerful, but a bit complex to setup and use...it's basically guided scripting from what I can tell....Locale looks pretty simple to use, but can get pricey. Haven't played enough with the others.

[Q] Set HOX to sync only on wifi?

Is it possible to set up the HOX to only sync certain things when on wifi? I have it set this way for my Dropbox ap and I love it...I don't have to worry about data usage (limited plan) for that. I was having a problem with the calendar ap drawing extremely high data usage, but if I could (for example) set that up to only sync when I wifi, then I could start it back up. If there isn't already a setting for this, I think the developers would do good to design one. There are probably many of us that have wifi most of the time throughout the day but the commutes back and forth or while out running around draw extra data for something I could just wait for when I'm on wifi...For example, if I'm syncing contacts, I don't need it done RIGHT THEN. If it waited until I was on wifi, that would be soon enough for me...Any ideas?
mmoffitt9241 said:
Is it possible to set up the HOX to only sync certain things when on wifi? I have it set this way for my Dropbox ap and I love it...I don't have to worry about data usage (limited plan) for that. I was having a problem with the calendar ap drawing extremely high data usage, but if I could (for example) set that up to only sync when I wifi, then I could start it back up. If there isn't already a setting for this, I think the developers would do good to design one. There are probably many of us that have wifi most of the time throughout the day but the commutes back and forth or while out running around draw extra data for something I could just wait for when I'm on wifi...For example, if I'm syncing contacts, I don't need it done RIGHT THEN. If it waited until I was on wifi, that would be soon enough for me...Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use Tasker I'm sure you can set it up to turn on sync when wifi is on and turn it off whenever you turn off wifi/lose connection
I bought Tasker...I'll give it a shot...but it looks a bit intimidating...
mmoffitt9241 said:
I bought Tasker...I'll give it a shot...but it looks a bit intimidating...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do some pretty ridiculously complicated things with Tasker, but for most basic tasks like turning things on and off it's pretty easy. The hardest part is just sifting through the categories until you find what you're looking for.

[Q] Is my battery a dud

Hi everyone I'm new to the forums and smartphones. But I got a razr hd from fido a few months ago. I've never compared the battery life and could get 3 hours of screen time on one charge. At first I thought it was great but then I used my friends razr (non maxx like mine). But I could watch 3 hours of YouTube videos with max sound and only used 50% of the battery. I got the warranty from future shop that will replace my battery, but since the battery isn't removable they will replace it with another phone of the same retail value. I turned off all apps, apex launcher, and avg, and used only what he had, JuiceDefender Ultimate and SwiftKey. My battery was about the same.
I don't get even get three hours of screen out of mine with brightness at around 40% and I have the maxx. I game a lot on mine though and talk a lot on the phone. I think the battery figures were obliviously under the ideal circumstances, so in the real world that's pretty good what your getting.
Do a side by side with both devices and see what the difference is.
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using xda app-developers app
Mines just a normal RAZR HD. I'm not in an LTE area like you so I stay on 3G and throttle up to H+ when its transferring data.
I don't game much; my heaviest game is Angry Birds Star Wars which I don't use much so usualy its just Words With Friends.
I don't use it often for phone calls but I do use it. I'm a guy so I'm not talking for hours and hours.
I always get a full day out of it, and by full day I mean 16 hours or therabouts, until I put it to recharge while I sleep.
I'm not using anything to save battery.
I run Apex Launcher opposed to stock.
I run Tasker and have it looking for cable plugged in, orientation, change in wifi connection (nothing major, just gets the SSID and MAC and stores them as variables), and have it looking for screen unlocked and Display off (for ADB toggle).
In the background I'm running NG call recorder, LMT, WhatsApp, Lookout, LocateMyDroid, Words With Friends, TEAM battery bar Pro, Go SMS
Pro, Calengoo, BetterBatteryStats, ModemFastdormancyMonitor, SmartCardService, Google Services, Google Play, and Notification Toggle.
I sync Gmail and Contacts.
I have frozen Acoustic Warning, Audio Effects, Calendar, Calendar Storage, Email, Facebook stays frozen but unfreezes and runs with GPS off when I run a script but I don't use it much and the same for Maps but GPS on obviously (Maps made a differance for me and needed to be refrozen on every boot as well as the ROM seems to unfreeze it at boot time), Google Caledar Sync, Google Play Books/Movies/Music, Google+, Homescreen (default launcer), Moto Chinese Input, Moto English... infact almost everything starting with "moto or Moto is frozen", Quickview, All of Smart Actions, Swype, and Telstra One (specific to my ROM). Of everything frozen, the only things that I think make a significant impact are the way I have Maps and Facebook handled, that they stay frozen and then are called by a script that unfreezes and runs them and refreezes them on exit.
The Motocare may make a differance however I think its something that's needed to see when you have updates.
This list is very specific to my ROM as I'm on Telstra Austrlia which is (so I've gathered) one of the most bloat free ROMs, and freezing is always going to be carrier specific from what I've read about the phone from other people's carriers.
In adition to the freezing, I've stopped heaps of stuff in Autostarts. I don't reccomend messing with this as its easy to get lost and forget your settings. There is no undo or restore to default, so if you get lost then you're only sure fire way is a factory reset. If you feel safe using it though, then its worth having a look through what's starting up (start with just the stuff after boot) and disabling things that aren't needed. There's heaps of apps that run that really don't need to; non system apps I mean. If you get comfortable with it then the next greatest place they like to start up is when new apps are installed or old ones updated but there needs to be some care taken here as some apps do need to know this while others are just spying and wasting resources while doing so. If in doubt, just don't mess with it at all as there's no "set back to default" option.
I don't use Juice Defender, that's something that stuck out at me, is that I don't know how its being used in one of the posts stated above, but in the case of my ROM, the power management seems to be as good as I'm going to get it on its own. Toggling wifi in particular is something that I tried out with Tasker and it was better to leave it alone. I did try an app... I can't find it now but apparently I didn't back it up before uninstall. Its the beta app made by the chip manufacturer that runs in our phones (or so I read anyway) and it spent time in the background collecting data then tried to optimise power management. I think it was okay but I didn't see anything significant. I was hoping it would end the wakelocks that turn the wifi on but it ended up just leaving my wifi on most of the time and then turning it off when I actually was at home, and I couldn't manually turn it on and get a connection. It may be quite helpful for others though... Its the same thing for Juice Defender; I reckon that the way I would use it would be less helpful because of the wifi handling. I've gathered that wifi doesn't so much turn off but just goes into a power friendly state, and that a full toggle on and off takes more power so I ended up leaving that alone entirely. For people with other power issues, for example I stated that I don't use LTE or 4g in my area, then perhaps it could be useful... I can't give advice on that.
...
...but to answer your question, that's how I use my phone and I get at least 6 hours screen time in a 16 hour day. In fact I always get that much (assuming its used that much) and usually more if I need it. I have battery left over but it does admitadly go down quickly after it reaches a point. I would be dissapointed if I got less. I came from the S2 with the Samsung extendable battery (just under %20 more juice than out of the box) and would get 4 or 5 hours on that before it was dead. I think that you have a genuine frustration on your hands, but that you should deal with it slowly and one step at a time, and that the first step is diagnosis and if it were me I would start by switching it to 3g/2g and seeing how that goes for a few days... let it settle in like that and see if it makes any differance after at least a few days later and a few charges of the battery.
By the way, Location services work fine with maps frozen. Another thing I neglected to mention is that I don't use Google Now. All of my apps that use fine or course location work fine (Google ones and third party) with Maps frozen.
Oh... One more edit; I also have DroidWall or some other equivalent firewall installed. I forget which one at the moment but if you use one, make sure it simply is a front end to iptables as there's almost zero resources used in this fashion. As I don't have 4G in my area, I don't know what is best suited for that. Mine is very simple and has a checkbox for wifi and for data, however it makes a lot of sense that a lot of these firewalls may not be updated to be detecting the interface that 4G is running on. This doesn't make a huge difference on my phone and I don't think I would notice any battery savings if I didn't have it but it may be of help if you were hell bent on using 4G, as its supposed to be power hungry, because you can prevent a lot of apps from making a connection to report the crap they discover (Contacts, numbers dialed, etc) and block ads in some games that don't otherwise need the internet to be played. At the same time, I'm honestly not sure if the results would be good or bad... for example if an app persistently tries to make a connection and isn't programmed to give up when the connection is timed out then that would be bad. I still thought I'd throw it in there. It would actually be one of the last additions I'd make to my phone after being finally satisfied with the power management. Its also something that you need to be aware of, for example if you can't play a game or use an app, it can cause you (me) to uninstall and reinstall only to find that I had firewalled it when it needed to have a connection. Some apps need to connect to check the validity of their licence as well and you just need to be aware and enable it when it shows up.

[Q] Keep WiFi on for VoIP app on LGP500?

Hi, all.
This is my first time posting. I have searched the web and through this forum for an answer to my question but no dice. I hope someone here can help.
(By the way, I'm currently using the Oxygen ICS rom. I used to be on Oxygen Gingerbread, and I briefly tried the latest Kitkat build, but couldn't use as a daily driver).
Over the past months, I've transitioned off of my monthly cell plan in favour of a prepaid data add on + VoIP app (Fongo) for calls/texts. I WFH so my cell is on WiFi 90% of the day.
The issue I'm facing is that when I use the WiFi lock option in the app itself, my battery life dips down considerably. But when I don't use this option, I often miss incoming calls (the WiFi appears to go to sleep after awhile, even though I have WiFi set to be always on even when the device is sleeping).
As an alternative, I've tried many apps in the Play Store, such as Wifi Keep alive (Roys and Shantz), and Wifi Fixer.
I've tried them all individually and in combination with each other. They do make the device more efficient at receiving incoming calls while preserving more battery life than the above WiFi lock, but it's still not 100% perfect.
I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions to improve WiFi connectivity when my phone is in sleep mode without sacrificing a lot of battery? (In the form of either an app, system setting, or alternative ROM to what I'm using.) I realize there has to be some impact on battery if WiFi is on, but given that Fongo drains the battery whereas third party apps are more forgiving on it, I'm wondering if there's a better solution/configuration out there.
I experience this issue in Gingerbread and ICS. I don't experience it in Kitkat, but the battery barely lasts for 6-8 hours.
I hope I'm explaining this clearly. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! TIA.
An update:
I found the Wake Lock app (developer "darken") in the app store, and that seems to have solved my issue. I set it to the "Partial Wakelock" setting and now all incoming calls come in correctly on WiFi and my battery doesn't drain as quickly as it did with other apps or the Fongo setting.
Posting this in case it helps someone else in this situation.

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