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Hey! tl;dr? Click here to go directly to the fast improvements post and disable some unwanted services.
Still want more fun disabling services? Read the second post.
Hi all,
I improved the speed of my G2 recently and felt that the community might appreciate this as well. It's probably not the "best guide" for everybody, but this is what I've done and it's worked nicely for me so far.
I recently got irritated at my phone being occasionally sluggish. So, when it was sluggish one time, I went to Manage applications->Running Applications, and saw that Facebook decided it wanted to start itself up in the background.
Now, I'm as big a fan as the next guy for having multi-tasking, but randomly starting an app in the background without my consent is not what I consider to be useful or resource-friendly. I decided to "freeze" the app using SD Maid (you can do this with Titanium Backup as well). Facebook is now in a frozen state so it will not launch itself at all. Ha!
What do I do about having no Facebook now? Well, there happens to be a great app on the Market called Fast for Facebook. This is quite an improvement over the sluggish and buggy Facebook app. I installed that and am having a blast with it so far.
I wanted to check for other apps that were dawdling in the background. So I looked again in Running Applications and found that Maps decided it wants to be running too. I went to the settings for the Maps application, and turned off Location reporting. Why would I want an app sucking my resources dry to alert the world where I am? I'm not that much of a socialite or stalker prey. I also turned off Automatic check-ins.
Previously, I'd gone through a few other apps and turned off automatic sync. Things like DropSync (to sync Dropbox), Tumblr, Google+, and Twitter are not necessary for me to have reviving themselves in the background. I should be the authoritarian ruler of all of the apps over my phone- no freedom here to run around as you please.
I set up a couple apps to run at odd hours of the night. I only need to have photos and documents synced probably once a day, so I set up Tasker to do it automatically while the phone is charging and connected to Wifi at around 4am. I've set up Titanium Backup to do backups something like every Tuesday night, Friday night, and Sunday night, each at like 4am as well; and upload those backups to Box. I want to use my phone fast when I use it during the day, and at night time it can take its time with these lesser-priority tasks while I'm asleep.
Email/Gmail and Messages still have notifications and syncing, as well as the occasional Pulse RSS feed notification. All else seems to be shutting up though, which is good. What I would really like to do is have Market update its apps automatically at like 4am, so it won't spend resources checking for updates in the background. I can't find how to do that though.
One app that really gets under my skin is Amazon Appstore. This guy runs in the background too- I've turned off its notifications but I'm pretty sure it'll still sit there sapping my resources. This one's a toughie because I want to uninstall or freeze it, but I want to still be able to get good free apps from it once a day. There have been some really good apps and some really bad ones, but the good ones are worth it to me.
I might add in more things to disable. It's been faster so far, so I'll see how it goes over a couple days. One last thing I did was install SetCPU. I use that now instead of CyanogenMod 7's built-in CPU stuff. I don't know if it's a placebo or not, but I seemed to notice a boost in performance from it (not instantly, but in general I see less lag).
Hope this helps someone, best of luck with all of your phones.
-Proxin
use watchdog to spy on what apps are actually running and using cpu in the background, lots of apps can be open in the background and not using anything cpuwise
demkantor said:
use watchdog to spy on what apps are actually running and using cpu in the background, lots of apps can be open in the background and not using anything cpuwise
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Watchdog is a great idea too, I forgot to mention that.
If anyone else has recommendations they are all welcome!
Proxin said:
Watchdog is a great idea too, I forgot to mention that.
If anyone else has recommendations they are all welcome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For speed improvements, i usually use titanum backup to remove alot of useless apps i dont use (which frees up alot of ram). then i supercharge my phone and set it to agressive. And i also change up the build prop.
I need to post my additions.
I realized that by disabling Facebook, I lost my contacts that I had from there. That's no good. So I re-enabled it.
Now, Facebook has a few select services it likes to let run in the background. One specific one is MediaUploadService. This runs even when you are Not uploading anything, which is ridiculous because it hogs your resources.
However, if you disable this service completely, you won't be able to upload any photos to Facebook from your phone.
SO, I set up a script to disable all of Facebook's services like this at once, and I use the app called Llama to execute this script every time Facebook exits. I set it up to call my enable script once Facebook is started, then 5 minutes after Facebook closes it disables all of the Facebook services.
Here is what I used...
Enable Facebook services:
Code:
su -c 'pm enable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.katana.service.MediaUploadService; pm enable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.katana.service.FacebookService; pm enable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.katana.service.BackgroundDetectionService; pm enable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.orca.push.mqtt.MqttPushService; '
Disable Facebook services:
Code:
su -c 'pm disable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.katana.service.MediaUploadService; pm disable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.katana.service.FacebookService; pm disable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.katana.service.BackgroundDetectionService; pm disable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.orca.push.mqtt.MqttPushService; '
With this new ability to disable services, I took a look at Amazon AppStore's annoying service, and disabled it using this script with Llama like I did with Facebook:
Amazon Service Disable script
Code:
su -c 'pm disable com.amazon.venezia/com.amazon.venezia.service.UpdateService'
Proxin- note: old code said:
Next, I noticed SwypeConnect was keeping itself active, so I disabled it too (Swype never gets updates anyway, so I didn't see anything bad with doing this):
Code:
pm disable com.swype.android.inputmethod/com.swype.android.connect.ConnectClient
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's an app on the Market called StartupManager, I used that to kill off extra startup services that were not necessary. Things like Youtube, MyTracks and Maps were starting up. My view is, why do these things start when I don't start them myself? I stopped the services and have seen some pretty good responsiveness so far.
Go to the market and search for an app called gemini manager. It needs root but you can disable autostart for all apps with it.
Also get LBE privacy guard- it will block apps from using gps/data which can also increase battery life
redspeed said:
Go to the market and search for an app called gemini manager. It needs root but you can disable autostart for all apps with it.
Also get LBE privacy guard- it will block apps from using gps/data which can also increase battery life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great, I'll look into those too- thanks
@proxin:
Amazing post! how do you find the path for each of those components inside a package?
I use the same method with Tasker (instead of llama). Perform a task (run shell command) on the exit of a App profile
Also, the .Mqtt. should be all lowercase (figured out after that service would not disable), like this:
com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.orca.push.mqtt.MqttPushService
file2mail said:
@proxin:
Amazing post! how do you find the path for each of those components inside a package?
I use the same method with Tasker (instead of llama). Perform a task (run shell command) on the exit of a App profile
Also, the .Mqtt. should be all lowercase (figured out after that service would not disable), like this:
com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.orca.push.mqtt.MqttPushService
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, hope it has helped! I found them by looking up their Running service name on Google, and seeing people's logcat errors on there elaborated them for me. So I'd try a search for "com.facebook.katana*MqttPushService" and Google would direct me to the proper one.
You're spot-on with the Mqtt needing to be lowercase, I found the same issue on mine and got pissed off when I saw that the Mqtt service was still running forgot to change the post to reflect it though. Thanks for the notice
Seems like the best method for using your phone properly is to do like we're doing, otherwise applications with poor choice in how they handle resources, will clutter up the phone.
Btw, I tried Gemini App Manager and it works well for disabling autostart in apps. LBE Privacy Guard is intense in how much it locks down your phone, but that's locked down it's even a bit too much for me haha. It's a great app and will work for many people though.
I've noticed maps running in the background many times. I didnt know you're able to switch this off, thanks for the info!
Killer1desireZ said:
I've noticed maps running in the background many times. I didnt know you're able to switch this off, thanks for the info!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, I don't recommend killing off the Maps service though as it's probably needed for some location service (in my case I need the cell tower location service for some Llama profiles)
That's just my case though. Before you disable the service, maybe see if you can turn off automatic location reporting in Latitude? Go into Latitude settings->Location Settings and change Location reporting and Automatic check-ins to be Off.
Hope this helps. It shouldn't disable the entire Maps service but maybe it will reduce the amount of check-ins that Maps does without your consent.
Perhaps one of the biggest performance hits in an Mid Spec Android phone is how many App's it's carrying.
It is generally a good idea to keep the App count low. A general rule of thumb is to have no more than 40~ user apps on your Device. Since you have less apps installed (some of which could be idling or actively operating in the backround), you'll have more free RAM/space in the internal storage which in turn will mean more speed/battery efficiency.
Hope this can be of help
crestofawave said:
Perhaps one of the biggest performance hits in an Mid Spec Android phone is how many App's it's carrying.
It is generally a good idea to keep the App count low. A general rule of thumb is to have no more than 40~ user apps on your Device. Since you have less apps installed (some of which could be idling or actively operating in the backround), you'll have more free RAM/space in the internal storage which in turn will mean more speed/battery efficiency.
Hope this can be of help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard this said too, but I've never seen evidence that the more apps you have installed = the more apps are actively running. It's definitely a good idea to have less installed, but I don't think they'll run in the background unless they have autostarting capabilities like you can monitor with Gemini App Manager.
This is just me without even a Bachelor's degree speculating and relaying my experience though, so don't take my word for it
I notice a definite lag once I go above a certain amount of apps. I uninstall 10 or so and its a rocket! But then again I have waaaay more then 40 probably like 100 or something
Maps doesn't have that option for me. Anyways uninstalled 20 apps
New fun things to try...
I enjoy GO Launcher Ex just as much as the next guy who uses it as the default Home application, but I don't enjoy it making multiple services of itself that do, literally nothing. What I noticed specifically was a service called GOMusic, taking up about 4MB of RAM which could be used for other, more useful things.
What I did to fix it was:
Code:
pm disable com.gau.go.launcherex/com.jiubang.ggheart.apps.desks.appfunc.mediamanagement.musicplay.MusicPlaybackService
My Google Music widget still works fine, so apparently the GOMusic thing was just a waste of RAM (unless someone can explain a good reason to leave it be?)
One more addition I did was that, I keep seeing SwypeConnect as a service and I don't like it. It shouldn't need to constantly connect, for me to simply use Swype whenever I do.
I tried two things, pretty sure the second fixed this:
Code:
pm disable com.nuance.swype.input/com.nuance.swype.input.SwypeConnect
pm disable com.naunce.swype.input/com.nuance.swype.connect.ConnectClient
And next, I saw that Google Voice had a Widget service that liked to hang out and sap my resources. This would be useful but I don't have a widget set, so I disabled it:
Code:
pm disable com.google.android.apps.googlevoice/.widget.WidgetService
That worked for me. I can still send and receive messages with Google Voice, so I still have the same functionality I need without having an extra service in my list.
Note that, as usual, these are easily reversible by using using "enable" instead of disable in that code block.
Hopefully this will help someone else as well.
New experimental service disabled; I had noticed multiple Maps services running whenever they pleased. I can do with a NetworkLocation service from Maps, because I use Llama for location profiles and all, but not a Prefetcher service for it.
Here is what I used to disable the Prefetcher service...
Code:
pm disable com.google.android.apps.maps/com.google.googlenav.prefetch.android.PrefetcherService
I haven't seen any negative effects from this so far, but I will update this if I do.
@Proxin
Hi there,
I'm realy like your entries here, but i cant get through with the scripts killing facebook services. Can you be more specifc pls how to set those scripts you mentioned in Llama?
i've just tried to do things you say with facebook background services and for maps' prefetcher, but it says Segmentation Fault, as far as i know , segfaults are not normal linux program response, right? without super user privileges it just says 'Killed' [i tried both because 'pm set-install-location' worked for me only without super user]
EDIT:
ok, i'm noob, i just had to export LD_LIBRARY_PATH, now pm doesn't segfault for me as superuser
hi can any ody guide me how to use those su commands with llama?? thanks
I've been using Andromadus JB Test Builds on my desire S. A feature of it is the new recent apps, that shows every recent app, even though i've quit the app. I've now had to swipe each of the app as i'm concerned it does eat up my battery if i leave them there.
Could someone explain if it really does eat my battery or i shall leave the recent apps there as is?
maniche04 said:
I've been using Andromadus JB Test Builds on my desire S. A feature of it is the new recent apps, that shows every recent app, even though i've quit the app. I've now had to swipe each of the app as i'm concerned it does eat up my battery if i leave them there.
Could someone explain if it really does eat my battery or i shall leave the recent apps there as is?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Leaving them there or removing them will have no affect on your battery.
Each app you have installed is composed of any number of activities, services and more components. The screens you see in an app are the activities, the main (or last activity) in the app will show up in the recent apps list. The activities are not running or doing anything unless they are fully visible on the screen. When an activity is not on the screen or in the process of being removed or created it does not use up any battery. Services on the other hand run in the background and do consume battery, the only way to stop these and ensure they do not restart is to uninstall the app, you can stop them from the Manage apps section but they may be restarted by the app. You can also stop the app from the Manage apps section but it too may be restarted.
Last but not least: Android has a build in task killer. so there is no need for you to kill apps to prevent the system from getting laggy or consuming too much battery. As soon as more free memory is needed, Android kills some applications by its own.
So i saw many posts on which people have asked as to which task killer should be used !
and then i stumble upon this site which provided me the details,
i just complied info
sources-by Chris Hoffman
http://www.howtogeek.com/127388/htg-explains-why-you-shouldnt-use-a-task-killer-on-android/
Android Doesn’t Manage Processes Like Windows
Most Android users are familiar with Windows. On Windows, many programs running at one time – whether they’re windows on your desktop or applications in your system tray – can decrease your computer’s performance. Closing applications when you’re not using them can help speed up your Windows computer.
However, Android isn’t Windows and doesn’t manage processes like Windows does. Unlike on Windows, where there’s an obvious way to close applications, there’s no obvious way to “close” an Android application. This is by design and isn’t a problem. When you leave an Android app, going back to your home screen or switching to another app, the app stays “running” in the background. In most cases, the app will be paused in the background, taking up no CPU or network resources. Some apps will continue using CPU and network resources in the background, of course – for example, music players, file-downloading programs, or apps that sync in the background.
When you go back to an app you were recently using, Android “unpauses” that app and you resume where you left off. This is fast because the app is still stored in your RAM and ready to be used again.
Why Task Killers Are Bad
Proponents of task killers notice that Android is using a lot of RAM – in fact, Android stores a lot of apps in its memory, filling up the RAM! However, that isn’t a bad thing. Apps stored in your RAM can be quickly switched to without Android having to load them from its slower storage.
In summary, you shouldn’t use a task killer – if you have a misbehaving app wasting resources in the background, you should identify it and uninstall it. But don’t just remove apps from your phone or tablet’s RAM – that doesn’t help speed anything up.
Empty RAM is useless. Full RAM is RAM that is being put to good use for caching apps. If Android needs more memory, it will force-quit an app that you haven’t used in a while – this all happens automatically, without installing any task killers.
Task killers think they know better than Android. They run in the background, automatically quitting apps and removing them from Android’s memory. They may also allow you to force-quit apps on your own, but you shouldn’t have to do this.
Task killers aren’t just useless – they can reduce performance. If a task killer removes an app from your RAM and you open that app again, the app will be slower to load as Android is forced to load it from your device’s storage. This will also use more battery power than if you just left the app in your RAM in the first place. Some apps will automatically restart after the task killer quits them, using more CPU and battery resources.
Whether RAM is empty or full, it takes the same amount of battery power – decreasing the amount of apps stored in RAM won’t improve your battery power or offer more CPU cycles.
hope u understood!
words of wisdom by fellow-mates
go into settings - apps and see how many running apps you have. now go to cached apps and see there, how many apps there are. you see? nearly 50% of those apps discovered by you in the processes are apps that you didn't opened ever but they are still opened and running. why? because that's how linux manages its resources. instead of having free ram for no use (what's the point of having 14gb of ram when you only use 1gb), linux fills all the ram blocks with useful apps or apps that you are running frequently so that when you call that app, it will bring it on the screen almost instantly. this my friend, is called multitasking.
and no, you are wrong. if you use a task killer killing the apps every 10 minutes, the cycles the whole system does - opening again apps and caching them, task killer closing them - results in much more functions done by CPU => more battery spent. even if you say that the battery life its the same, you are wrong. when using a task killer IT MIGHT drain your battery with 0.1% per hour. it's not that much, but IT EXIST.
oh and yeah, one thing: android has its own task killer. that's why you don't need one app to kill your other apps. because android its doing it by itself. if you don't believe me, strip down one kernel, open the init.rc file and find the values for task killer.
I've never used those programs, I like to use what the phones have by default
But is good to know anyways
I agree with that...to an extent
Auto killing apps is plain stupid, but I do believe in killing certain apps. In a perfect world heavy apps would just be uninstalled, but plenty of useful apps without good replacements are fairly heavy, and it helps to kill them. E.g. after exiting a game I will kill it because its hogging up valuable ram by running in the background, while still using he same resources it uses at the forefront.
I understand that android, and Linux should manage ram well, but more often then not some app is just out there slowing my phone down. Even an hour later of not using that app, it'll still be in the background using up a lot of CPU and ram I don't have (more importantly battery). Android is great at managing smaller apps, but in my experience, it sucks at doing the same for larger apps.
Sent from my Desire HD using xda app-developers app
I don't use automatic task killers, those that are constantly running, but i do kill unused tasks and apps with no reason to be still running. Google services is a common example. It will launch at boot and keep running peemanently, even if you never launch a google app, google services is running, why?
A lot of apps, mostly the free ones, get revenue by reporting anonymous usage statistics (not so anonymous in some cases). So they stick a running service even if the app is never launched again (sometimes even if it isn't launched in the first place).
To sum up, killing everything is bad, but leaving everything to run free can also decrease performance. This can be observed on an android device that has been running for a long time, versus an android device that's just been reset.
some unused tasks will repeatedly rerun even if killed.
This will further decrease battery life and affect performance as resources are needed to keep restarting it.
The best way is to ignore if it takes a small portion of resources or to uninstall the app. Rooted users may disable the triggers via certain apps.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2
In phones with very low RAM, this becomes a necessity.
Switching programs take up a lot of time to process unless there is a sizable free RAM
Markuzy said:
some unused tasks will repeatedly rerun even if killed.
This will further decrease battery life and affect performance as resources are needed to keep restarting it.
The best way is to ignore if it takes a small portion of resources or to uninstall the app. Rooted users may disable the triggers via certain apps.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
use auto run manager
it is the answer to most of every body's problems
DarthSimian said:
In phones with very low RAM, this becomes a necessity.
Switching programs take up a lot of time to process unless there is a sizable free RAM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if u have low RAM, please manually remove the apps!
dxppxd said:
I don't use automatic task killers, those that are constantly running, but i do kill unused tasks and apps with no reason to be still running. Google services is a common example. It will launch at boot and keep running peemanently, even if you never launch a google app, google services is running, why?
A lot of apps, mostly the free ones, get revenue by reporting anonymous usage statistics (not so anonymous in some cases). So they stick a running service even if the app is never launched again (sometimes even if it isn't launched in the first place).
To sum up, killing everything is bad, but leaving everything to run free can also decrease performance. This can be observed on an android device that has been running for a long time, versus an android device that's just been reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
use autorun manager, keep it simple
dxppxd said:
I don't use automatic task killers, those that are constantly running, but i do kill unused tasks and apps with no reason to be still running. Google services is a common example. It will launch at boot and keep running peemanently, even if you never launch a google app, google services is running, why?
A lot of apps, mostly the free ones, get revenue by reporting anonymous usage statistics (not so anonymous in some cases). So they stick a running service even if the app is never launched again (sometimes even if it isn't launched in the first place).
To sum up, killing everything is bad, but leaving everything to run free can also decrease performance. This can be observed on an android device that has been running for a long time, versus an android device that's just been reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
let me tell you something about google services...
when you installed your rom, you had to check two options from google services - location and another one.
if you are on stock, those options are available in settings also.
the google services are needed (you are running a google os, right?) because without it, the location feature will not work, the play store will give you headaches and not to mention, google now that needs that service like water.
if you kill that process over and over again you will not gain anything because that service will keep restarting it until you will give up. ah, you will loose a massive amount of battery if you do so
another thing, the google service is a system app. system apps have priority in resources so even if you kill now, as i said, it will restart after a few seconds because some apps that you are running are requesting that service.
as someone said here, yes, even I kill games after I stop playing, BUT, I do it from the task manager built in. Settings - Apps - Running apps etc.
1ceb0x said:
let me tell you something about google services...
when you installed your rom, you had to check two options from google services - location and another one.
if you are on stock, those options are available in settings also.
the google services are needed (you are running a google os, right?) because without it, the location feature will not work, the play store will give you headaches and not to mention, google now that needs that service like water.
if you kill that process over and over again you will not gain anything because that service will keep restarting it until you will give up. ah, you will loose a massive amount of battery if you do so
another thing, the google service is a system app. system apps have priority in resources so even if you kill now, as i said, it will restart after a few seconds because some apps that you are running are requesting that service.
as someone said here, yes, even I kill games after I stop playing, BUT, I do it from the task manager built in. Settings - Apps - Running apps etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if u dont want them to restart use, autorun manager
task killer
Well, i think a task killer is useful. It sometimes helps to speed-up the phone a bit.
snelle-eddie said:
Well, i think a task killer is useful. It sometimes helps to speed-up the phone a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No that is wrong.....it consumes more ram it self
Sent from my One V
Normally to kill a process I use the Running Tab in Apps, If any recently opened app which I feel should be closed is open I kill it!Though I leave the google services untouched!
Stopped using Task managers and Battery saving apps long time ago!
Want to really save the juice? Try Under Clocking! and killing the bloatware(saves RAM too!)
I used to have a task killer but the more I killed apps, the slower my phone was, so I eventually ended uninstalling it.
great post. lots of usefull info!!
Instead of using a task killer to keep on eating your battery life, simply either delete the app or disable it in your system if it's a system out (eg: default browser, bloatware, etc).
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zomut.watchdog&feature=search_result
its good, but most android users atleaast ppl like me know which apps are usefull and which are not
cybervibin said:
its good, but most android users atleaast ppl like me know which apps are usefull and which are not
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming you are replying to me, your response is a bit ambiguous...
I personally believe that the main weakness of the Nexus 5 is battery life. After trying for about a week the official app of Qualcomm Snapdragon BatteryGuru (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xiam.snapdragon.app) without becoming satisfied (I have not found significant improvements, may have only a placebo effect), I switched to Greenify (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oasisfeng.greenify) with the Donation Package.
Do some of you use it? Users comments on Play Store seem excited (so I decided to try the paid version).
The paid version also allows you to hibernate the system apps, but I have not enabled this function (and would therefore be excluded almost all Google Apps), according to you should enable this option? Or rather, what are the apps that should hibernate / greenify?
I use it, and I'm pretty satisfied, you can theoretically hibernate all the apps you want, but is not good with apps need too synching like emails, chat, messenger and apps wich you have widgets, otherwise they will not work properly
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I'm not sure what the point of Greenify is then. If you can't greenify the apps you need, like Gmail, texts, etc., then how is battery life saved?
Han Solo 1 said:
I'm not sure what the point of Greenify is then. If you can't greenify the apps you need, like Gmail, texts, etc., then how is battery life saved?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
geenify all the other crappily written apps that you install. if you greenify apps like gmail, you wont get your email in a timely manor. there are plenty of other apps that start up without you opening them that can be greenified.
simms22 said:
if you greenify apps like gmail, you wont get your email in a timely manor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tested that? I haven't but push notifications should wake up Gmail.
-----------------------
Sent via tapatalk.
I do NOT reply to support queries over PM. Please keep support queries to the Q&A section, so that others may benefit
stremax said:
I use it, and I'm pretty satisfied, you can theoretically hibernate all the apps you want, but is not good with apps need too synching like emails, chat, messenger and apps wich you have widgets, otherwise they will not work properly
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that it's not good with apps with widgets on the home screen because the author of Greenify specify it, but I not agree for apps that need synchronization/notifications like emails, chat, messenger because it they use GCM (Google Cloud Messaging) they can be hibernated without lose push notifications!
I doubt only with system apps...
I have greenified quite everything that does not provide notification.
I use it for Facebook and Netflix, that helped my battery tremendously.
I used to use Greenify on my HTC One. I'd hibernate everything that wasn't 'system' and thought it was doing some good. Then I discovered that I was actually getting better battery life WITHOUT using it, so I don't really believe that it does any good.
To reiterate what others have said, I use to Greenify to hibernate any apps that aren't pushing me notifications. I'm honestly not sure if I see a huge difference in battery because it could be a number of things from changing ROMs or updating kernels, etc. But one thing for sure is that I'm actually pretty satisfied with the battery life on my N5. With the N4 I would be lucky to last me to dinner, but now I have plenty of battery to spare by the time I'm passing out in bed.
So I guess Greenify can potentially help battery life, but it's definitely not the answer to a magically longer lasting battery.
maxwarp79 said:
I personally believe that the main weakness of the Nexus 5 is battery life. After trying for about a week the official app of Qualcomm Snapdragon BatteryGuru (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xiam.snapdragon.app) without becoming satisfied (I have not found significant improvements, may have only a placebo effect), I switched to Greenify (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oasisfeng.greenify) with the Donation Package.
Do some of you use it? Users comments on Play Store seem excited (so I decided to try the paid version).
The paid version also allows you to hibernate the system apps, but I have not enabled this function (and would therefore be excluded almost all Google Apps), according to you should enable this option? Or rather, what are the apps that should hibernate / greenify?
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Greenify is excellent. But using Greenify without knowing the cause of the problem isn't going to fix anything. Think of it as a bandaid. A bandaid for poorly written (usually intentionally) apps. Facebook comes to mind.
It won't greenify system apps without using Xposed (which doesn't work with ART). These system apps, Gmail, Chrome, Keep (I froze all the other junk Google apps), are actually pretty well behaved these days (they had huge issues in the past).
I think that with KitKat, Greenify has lost some of it's usefulness, with how aggressive KK is in killing off unused apps.
The app you should be downloading is BetterBatteryStats. Upload some logs for us, and most likely we can fix the problem for you. When the cause of the problem is determined, you can then choose the best course of action yourself.
The battery on the N5 is fine. I ran a BBS log while I was sleeping. After 6ish hours, the usage was 0.1% per hour. I would say anywhere between 0.1-0.4 is good. Wifi and mobile network, doesn't matter much if connection is solid.
anyways, greenify is not there to help battery, its there to have more free ram. but it can potentially help battery if you are running apps that open themselves and drain battery, like that aweful facebook app.
Hey guys,
I've been keeping an eye on a task manager in Android lately, and here's why. A bunch of mainstream apps seem to be running long running services that are constantly chugging away at something in the background. These are the kinds of apps that should do fine without any such service. In fact, almost all my apps run a service, but that's because they need to in order to perform a function the user expects to be completed (for example keeping the screen on). The apps I'm talking about are apps like Snapchat, Facebook messenger, Instagram, Google Play Services (I'm aware other apps can call on this as well). I would understand if they did something once in a while but sometimes they just won't go away, constantly running the CPU for who knows what (they aren't idle). This is surely impacting battery life on my rapidly aging Nexus 5. Apart from using something like Greenify to in-effect kill the processes from coming back, are there any other solutions? If you do that you stop getting notifications, the app loses it's place when you do finally go back into it, etc.
Why are such mainstream apps being designed with such bad management? I think it's because that's clearly not a priority for them, user engagement is, but I'm curious what you think.