Battery Life Vogue Android

[sushichef]

So, I recently got a vogue and immediately put android cupcake on it. (great work devs btw :))

So here's the problem, I cant get through the day 7 am - 12 am with light to moderate use without needing to charge.

I would like to keep 3g/background data on during this time.

Has anyone had any success having their vogue-androids last this long?

Are there any advanced power managers that allow you to change the backlight quickly and easily or allow you to turn data off during certain times? (like data off for a 1/2 hour and then data on for 1/2 hour)


Thanks,

Kevin

[craig0r]

So, I recently got a vogue and immediately put android cupcake on it. (great work devs btw :))

So here's the problem, I cant get through the day 7 am - 12 am with light to moderate use without needing to charge.

I would like to keep 3g/background data on during this time.

Has anyone had any success having their vogue-androids last this long?

Are there any advanced power managers that allow you to change the backlight quickly and easily or allow you to turn data off during certain times? (like data off for a 1/2 hour and then data on for 1/2 hour)


Thanks,

Kevin

There's an app called "Locale" which is apparently awesome, but I haven't tried it myself. It changes settings based on your GPS location, but I'm not too sure about time of day. You may want to check that out.

As for the battery lasting that long, I dunno... I don't think I'd fall into the "light usage" category. My battery typically lasts from about 7:30am till 9 or 10pm though... I'm not too sure, I usually plug it in when I get home from work around 6.

[derekwilkinson]

There's an app called "Locale" which is apparently awesome, but I haven't tried it myself. It changes settings based on your GPS location, but I'm not too sure about time of day. You may want to check that out.

As for the battery lasting that long, I dunno... I don't think I'd fall into the "light usage" category. My battery typically lasts from about 7:30am till 9 or 10pm though... I'm not too sure, I usually plug it in when I get home from work around 6.

That would need more battery, since it would need GPS.
We don't have network-based GPS yet.

[lotherius]

I have had the same problems with battery life on my vogue even with light usage. Also I don't believe CDMA has the same issues with 3g causing higher battery usage like gsm does. I have tried widgets to quickly toggle the backlight and gps function but only saw minimal improvement. Not sure if the increased battery usage is just a fact of android or if there remain porting/performance issues still to blame.

[psvillars]

i've got my background data set to off and i keep gps and stuff off unless i need it and i've got my email set to update every hour and i found this actually gives me better battery life than when running windows so i just went and bought an extended battery off ebay and hopefully it'll get through a complete workday(10 hrs) where as right now i'm getting between 6 and 8 depending on how much I use it.

[psvillars]

i've got my background data set to off and i keep gps and stuff off unless i need it and i've got my email set to update every hour and i found this actually gives me better battery life than when running windows so i just went and bought an extended battery off ebay and hopefully it'll get through a complete workday(10 hrs) where as right now i'm getting between 6 and 8 depending on how much I use it.

sorry double posted by accident and don't know how to delete :(

[Cadillax]

My battery used to drain pretty rapidly.. 7am - 2pm... but now it lasts from about 7am - 6pm. I think theres a certain amount that the battery can condition itself. I've tried discharging and charging and I do believe that its helped.

Do you guys notice that battery readings are not accurate though? Apparently it has something to do with the temp. sensor in the battery not being correctly configured. For example, if my battery is at 20% and I plug it in the charge, it'll jump to 40% in a matter of 10 mins.

[sushichef]

i've got my background data set to off and i keep gps and stuff off unless i need it and i've got my email set to update every hour and i found this actually gives me better battery life than when running windows so i just went and bought an extended battery off ebay and hopefully it'll get through a complete workday(10 hrs) where as right now i'm getting between 6 and 8 depending on how much I use it.

sorry double posted by accident and don't know how to delete :(

Oh, thats cool, how did you set up it to check every hour? is that an app? or?

[psvillars]

Oh, thats cool, how did you set up it to check every hour? is that an app? or?

well that's for my aol email gmail will not be affected i left auto-sync on and from what i could see it still auto-syncs without background data on you could uncheck that but then you'd have to manually update yourself

[fixxxer2008]

i too am having pretty bad battery life even when i don't use my phone. why would the battery drain so fast when its sleeping? would that togga app help at all with the latest cupcake build?

[craig0r]

i too am having pretty bad battery life even when i don't use my phone. why would the battery drain so fast when its sleeping? would that togga app help at all with the latest cupcake build?

Togga has been replaced in Cupcake by Modem. They do the same thing, essentially. If you want to turn off your data connection, open Modem and click Disconnect.

Also, in your default.txt make sure the pm.sleep_mode setting is set to 0 for best power saving.

Lastly, update all your files to the latest. The newest rootfs.img is supposed to bring more power-saving functionality. I just installed it this morning, so I can't comment on it yet.

[fixxxer2008]

Togga has been replaced in Cupcake by Modem. They do the same thing, essentially. If you want to turn off your data connection, open Modem and click Disconnect.

Also, in your default.txt make sure the pm.sleep_mode setting is set to 0 for best power saving.

Lastly, update all your files to the latest. The newest rootfs.img is supposed to bring more power-saving functionality. I just installed it this morning, so I can't comment on it yet.

yeah i just updated all of my files, ill check my text though. :)

[fixxxer2008]

i checked my text and it is set to 0 already! not a good thing when it only takes 5 hours to drain 50% of my battery life. i hope this can be fixed in future builds, i may have to go back to winmo for the time being because i need my phone for work. :(

i really love android though!

[tatnai]

i checked my text and it is set to 0 already! not a good thing when it only takes 5 hours to drain 50% of my battery life. i hope this can be fixed in future builds, i may have to go back to winmo for the time being because i need my phone for work. :(

i really love android though!

Do you have "Use Background Data" unchecked under Settings > Data synchronization? This makes a huge difference. If you have unchecked already, I don't know what to tell you.

[katmandu421]

with the previous rootfs (just before the new one today 2009-08-04) I've been getting 10 hours with moderate usage, backround data enabled, contacts and gmail auto syncing and locale set to turn my ringer off based on location (btw, I do beleive we have agps working now). Upgrading to the newest kernel and rootfs with more improvement to see if I can get a full day as I am awefully close now.

oh, and I also have a weather widget updating every hour, pretty good battery imo.

EDIT: Tip for battery life, I have my default screen brightness set pretty low, about 30%, as this is fine for most indoor conditions. I use an app called fastbright placed conveniently on my home screen to immediately turn my screen to 100% with the click of an icon when I am outdoors. I also use locale to turn the screen all the way down to 10% when the battery is less than 10%. Both are recommended apps.

[tatnai]

I think I was getting much better battery life before introduction of rootfs, like on the order of 4-5 hours more (running hero themed ion). Anyone else have this experience, or is it just me?

[katmandu421]

I think I was getting much better battery life before introduction of rootfs, like on the order of 4-5 hours more (running hero themed ion). Anyone else have this experience, or is it just me?

Actually yeah, I tried the latest initrd and rootfs today, but it seems like it's a bit lower than it usually is this time of day. I think the first implementation of rootfs was better than this latest over the non-rootfs versions, though. Maybe I just used it more. I kept all the same settings and usage for the day was typical.

[awaisjaffery]

Best option is to buy the Extended Battery from DealExtreme for $8.. search for HTC Touch S1 .. the back cover doesn't fit properly but you can always get a one that fits from ebay..

this battery lasts me thru out the day even with heavy usage.. and for $8 u can't go wrong

[tatnai]

Today I didn't touch my phone for the first 4-5 hours of my day after charging overnight, and was down to sixty-something percent. I know that on older initrds I was doing much better than this, at least 80% at noon with no usage.

I'm wondering if optimizing memory with the new rootfs stuff has been a trade-off to poorer battery life. Since I'm using mssmison's hero themed ion which is screaming fast, I haven't noticed a difference with the root stuff and think I'm going to try switching back.

I'm switching back to the 7-30-09 initrd.gz, because that's the last one I know my battery was doing much better with and will post back after running it tomorrow.

[TheKartus]

My issue with battery life is that my phone doesn't seem to know how much battery it has left. It will be on 60 percent, I'll plug it in and 5 minutes later its fully charged.

Or after it comes off the charger overnight, it will go down to 60-50 almost immediately but stay there all day while at work with light usage. I also hate that it doesn't know when its full, I hate to overcharge the batter. So many opinions on if it damages it or not.

[tatnai]

ok, so un-installed google voice, which was coming up a lot in Taskiller task bar; battery life improved significantly. I'm back to being happy with the new initrd/rootfs.

[clockworx]

with the previous rootfs (just before the new one today 2009-08-04) I've been getting 10 hours with moderate usage, backround data enabled, contacts and gmail auto syncing and locale set to turn my ringer off based on location (btw, I do beleive we have agps working now). Upgrading to the newest kernel and rootfs with more improvement to see if I can get a full day as I am awefully close now.

Do you have any confirmation that we have aGPS anywhere (like notes from a developer or a changelog)? I've been googling trying to find an answer, and only find lots of conflicting info.

I tried to use Google Maps to find "My Location", with Location settings having "GPS" disabled and "Wireless Networks",enabled. I figured if aGPS worked I'd be able to get at least an approximate fix with these settings, but "My Location" doesn't seem to work at all until I turn on GPS. I'm not 100% sure if this is an accurate test for aGPS, either...

[atx1980]

You can get an extended battery on ebay for about $12 shipped that should last 3 times as long.

[katmandu421]

Do you have any confirmation that we have aGPS anywhere (like notes from a developer or a changelog)? I've been googling trying to find an answer, and only find lots of conflicting info.

I tried to use Google Maps to find "My Location", with Location settings having "GPS" disabled and "Wireless Networks",enabled. I figured if aGPS worked I'd be able to get at least an approximate fix with these settings, but "My Location" doesn't seem to work at all until I turn on GPS. I'm not 100% sure if this is an accurate test for aGPS, either...

I do not have any supporting documentation. I do remember one of the main developers stating that we were using aGPS (that's why we get a lock in under 10 seconds from a cold start) but that aGPS cannot be used "standalone". You are either using both of them, or neither of them is what I understood. Srwalter could probably shed some light since he did the GPS.

[tatnai]

we do not have aGPS. aGPS does not work by itself - if we had it disabling GPS and leaving wireless location on would do nothing. aGPS is when the cell towers communicate satellite location to your phone so that your phone gets a lock quicker. You can still get a fast sat lock if you just have great conditions - great sky view, you're lucky, etc. wireless location is when the cell towers are used to triangulate your location; some carriers allow this, others have it locked out - sprint who I am with, for example, you can't use that feature. wireless location is also not enabled in our android builds either.

[clockworx]

we do not have aGPS. aGPS does not work by itself - if we had it disabling GPS and leaving wireless location on would do nothing. aGPS is when the cell towers communicate satellite location to your phone so that your phone gets a lock quicker. You can still get a fast sat lock if you just have great conditions - great sky view, you're lucky, etc. wireless location is when the cell towers are used to triangulate your location; some carriers allow this, others have it locked out - sprint who I am with, for example, you can't use that feature. wireless location is also not enabled in our android builds either.

Does this imply that (at least for Sprint Users), that the Google "location service" is useless? The consent prompt that you get on first boot (I think it's on all builds, but it could be just Hero) states that the Location Service is to allow google to tell apps your approximate location without using the GPS.

[fujie]

Hello everyone,

I just put android on my HTC Touch 3G from Bell. Everything works great. At first my default.txt pm.sleep_mode value was set to 0, I had a problem with not being able to recover the phone from sleep mode because none of the buttons worked once my screen went blank. I changed the sleep value to 3 and I can now recover my phone from sleep mode, but I noticed the battery life is decreasing pretty rapidly. I charged it full the night before, got to work around 9am and it said it was down to 65%. I would change the sleep value back to 0 for better power savings, but in this mode I cannot recover my phone. Has anyone else had this problem too?

Thanks,

Jeff

[TheKartus]

Hello everyone,

I just put android on my HTC Touch 3G from Bell. Everything works great. At first my default.txt pm.sleep_mode value was set to 0, I had a problem with not being able to recover the phone from sleep mode because none of the buttons worked once my screen went blank. I changed the sleep value to 3 and I can now recover my phone from sleep mode, but I noticed the battery life is decreasing pretty rapidly. I charged it full the night before, got to work around 9am and it said it was down to 65%. I would change the sleep value back to 0 for better power savings, but in this mode I cannot recover my phone. Has anyone else had this problem too?

Thanks,

Jeff
A couple questions. What build of Android are you using, an Ion build?
Are you using the remapped buttons? Or are you still using the volume slider for menu and back?

Also as a sidenote, I have noticed that Android sometimes doesn't know really how much battery it has. It may go down to 65 real fast, but stay there all day.

[prairiefire]

Hello everyone,

I just put android on my HTC Touch 3G from Bell. Everything works great. At first my default.txt pm.sleep_mode value was set to 0, I had a problem with not being able to recover the phone from sleep mode because none of the buttons worked once my screen went blank. I changed the sleep value to 3 and I can now recover my phone from sleep mode, but I noticed the battery life is decreasing pretty rapidly. I charged it full the night before, got to work around 9am and it said it was down to 65%. I would change the sleep value back to 0 for better power savings, but in this mode I cannot recover my phone. Has anyone else had this problem too?

Thanks,

Jeff

Also, do you have data syncronization running? that's a huge battery killer.

[fujie]

Hello,

I am using the latest android bundle (android-1.5-2009-08-08.zip) from http://code.google.com/p/vogue-android/

I am using default button configurations, and no data sync (I used ppp.nostart=1 to disable data for now).

[TheKartus]

Hello,

I am using the latest android bundle (android-1.5-2009-08-08.zip) from http://code.google.com/p/vogue-android/

I am using default button configurations, and no data sync (I used ppp.nostart=1 to disable data for now).

I am not sure if the latest bundle is using the new button maps. Is your menu button the volume slider or the power button?

If it is the power button, then the new keymaps have issues waking the phone sometimes. You need to hold down the middle dpad button for a while before it loads. A good few seconds and then it should come on.

[fujie]

Hello, thank you for responding. Yes, my Menu button is the volume slider. I tried holding the middle Dpad button down to wake the phone, but no luck

[TheKartus]

Hello, thank you for responding. Yes, my Menu button is the volume slider. I tried holding the middle Dpad button down to wake the phone, but no luck

Weird. I had a similar situation when I first started using Android where it wouldn't load. I would suggest formatting your SD card and redownloading all of the new files. Including the new zimage from the button remapping thread.

[tatnai]

Does this imply that (at least for Sprint Users), that the Google "location service" is useless? The consent prompt that you get on first boot (I think it's on all builds, but it could be just Hero) states that the Location Service is to allow google to tell apps your approximate location without using the GPS.

as I understand it, with Sprint, yep pretty much. however, I don't know for sure if the locking of this ability is on the tower side or the phone side, I highly suspect the tower side, we'll only know for sure when/if ever we get location services working on Android (or when someone smart with the answer decides to post :D).

Back on topic, I was wrong about google voice previously, I don't think it was killing my battery. It is something in the new initrd/rootfs combo that I think has to do with when the phone goes out of service. It's killing me at work in the hospital where my service is patchy, however if I stay with good service all day at home, I'm golden.

[fujie]

I just put android on my HTC Touch 3G from Bell. Everything works great. At first my default.txt pm.sleep_mode value was set to 0, I had a problem with not being able to recover the phone from sleep mode because none of the buttons worked once my screen went blank. I changed the sleep value to 3 and I can now recover my phone from sleep mode, but I noticed the battery life is decreasing pretty rapidly. I charged it full the night before, got to work around 9am and it said it was down to 65%. I would change the sleep value back to 0 for better power savings, but in this mode I cannot recover my phone. Has anyone else had this problem too?

I just wanted to let people know that I have fixed this problem. I upgraded the firmware on my HTC Touch and Android now works beautifully.

[BlkCat]

Hmm. Well I can use mine for about 8 hours of heavy internet use (tons of chatting with the meebo app, some GPS, checking the BBC website, looking things up for customers at work, ect). After that I have about 15% battery life left.

Far better than I'd ever get out of WinMo for some reason.