Database Info

Killing services

This is a pretty general question, but I couldn't find much on google about this. According to the task killers on the market, an app won't be able to stop a service like exchange or maps automatically (it can only kill the UI app). However, the exchange and map services have lots of alarms associated which increase my battery drain by at least a full %/hour. If I kill the services manually every time I use one of these apps then everything is fine. Does anyone have insight into whether an app or script called from tasker can accomplish this automatically?
FYI: I'm using the CM9 unofficial ROM.

You do not need to kill tasks. The system automatically purges non system apps. Just leave them be and always exit an app using the back button

"App killers" aren't recommended past Froyo and can even harm performance.
Under ICS, you can "Disable" many apps using the Manage apps off the main-screen menu. Titanium Backup can also "freeze" apps.
Many of the Google services get pretty "greedy" depending on your settings. That would be a good place to start for "core" services like those.
If that doesn't work, there is the sledgehammer approach of removing the apk from /system/app -- If you do that, watch your logcat to provide some confidence that you haven't disabled something that you need for another app to work.

th3controller said:
You do not need to kill tasks. The system automatically purges non system apps. Just leave them be and always exit an app using the back button
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Le sigh.. didn't even read my post. Also I'm pretty sure the back button thing is a myth.
jeffsf said:
"App killers" aren't recommended past Froyo and can even harm performance.
Under ICS, you can "Disable" many apps using the Manage apps off the main-screen menu. Titanium Backup can also "freeze" apps.
Many of the Google services get pretty "greedy" depending on your settings. That would be a good place to start for "core" services like those.
If that doesn't work, there is the sledgehammer approach of removing the apk from /system/app -- If you do that, watch your logcat to provide some confidence that you haven't disabled something that you need for another app to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyway I'm not trying to kill the "apps" themselves. They can sit paused in memory. I want to end their back-end services without uninstalling the app. The exchange service, like I said, will drain the battery with its unnecessary alarms even if I disable sync and turn the sync frequency to "never" and uncheck all the boxes when deciding what to sync. Google screwed up majorly with exchange, but when I kill the service manually using the method you describe then everything is fine and I can still boot up the app like normal to check my email manually. I just want to automate killing the service.

lexman098 said:
Le sigh.. didn't even read my post. Also I'm pretty sure the back button thing is a myth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unrelated to your OP but related to your post - on CM9 based ROM's - if you go into Settings > Developer Options - scroll to the bottom and select kill app back button. It works well.

lexman098 said:
Le sigh.. didn't even read my post. Also I'm pretty sure the back button thing is a myth.
Anyway I'm not trying to kill the "apps" themselves. They can sit paused in memory. I want to end their back-end services without uninstalling the app. The exchange service, like I said, will drain the battery with its unnecessary alarms even if I disable sync and turn the sync frequency to "never" and uncheck all the boxes when deciding what to sync. Google screwed up majorly with exchange, but when I kill the service manually using the method you describe then everything is fine and I can still boot up the app like normal to check my email manually. I just want to automate killing the service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also interested in a solution to this. I was hoping to find a widget that displays services, daemons or whatever you wanna call them, in plain text on my home screen, similar to rainmeter for windows. Then you just tap it to manage them. There has to be something similar around.
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"Android OS" keeping phone awake... and using data?!

Hey,
I have a Fido RHD on the latest official ROM (no root or unlock). I have noticed over the past few weeks that the battery life has been a lot worse, but I can't think of any particular app that may be causing it. Strangely, Android OS is using a lot of CPU time and also sending data!
Things I have tried to do:
Stopped all the optiona "location services" for Google apps (e.g. Google Now)
Installed Snapdragon Battery Guru (but it is currently in learning mode)
Uninstalled all unneccessary apps
How can I find out what is hammering the "Android OS" process, and why it is keeping the phone awake? Is there a more advanced battery stats app that could help with this?
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Thanks,
Suman

Hello Suman,
I have a similiar issue here. Android OS is not heading my battery stats, but it held the phone awake for a reasonably long time. You should try downloading BetterBatteryStats (the apk is available here in xda dev for free, but the developer did a nice work on it and the app is very useful, so I think you should support the developer if you don't mind). For a better understand of what's going on open BBS and set a custom ref before you go to sleep. Save the dump immediatly after you wake up. Post it here. Anyone that understand partial wakelocks will be able to give you a better support.
I have seen another guy here with a similar issue, but still unresolved. Also, I still have the problem, but my ROM is different (Vivo - Jelly Bean).
If you have received the update recently via OTA, you can try wiping data. Not sure if will help, but wiping data after receiving major updates is always a good and recommended practice.
Also, if you have instant upload on, turn it off. A bug seems to cause the instant upload to try syncing every minute so you'll have high times of SyncLoopWakelock keeping the phone awake most of the time. It happened to me. If a cloud backup of your photos is very necessary as it's to me I recommend Camera Uploads feature on the Dropbox app.
Let me know if something helps!
Sumanji said:
Hey,
I have a Fido RHD on the latest official ROM (no root or unlock). I have noticed over the past few weeks that the battery life has been a lot worse, but I can't think of any particular app that may be causing it. Strangely, Android OS is using a lot of CPU time and also sending data!
Things I have tried to do:
Stopped all the optiona "location services" for Google apps (e.g. Google Now)
Installed Snapdragon Battery Guru (but it is currently in learning mode)
Uninstalled all unneccessary apps
How can I find out what is hammering the "Android OS" process, and why it is keeping the phone awake? Is there a more advanced battery stats app that could help with this?
Thanks,
Suman
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

vctrrl said:
Hello Suman,
I have a similiar issue here. Android OS is not heading my battery stats, but it held the phone awake for a reasonably long time. You should try downloading BetterBatteryStats (the apk is available here in xda dev for free, but the developer did a nice work on it and the app is very useful, so I think you should support the developer if you don't mind). For a better understand of what's going on open BBS and set a custom ref before you go to sleep. Save the dump immediatly after you wake up. Post it here. Anyone that understand partial wakelocks will be able to give you a better support.
I have seen another guy here with a similar issue, but still unresolved. Also, I still have the problem, but my ROM is different (Vivo - Jelly Bean).
If you have received the update recently via OTA, you can try wiping data. Not sure if will help, but wiping data after receiving major updates is always a good and recommended practice.
Also, if you have instant upload on, turn it off. A bug seems to cause the instant upload to try syncing every minute so you'll have high times of SyncLoopWakelock keeping the phone awake most of the time. It happened to me. If a cloud backup of your photos is very necessary as it's to me I recommend Camera Uploads feature on the Dropbox app.
Let me know if something helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I will give BBS a go, thanks for the recommendation.
I did a factory reset as soon as I received the JB OTA (I always do this after any major software update). The Android OS problem did not start right after the update - it is a fairly recent problem.
I don't have Google+ camera upload turned on (but I do have Dropbox camera upload, as you suggested).
Thanks,
Su

Hey,
Bit of a noob question I think... how exactly do I "use" BetterBatteryStats. I'm not sure how to set it up so it measures what I want it to.
This is what a full day's drain from 100% to nearly empty looks like at the moment:
Can anyone shed some light on my mystery battery thief please??!
Cheers,
Su

Are you forced to restart your phone everyday?

I'm forced to restart my phone everyday ,when I don't it becomes really laggy, the phone stutters when I scroll , when I swipe between the homescreen, when I switch between apps, I'm running stock kit Kat with Franco kernel r33, but I remember well the same used to happen when I had my nexus 4 and everything was stock I just had root .
Just closing all opened apps doesn't solve the problem .
Do you guys have similar issues?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I never had to do that with my phone.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Nope. I restart once a week, if that. Never have any lag/stuttering/slowdown issues. Stock rooted.
Sent from my Moto X

Nope. Everything stock at the moment but I've also used Franco r33 and didn't have that problem then either. If you're just using the recent apps screen to close your apps that might not be enough since it'll only list foreground apps and not background services which would more likely be the culprit. If you aren't already, try using an advanced task killer app (I can't recommend any as I don't use them) and try killing services one by one until the lag stops so that you can figure out which app/service is causing it.

There is no reason to use a task killer or to kill all apps.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Kreateablaze said:
There is no reason to use a task killer or to kill all apps.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not for everyday use, no, but to diagnose which app is being a resource hog what else would you suggest?

I've never restarted my phone due to "lag." My current uptime is about 3 weeks. I'm bone stock.
Sent from my Nexus 5

Never restart. Faux r33 too

Try restoring the factory image and running it for a day or so without any extra apps. At least then you'll know if the phone is faulty. It's likely to be an app or two that are using a lot of memory, but I thought the mighty Nexus could cope with anything!

I have stock ROM, no root, since launch and I've used it everyday 24/7.
No lag problems, never had the need of rebooting it, as a matter of fact sometimes it has been on for more than a month without a poweroff or reboot.

While I've not "had to" restart my N5 due to lag, I have gotten into the habit of restarting it every night when I recharge. I started doing this when google play services (old version) was going haywire and sucking down the battery every now and then.

I only restart my phone when it's really needed (like an app requires reboot and etc)

I restart my phone maybe once every two days or so just to start fresh. Same with your computer restarting it will eliminate processes that you may have started and not ended or background processes running and so on and so fourth.

I only restart when the device doesn't sleep. I find after a day or 2 Google now keeps the device from sleeping. A reboot fixes it right up.
Never experienced lag. Running stock, gravity box, apex launcher and Franco kernel
Sent from my HammerHead

Having to restart your phone that frequently is not normal. Not that it would help a lot, but have you tried switching to ART?

OP, how many apps do you have? Anything else you modified but the kernel? Overclock, underclock, UV, etc.? Give us more infos.

I recently set up my tasker profiles for morning - morning commute - work and home. The last one I have is a nightly reboot at 4am. I just have the tendency to restart my devices daily. Memory dump and fresh start every morning never gives me any issues.
Look into it.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium HD app

This is what I use as my daily driver and only reboot when an app requires it or once every two weeks when I let it die for battery preservation
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I never restart my phone unless there's a need to flash something (ROM update, kernel, etc.).
Also, I think my phone feels smoother than before, especially when I don't clear anything in recent apps.

So i just flashed back the stock kernel and everything went back to normal, I guess I'm done with custom kernels, I've always had bad experiences with them, I don't know if I'm really picky and other people don't notice it, but I can't believe I'm the only one who experiences lag while on custom kernels, maybe the're too agressive trying to save power?

Question Keyboard locking up

I'm having an issue on my a52 where the keyboard is hanging a lot. I installed g- keyboard and it's a bit better but also hangs.
Anyone else have this issue and know of a fix?

Clear the system cache.
System instability and lagging are a bad signs... the only warnings you may get before a crash.
Make sure your data is backed up.
Find the root cause, suspect malware as a possibility as well.
If you did an OS upgrade a factory reset is needed.

Thank you for the reply.
I just received the phone yesterday and went through setup. I did check for updates and there was an update available so I ran it which brought the phone up to the latest June security patch. This morning after reading your message I did a factory reset to see if that would help but the keyboard still hangs. It's like it just can't keep up with typing or something? Everything else seems to work perfectly fine it's just typing on the keyboard that seems to hang?
"System instability and lagging are a bad signs"
Do you mean to say that it's possibly defective?
I have the 8GB / 256GB model.
If I switch between Google keyboard and Samsung Keyboard it will work ok for a little bit but them it starts hanging again. Very strange behavior.
Sure would suck to have to send it back

This a new phone?
Is there carrier bloatware present?

New to me, open box, unlocked SM-A525F/DS. Doesn't appear to have carrier bloatware.

I don't know... my first inclination be to return it.
Check for updates including the Samsung Galaxy store and Playstore. Make sure it's not a 3rd party app causing it.
My S4+ do that crap sometimes and I think was internet connection related.
The native keyboard is one of the best, it's the only one I use.

Yeah, I would think that the native Samsung keyboard app would work flawlessly but for some reason it hangs much more than the G-Keyboard.
Like I said I did a factory reset it and only loaded a new google account so I could test it out fresh and it is still doing it. It doesn't do it when I first open the phone but then after using it a bit the keyboard hanging issue starts to happen.
When I google the problem I only came across someone having the issue on a A51
the software update page says that it is up to date: Current version : A525FXXS2AUE2 / A525FOJM2AUE1 / A525XXS2AUE2
Security patch evel: June 1, 2021

Crap... that sucks. It maybe a mobo issue or a corrupted flash. I say return it if you can.
Almost sounds like a memory leak... is the ram usage steadily climbing?

So I got back from a dentist appointment and had left the A52 at home and I go to test the Samsung and Google keyboards and now they are working perfectly fine, smooth as butter, and I can't make it hang/freeze anymore?!?!?!
New to Samsung, coming from my PH-1 with custom ROM.
Where would I check that ram usage?

Yay!
Power management can cause erratic device behavior, I never use it.
Activate Developer options. Also you can see ram usage in Samsung Device Care.

Interesting, I do have power management on, I will keep that in mind if it starts acting up again.
I now have developer options on and I checked Device care:
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Try disabling it and see what happens.
You need to weed out misbehaving apps one by one on a case by case basis.
3rd party apps that demand to run at startup deserve special attention.
Some apps like Brave browser continue to run in the background even after you close them. I finally ended up firewall blocking it when not in use to stop this behavior... nothing else worked.
Firewall blocking apps that don't need internet access also helps to move things along.

I do not have Brave browser on my A52? Was it a pre-installed app on yours that you can't uninstall?

SirDigitalKnight said:
I do not have Brave browser on my A52? Was it a pre-installed app on yours that you can't uninstall?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just an example. I keep it because of it's ad blocking ability plus no malware has ever breached it.

ok. Well it looks like power saving mode was already off. it must have reset to off when I did the factory reset. Under more battery settings there is a Adaptive battery setting which is on? Would this effect it?

SirDigitalKnight said:
ok. Well it looks like power saving mode was already off. it must have reset to off when I did the factory reset. Under more battery settings there is a Adaptive battery setting which is on? Would this effect it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Adaptive battery, kill it. That could induce this kind of behavior. Android manages its self well without it. Simply close out apps when done with them. This works well with most apps except for poorly coded ones like Brave
Go to running apps in Developer options to view some of what's eating up the house.
Sometimes cache apps like Brave are still running in the background even though it's not shown as a current running service. Killing it off the cache list will however shut it down.
I found it's easier to just close Brave then firewall block it until needed again
Hey, it could be worse... it could be an iphone

Thanks for you help! I just killed Adaptive battery. I found "Running services" , Im guessing it is what you mention? I do see a lot there: KLMS Agent, Video call effects, Samsung Pass, SmartThings, Bixby Voice, etc..... Samsung Keyboard and One Ui Home seem to be using the most memory.

Yay
Yeah a lot junk. I use Package Disabler and Karma Firewall as well as settings to knock it down.
Home - Package Disabler
The only NON-root solution that let’s you disable any unwanted packages that come pre-installed / installed with your phone / tablet.
www.packagedisabler.com
Typically those apps use a lot of ram but not much battery or CPU cycles.

Holy cow thats a lot, I have very few running compared to yours!
Adaptive battery seems to have been slowing the phone down as everything now is much more snappy.

SirDigitalKnight said:
Holy cow thats a lot, I have very few running compared to yours!
Adaptive battery seems to have been slowing the phone down as everything now is much more snappy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, that's not all of them
Isn't it amazing how much better it runs with power management out of the way?
Power management was a mess 2 years ago... some things don't change

Question How can I stop battery drain on "screen off"?

I'm happy with the battery performance, but only when the screen is on. When I use the phone mostly with the screen on, I get good SOT(6-9 hours), but with the screen off, the battery consumption is terrible. How can I pull this down?

Probably a cloud app; try temporarily disabling Google play Services, Google backup is a dependency as is Playstore, Gmail. Some apps also need it to run. I enable it once or twice a day. Disabled saves 1+%@hr.
Trashware social media apps like fb, WhatsApp etc shouldn't be installed. It all adds up.
6 hours SOT with a 5002 mAh battery isn't good, 9 hrs is fair to poor. That said all Samsung's should be optimized for best performance.

Thanks for your opininon. Are you saying we shouldn't use Whatsapp? Is it real solution?

Unfortunately, because of SD 8 gen 1 limitations (probably worse on Exynos variant), about 6-7 hours SOT is best you're going to get on the S22 ultra.
Try the following guide here & see if it helps your battery life.

I have the Exynos version. My phone has a SOT of about 10 to 12 hours. Rooted and bebloated. I do have the brightness very low though.
Android 13.
OneUI 5.
Latest.
Lightly debloated.

That's interesting. I guess depends on what apps the phone is using during SOT.......
Mind sharing your battery usage breakdown screenshot?

TheKaptan23 said:
Thanks for your opininon. Are you saying we shouldn't use Whatsapp? Is it real solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Real as it gets. All social media apps should never be installed. Many should even be logged on to. WhatsApp track record is stunningly bad.
Lots of users means its got a huge bullseye on it even if they try to secure it, it will hacked again like the sun rises in the morning... for sure. Meanwhile phishing scams run under the radar and count on you screwing up. And many do.
You got to ask yourself one question,
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You feel lucky today?

TheKaptan23 said:
Thanks for your opininon. Are you saying we shouldn't use Whatsapp? Is it real solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No really. The problem is that all the apps developed by Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp) are power hogs. Meta does not care if it chews up battery. The primary reason is that Meta is shoving ads in your face. Even when your screen is off, those apps are running in the background. Meta is not the only offender. There are plenty of other app developers that do the same thing.
Also, there are different "flavors" of Android. Each OEM implements it differently (even within the OEMs). This makes it less cost effective to customize their apps for each OEM. There is only one flavor of iOS and iPadOS, so it is much easier to tweak it for iPhones and iPads than it is for Android devices.

I understand. Thanks. I have another question. You said you turned off google play services. When I turn it off, notifications do not work and many applications do not work. How do you overcome this situation?

TheKaptan23 said:
I understand. Thanks. I have another question. You said you turned off google play services. When I turn it off, notifications do not work and many applications do not work. How do you overcome this situation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't effect any notifications for me that I use except Gmail. Most my apps run without it. I tend to shun those that do.
Some of the Samsung apps take the place of Google apps, no need to run both.
If killing Google play Services helps at night it's likely Google backup Transport running.

Hello, I have something to ask about. I need to know if there is any ability to store a system application variables usin adb. Imagine that I want to open my settings app and do something mabye a confirmation dialog will be shown in order to say something such as alert for something supposed that I did click on OK, i the normal case this alert will never be shown even if you clear the settings app data or clear the cash, is there any way to use adb to store the settings app data before opening it the if anything as the previous senario happened I can restore the settings app to the moment before clicking on the OK button or even before this alert has shown

TheKaptan23 said:
I understand. Thanks. I have another question. You said you turned off google play services. When I turn it off, notifications do not work and many applications do not work. How do you overcome this situation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many apps that "need" Google play Services are Playstore pay apps. This can be circumvented by first allowing the app to activate, then firewall blocking their internet connection. Firewall block Playstore as well although it should be disabled except when needed.
If an app doesn't need internet access to function it should be firewall blocked anyway.