Phone using constant location now - Samsung Gear S3

So after purchasing the Gear S3 Frontier LTE version and getting it all set up on my phone through the gear manager I noticed that my phone battery has drained a lot and that the location icon in the top status bar has been on all day.
I went into Settings -> Battery and saw the app "com.samsung.android.gearoplugin" has used up more battery than my screen has by over 10% which was previously my battery hog.
I also looked in Settings -> Location and saw that Gear S Plugin was listed as high usage. I disabled location for the Gear S Plugin and the location icon has gone away but decided to attempt to find my phone and now I cannot find it's GPS location anymore which is expected but a bummer because that was a neat feature.
Anyways, is there a setting that I have enabled causing this or will I have to live with not having the ability to find my phone from my watch via GPS due to the battery drain?
I did attempt to navigate the settings from my phone, the watch, and the gear app itself and was not able to find a solution other than what I have done with the permissions.
Thanks for the replies and help by the way.

Related

[Q] Service management (google maps)

I found that removing Google Maps has made battery life much much better but am sad that I don't have the app for when I actually want to use it. Is there any way to force the service to never run unless I have the app open?
The app doesn't use a noticeable amount of battery life for me.
Do you have GPS enabled in "Location" settings ? Also, go to Map app's settings and uncheck "report from this device" under it's "Location settings". See if that helps. I keep the network and wifi location reporting on, it doesn't seem to use much/any battery for me. I only turn GPS on when I am actually using it as such (like when I used the Navigation today).
Pennycake said:
The app doesn't use a noticeable amount of battery life for me.
Do you have GPS enabled in "Location" settings ? Also, go to Map app's settings and uncheck "report from this device" under it's "Location settings". See if that helps. I keep the network and wifi location reporting on, it doesn't seem to use much/any battery for me. I only turn GPS on when I am actually using it as such (like when I used the Navigation today).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have turned off all location settings. For some reason it still sucks a massive amount of my battery. With maps installed my battery dies in 6 hours with very little usage. The last two days without it I've managed to make it 13 hours and still be at 50% by the time I plug it in at home. It took a ton of narrowing down the problem but maps is definitely it.
I'm running AOKP on my Galaxy S3 with the latest 4.1.2 gapps installed. Not sure if the rom would have anything to do with the way maps operates though.
Edit: I also have GPS turned off at all times until the app is running (tasker turns it on when I open certain apps).

Wifi draining battery??

I've only had my nexus for a week now and I'm trying to hunt down the reason I'm getting poor battery life. At first it was nlp wakelocks but that went away on its own somehow. Now its my wifi draining battery, in 8 hours of idle overnight it went from 100% to 79% and wifi was the top usage. I've never seen this before on any phone with any rom so I'm not sure what to do about it.
Hi,
Try Settings/Wi-Fi/Menu/Advanced/ and untick Scanning always available...
This is what I did to improve my battery:
1. Location Services : If you are not in a neighborhood with a lot of wifi spots you will most likely feel this draining your battery life. Under settings make sure that Location Services is set to battery saving and not High accuracy.
2. Widgets : Weather widgets, games eat battery by constantly fetching information . Check the settings for these widgets and make sure they are using wifi and not updating the weather information every 30 mins or so. I keep my settings to update weather information every hour to keep it reasonable. The Gmail widget sometimes eats your battery too. I removed the widget and used an icon in the dock at the bottom to check my email. Another thing I noticed was that some widgets are just more battery intensive than others. For example I found HD widgets consumed nearly twice as much battery as Chronus on the home screen but both displayed the same information.
3. Restart your phone : Sometimes residual processes from closed apps could cause issues. Restart your phone if you haven't done it in a while and it should clear up any unnecessary things.
4. Keep wifi on during sleep : I made sure my phone uses wifi even when its sleeping. 3g / 4g eats the battery like crazy if you turn off wifi when your phone sleeps. This should be a default setting as pointed out by some users. In my case it had been changed probably when I was tinkering with the phone. You can find this setting in the Settings -> Wifi -> advanced -> Keep wifi on during sleep.
You can also use apps like Greenify , Tasker , and Llama.
5. Don't use Automatic Brightness : Turns out if the sensors are constantly looking to adjust brightness it takes up more battery. I set my brightness at around 60% and it works just fine throughout the day.
6. Use wifi over 3G/4G/LTE if possible
7. Switch off wifi when using Data: Android doesnt switch off your WiFi when you use data because Google wants you to use it for Locations and help build their database of networks.Switch off WiFi completely when using data to save a good chunk of battery.
8. Turn off Vibration on touch : Typing uses quite a bit of battery over the course of a day. Try switching Vibration on touch off.
9. Use Franco Kernel: : This will require rooting your device however it makes it a lot more power efficient.
10. Turn down the Facebook refresh rate : Make sure it updates not very often( every 3-4 hours) or never. IMO your phone is better off without Facebook or any other battery hog social networking apps.

[Q] Help with Tasker

Hey everyone, first I'm not really sure if this belongs in a Tasker forums. Seeing as I use a N5, I figured it could also go here. Anyway, I've been having some problems with Npl wakelocks. I downloaded wakelock terminator with xposed and it seemed to have helped, however something didn't seem right as my battery was draining the same amount as when the wakelocks were happening. The only time I wasn't having the drain was when location was set to device only, which makes sense.
I'm completely new to tasker. I've watched a few tutorials and I've messed around with it a bit but with not much luck. I wanted to do one of two things. Either have location set to battery saver/high accuracy when the screen is on, and have it set to device only when the screen is off. Another option is to have it set to battery saver/high accuracy when google now/maps is open and device only the rest of the time. I feel like this shouldn't be that hard but I messed around with it and got no where. Anyway, what are your guys' opinion about this strategy and would anyone be able to help me with implementing these tasks. Thanks!
I wouldn't go the route of using tasker for your problem. And I would ditch that xposed module for wakelocks too. I run rooted with xposed on high accuracy at all times. My battery life is great. You need to find the source of your battery drain and eliminate it. Don't look for a bandaid fix using tasker. My guess is you have some rogue app killing your battery. Give us a list of all your apps, or delete them all, and install them one by one to track down the culprit. Also, are you running stock Rom and kernel? What other mods do you have?
Lokke9191 said:
I wouldn't go the route of using tasker for your problem. And I would ditch that xposed module for wakelocks too. I run rooted with xposed on high accuracy at all times. My battery life is great. You need to find the source of your battery drain and eliminate it. Don't look for a bandaid fix using tasker. My guess is you have some rogue app killing your battery. Give us a list of all your apps, or delete them all, and install them one by one to track down the culprit. Also, are you running stock Rom and kernel? What other mods do you have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can run the phone as normal today with location and everything on and post my BBS log after. Basically, when I'm at home the battery is great. However, ever since updating to the new google search app I've been having extreme wakelocks from the Npl whenever I would leave my house. Which is why I found a thread on xda that was talking about that exact wakelock. You're right though. I'm going to get rid of the app because it seemed weird. The wakelocks weren't showing up on BBS but I feel like it didn't get rid of them. Who knows though, maybe you're right and it is something else that's draining the battery which is why the wakelock app didn't help.
Anyway, I'm running stock ROM/kernel with xposed. I use greenify module, appOpsX, snapshare, gravity box, and gesture navigation module. With gravity box I just use custom quick settings, smaller nav bars, some status bar mods like the day and double tap to sleep. However, again I have had the same GB mods since before the drain. I use a pebble however I've never had a drain from that and I've been using it since Dec. Most of my apps are greenified including facebook, instagram, as well as all my music streaming apps. A lot of the google services I don't use are disabled like books/magazines/movies. I have snapchat, but I don't use it too much, and facebook messenger that I don't greenify. When I check GSam stats though, android system and kernel take the most battery, followed by music players if I was streaming music that day. The rest of the apps are way down the list.
I posted in the battery thread asking if anyone had the same problem with the wakelocks after having the latest google play services. I noticed mine is still 4.3 for some reason so I might just update manually from androidpolice and see if theres a difference. But yeah, I will keep this updated with todays logs.
Try this. Use titanium backup to uninstall Google play services and Google search. Then launch maps, and reinstall both from the play store.
PsychDrummer said:
Another option is to have it set to battery saver/high accuracy when google now/maps is open and device only the rest of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I ended up doing. You will need the secure settings plugin for tasker.
Set up a new profile for application "Maps".
When on, launch task GPS On (Secure settings, configuration GPS enabled)
Exit task, launch task GPS On (Secure settings, configuration GPS disabled)
I used the app factory to create an app for this, and use that on my N5 and my second phone too. Works great. Enables GPS when I launch Maps for navigation, and switches to battery saving when I exit Maps
PsychDrummer said:
I can run the phone as normal today with location and everything on and post my BBS log after. Basically, when I'm at home the battery is great. However, ever since updating to the new google search app I've been having extreme wakelocks from the Npl whenever I would leave my house. Which is why I found a thread on xda that was talking about that exact wakelock. You're right though. I'm going to get rid of the app because it seemed weird. The wakelocks weren't showing up on BBS but I feel like it didn't get rid of them. Who knows though, maybe you're right and it is something else that's draining the battery which is why the wakelock app didn't help.
Anyway, I'm running stock ROM/kernel with xposed. I use greenify module, appOpsX, snapshare, gravity box, and gesture navigation module. With gravity box I just use custom quick settings, smaller nav bars, some status bar mods like the day and double tap to sleep. However, again I have had the same GB mods since before the drain. I use a pebble however I've never had a drain from that and I've been using it since Dec. Most of my apps are greenified including facebook, instagram, as well as all my music streaming apps. A lot of the google services I don't use are disabled like books/magazines/movies. I have snapchat, but I don't use it too much, and facebook messenger that I don't greenify. When I check GSam stats though, android system and kernel take the most battery, followed by music players if I was streaming music that day. The rest of the apps are way down the list.
I posted in the battery thread asking if anyone had the same problem with the wakelocks after having the latest google play services. I noticed mine is still 4.3 for some reason so I might just update manually from androidpolice and see if theres a difference. But yeah, I will keep this updated with todays logs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just run device only all the time, like everyone else does. It's a problem with Google's code, and the same bad coding is clearly seen throughout their entire app lineup.
Lokke9191 said:
Try this. Use titanium backup to uninstall Google play services and Google search. Then launch maps, and reinstall both from the play store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What would that do though?
jj14 said:
This is what I ended up doing. You will need the secure settings plugin for tasker.
Set up a new profile for application "Maps".
When on, launch task GPS On (Secure settings, configuration GPS enabled)
Exit task, launch task GPS On (Secure settings, configuration GPS disabled)
I used the app factory to create an app for this, and use that on my N5 and my second phone too. Works great. Enables GPS when I launch Maps for navigation, and switches to battery saving when I exit Maps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! So, how would I set this up using device only/high accuracy? I'm also super new to tasker so if you don't mind I might PM you asking for help.
Aerowinder said:
Just run device only all the time, like everyone else does. It's a problem with Google's code, and the same bad coding is clearly seen throughout their entire app lineup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I actually like to use maps and google now. However, I don't actually need the location on when I'm not using either of the two services which is why I wanted to setup tasker.
It'll change them from being system apps to user apps. This has solved nlp wakelocks for many others experiencing the same problems.
PsychDrummer said:
Thanks! So, how would I set this up using device only/high accuracy? I'm also super new to tasker so if you don't mind I might PM you asking for help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure.
It isn't that hard - install the secure settings plug in first, and when prompted, give it Superuser access. Then, create a new profile in tasker - call it whatever you want. Set up the profile for the application "Maps"
When Maps is launched, set it up to fire a new task (I called it GPS On) - this task just enables the GPS setting in the secure settings (under third party plugins)
GPS on -> high accuracy
GPS off -> battery saving mode
Set up an exit task (I called it GPS Off) - this turns the GPS settings in the secure settings off.
I can send you the apk if you want (but you don't really know me, so you probably shouldn't use an apk from a stranger! lol!), or you can try to import this attached xml into tasker (rename the file to remove the .txt extension - filename will be AutoGPS.prj.xml) - the xml option should be safe.
I haven't tried importing an xml, but it should be fairly straightforward (Save profiles in /sdcard/tasker/profiles and then, in tasker, long press the profiles "tab" and "import"). Before doing this, backup your existing profiles in tasker, just in case. Also, make sure you have secure settings set up before you import this.
jj14 said:
Sure.
It isn't that hard - install the secure settings plug in first, and when prompted, give it Superuser access. Then, create a new profile in tasker - call it whatever you want. Set up the profile for the application "Maps"
When Maps is launched, set it up to fire a new task (I called it GPS On) - this task just enables the GPS setting in the secure settings (under third party plugins)
GPS on -> high accuracy
GPS off -> battery saving mode
Set up an exit task (I called it GPS Off) - this turns the GPS settings in the secure settings off.
I can send you the apk if you want (but you don't really know me, so you probably shouldn't use an apk from a stranger! lol!), or you can try to import this attached xml into tasker (rename the file to remove the .txt extension - filename will be AutoGPS.prj.xml) - the xml option should be safe.
I haven't tried importing an xml, but it should be fairly straightforward (Save profiles in /sdcard/tasker/profiles and then, in tasker, long press the profiles "tab" and "import"). Before doing this, backup your existing profiles in tasker, just in case. Also, make sure you have secure settings set up before you import this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, thanks I will give it a try. And it would be the same if I want to have location on when using google search/now?
PsychDrummer said:
Cool, thanks I will give it a try. And it would be the same if I want to have location on when using google search/now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it should be. But in my experience, I haven't found Google Search/Now really requiring high accuracy GPS level location for any of the features yet. It gets by fine with just battery saving mode. So, I only enabled this for the Maps application.
Actually, now that I think about it, I don't know how you'd enable it for Google Now - since it runs in the background to notify you about upcoming events. Since you aren't launching Google Now most of the times, I don't know how you'd set up Tasker to enable the high accuracy GPS for that (and it is possible that Google now using active GPS may be part of the battery drain issue - I don't know for sure)
jj14 said:
Yes, it should be. But in my experience, I haven't found Google Search/Now really requiring high accuracy GPS level location for any of the features yet. It gets by fine with just battery saving mode. So, I only enabled this for the Maps application.
Actually, now that I think about it, I don't know how you'd enable it for Google Now - since it runs in the background to notify you about upcoming events. Since you aren't launching Google Now most of the times, I don't know how you'd set up Tasker to enable the high accuracy GPS for that (and it is possible that Google now using active GPS may be part of the battery drain issue - I don't know for sure)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually wanted to keep the device on "device only" location instead of battery saving. For Google now I wanted the traffic card, but I would only need it if I physically open google now. I don't really need the notification.
PsychDrummer said:
I actually wanted to keep the device on "device only" location instead of battery saving. For Google now I wanted the traffic card, but I would only need it if I physically open google now. I don't really need the notification.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To keep device only, you should use Location mode (in secure settings) and set it to Device only or whatever you need, instead of GPS.
Note that "Device only" still uses active GPS and "This mode may use more battery power and take longer to determine your location" (Ref: https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/3467281?hl=en)
The traffic card still works on "battery saving" because it uses cellphone triangulation, and shows you the traffic in your vicinity, and based on your destination.
jj14 said:
To keep device only, you should use Location mode (in secure settings) and set it to Device only or whatever you need, instead of GPS.
Note that "Device only" still uses active GPS and "This mode may use more battery power and take longer to determine your location" (Ref: https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/3467281?hl=en)
The traffic card still works on "battery saving" because it uses cellphone triangulation, and shows you the traffic in your vicinity, and based on your destination.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, I have always used battery saving. The problem is that with battery saving, I'm having these extreme wakelocks and Google is constantly searching for my location which is what I think is the cause of the drain I'm having. I'm going to use my phone today by just using device-only location and see how the battery lasts. It should be much better since I'm hoping the phone will be deep sleeping longer. Basically, when I take my phone off the charger in the morning and I'm still at home for the first 2 hours of the day the standby time is great. It usually goes down 1-2% in those 2 hours even if I use the phone a little. However, once I leave the house is when I get constant wakelocks from location services and the battery stats to deplete a lot faster. I mean, I can still get through a day just because I don't use the screen a lot. I tend to only use about 1 hr 30 min on a regular day but I just want to play around with settings to see what works.If I can get the same standby time throughout the day that I get within the first two hours when im at home that would be great.
PsychDrummer said:
I know, I have always used battery saving. The problem is that with battery saving, I'm having these extreme wakelocks and Google is constantly searching for my location which is what I think is the cause of the drain I'm having. I'm going to use my phone today by just using device-only location and see how the battery lasts. It should be much better since I'm hoping the phone will be deep sleeping longer. Basically, when I take my phone off the charger in the morning and I'm still at home for the first 2 hours of the day the standby time is great. It usually goes down 1-2% in those 2 hours even if I use the phone a little. However, once I leave the house is when I get constant wakelocks from location services and the battery stats to deplete a lot faster. I mean, I can still get through a day just because I don't use the screen a lot. I tend to only use about 1 hr 30 min on a regular day but I just want to play around with settings to see what works.If I can get the same standby time throughout the day that I get within the first two hours when im at home that would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's strange. With battery saving mode, I get no wakelocks, which with device only or high accuracy, I used to get a lot of wakelocks by the location services.
But yes, no harm in trying out the options. Tasker+secure settings should be able to set up the battery saving or device only (as described above)
jj14 said:
That's strange. With battery saving mode, I get no wakelocks, which with device only or high accuracy, I used to get a lot of wakelocks by the location services.
But yes, no harm in trying out the options. Tasker+secure settings should be able to set up the battery saving or device only (as described above)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You get Npl wakelocks? So far I haven't gotten it and that's the wakelock that usually keeps my phone awake for 2 hours or so. basically, I think the way it works is that the device only setting uses more battery when using apps that use location such as maps but when the apps are not in use it uses no battery on location.
PsychDrummer said:
You get Npl wakelocks? So far I haven't gotten it and that's the wakelock that usually keeps my phone awake for 2 hours or so. basically, I think the way it works is that the device only setting uses more battery when using apps that use location such as maps but when the apps are not in use it uses no battery on location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Ever since I switched to battery saving (and tasker toggling to high accuracy when I use maps), I have no location based wakelocks (no NPL wakelocks)
jj14 said:
No. Ever since I switched to battery saving (and tasker toggling to high accuracy when I use maps), I have no location based wakelocks (no NPL wakelocks)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting, I've been having the opposite. I even took a screen shot of the wakelocks on the stock battery app where when the screen is off there's a huge amount of individual lines for awake (of course this is backed up by BBS). However when using device only the awake and screen on match almost perfectly.
PsychDrummer said:
Interesting, I've been having the opposite. I even took a screen shot of the wakelocks on the stock battery app where when the screen is off there's a huge amount of individual lines for awake (of course this is backed up by BBS). However when using device only the awake and screen on match almost perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure why the difference, but regardless, as long as the individual 'fix' works, that's all that matters

Weather never auto updates

I know there is a thread related to this, but I never saw a solution.
My Gear S2 stock Weather app never auto-updates. Not even when I open the app. In order to update the current conditions in my city, I have to tap on the city, then scroll all the way to the bottom to the refresh button.
In the Samsung Gear app on my Galaxy S4, I have gone into the Settings>Weather settings, and I have selected to Auto Refresh every 6 hours. I have Use Current Location turned off (maybe that's my problem?).
Anyone have ideas?
Almost same issue with my Gear S.
First : location must be ON
Second : weather update only when phone screen is on. So if you use some time your phone weather is updated, otherwise weather can stay 10H without update if you do not use your phone

Huawei Watch 2 Performance tips

I read some reviews where was taken as an issue that HW 2 has sometimes sluggish performance. I can confirm this issue, and here are few tips how to fix it.
Google Fit vs Huawei Health
Google Fit might be more usable for people who own multiple different Android Wear watches.
Huawei Health is more suitable for watch native widgets, and isnt so much "google centric". You might display your week workout statistics without phone or cloud.
Which one of these two is more efficent app, and consumes less battery life would be an interesting thing to test, but you definitely have to use only one of those two.
1. Use it or lose it
Because I prefer workout apps provided by Huawei, i disabled:
- Google Fit (however it seems to be started after reboot)
- Runtastic
Therefore certain sensors are not accessed by multiple apps at the same time, or more often as necessary. You can do it other way around and disable Huawei Health apps instead.
Because i dont use Google/Google Feed at all on the watches, i uninstalled its upgrades (as the app cannot be removed completely). Also i had to disable its notifications so it will not pop up with new update.
I disabled and stopped also:
- Google Text-to-speech engine (and disable notifications as well)
- Google Handwriting input.
2. Watchface choice - The more simplistic watchface and more static data, the better.
Accessing compass, barometer, pedometer and weather just over watchface might be convenient, but it may require an update from all watch sensors and GPS. Also it reduces battery life, especially when watches try to update Weather widget by current location, when GPS is not reachable.
3. Time synchronisation
Choose either sync from phone, or sync from network, but never both at the same time.
4. Continuous heart rate monitoring.
Disable it by default, turn it on when you workout.
Hope this helps.
Tips regarding battery life:
Mobile/Cellular - On (as I dont own another phone)
Wifi: Off
BT: Off
NFC: Off (so far)
GPS (Allow apps to get position): On
Watchface : Line Watchface with shortcut to Phone app, Messages app, Date complication, and Pedometer indicator.
(Least resource consuming watchface seems to be "Blank", which appears to me as an ideal "Display always on" watchface.)
Display always On: Disabled
Wrist Gestures: Disabled
Tilt to Wake: Disabled
Touch to wake: Enabled (not sure if it affects battery life, but waking watches with button would keep the display more clean)
"Ok Google" : Disabled
Magnification Gestures : Disabled
Talkback (experimental): Disabled
(this feature should be more important in upcoming update)
Except pedometer, Watchface does not have any active widgets, or widgets which attempt to take GPS location (Such as Weather app widget). After 24 hours since the watches were configured as described above, Battery app reports:
Mobile standby 27%
Watch idle 5%
Android System 2%
Google Play services 1%
Huawei Health 1%
Line Watch Face 1%
Also watches were charged up to 100%, and then after 24 hours (with 4g network still available), battery had 63%. During this time, watches were used to check time and battery status few times.
Mir1189 said:
Tips regarding battery life:
Mobile/Cellular - On (as I dont own another phone)
Wifi: Off
BT: Off
NFC: Off (so far)
GPS (Allow apps to get position): On
Watchface : Line Watchface with shortcut to Phone app, Messages app, Date complication, and Pedometer indicator.
Display always On: Disabled
Gestures: Disabled
Except pedometer, Watchface does not have any active widgets, or widgets which attempt to take GPS location (Such as Weather app widget). After 24 hours since the watches were configured as described above, Battery app reports:
Mobile standby 27%
Watch idle 5%
Android System 2%
Google Play services 1%
Huawei Health 1%
Line Watch Face 1%
Also watches were charged up to 100%, and then after 24 hours (with 4g network still available), battery had 63%. During this time, watches were used to check time and battery status few times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What?? You can get two full days when always connected with 4g? When on 4g, is the watch remotely connected to a smartphone or something to get notification?
When i am connected to 4g my battery drain is about 10% an hour at best. Most of the time even a lot more... im gonna try your scenario, would be great if i could manage at least a full day standalone...
Just 4g means no connection to "master phone".
In my case it means no notifications from Google/Youtube/Gmail, regardless watch clearly has internet connectivity - Google Play Store works. Google feed returns "no connection".
Google Maps and Weather works, but watch needs to check position using build-in GPS - which may cause increase battery usage if you are not in range of satellites.
Browser apps might work as well, but to get notifications which are usually directed on your phone and then redirected to watch... might be troublesome. To find it out you might need to use console from the watches and explore networking between watches and mobie network provider. Heard some rumours you need specificly access to google DNS servers, so it might be provider-specific.
In general its not an issue for me, as i want to use the watches instead of mobile phone and... well as a watches
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBzWmuz1ws4
So update for Google Wear (google assistant) is on the way. I am about to update first and second post with some more settings, which should reduce battery consumption.

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