Extreme measures for better battery life

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MartyLK

Senior Member
Apr 19, 2010
3,968
177
Oklahoma City
I finally decided I would take some extreme measures to aide the BL of my Androids. I have an HTC Inspire and HTC HD2 with Nexus S Android. The HD2 isn't all that bad...much better BL than the Inspire, but I wanted to apply this measure to both phones. Will it help? Only time will tell.

I started by removing all screen widgets. Then I sorted the screen icons so that a minimum of homescreens were needed...got it down to 2 homescreens. Then I deleted all widgets without apps not able to be opened through an icon. Then I went into Applications manager and cleared and stopped all non-used apps and services. I also deleted all duplicate services such as OEM email accounts and their associated syncing....using add-in apps for them. (example: built-in apps and widgets like Facebook, Twitter are uninstalled or disabled and am using another combining app like Seesmic. Same goes for the email app)

What I currently have is an Android iPhone. I'm using only icons on the 2 homescreens. And this makes me understand why Apple refuses to use widgets and stick with icons...to preserve BL. I hope this will improve the BL of my Androids because it is purely horrendous. And it is horrendous with all Androids I've tried and used.

Until the recently announced battery tech breakthrough is made available, this might have to be how Android is used from now on. But I doubt these extreme measures will actually help.
 
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primetechv2

Senior Member
Nov 5, 2010
547
170
An application is a single, whole program package that is loaded into the phone. Examples would be Tapatalk, the default Calculator, and Angry Birds.

An application can have one or more widgets in it -- a widget is an interactive thing you can place on the home screen. It can give you information, and you can tap on it to change what it says. A good example of that would be Beautiful Widgets, or the little Android guy that tells you about how to use your new phone.

Sent from my Wildfire S
 

daveb673

Senior Member
Aug 1, 2009
102
2
Oklahoma City, OK
@Marty, how long was your battery lasting prior to the "Extreme Makeover"? Mine currently will last me 2 days. Admittedly, I've not loaded a lot of stuff on the phone yet, and I have the power saver mode start at 70%...but I only need to recharge every other day.
 

nieker

Member
Dec 30, 2010
20
0
Gent
My desire lasts around 2 days with moderate usage. But on a good day (read: many boring moments), it's completely depleted by the end of the day. My biggest battery drainer is whatsapp, if I uninstall the app my battery will last a LOT longer.

If i really need my phone to last for a long time (when Im on a big trip or on a festival) I always use JuiceDefender with a very strict setting. This is a big help, but not for everyday use
 

grudas

Senior Member
Apr 15, 2011
92
158
whats the point? Where ever you sleep you have access to a plug/usb w/e so whats the big deal ? how hard is it to charge the phone every night? even thought my galaxy s2 hold battery for 40hrs+ i never need that :|
 
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marko!

Senior Member
Feb 7, 2011
761
357
Halifax
Ive dont the same thing, I also found some build prop and init.d tweaks that improve battery life.

my brightness is always at minimum, i have only one widget,

My battery could last two days BUT i use my phone a lot. like its on for 7 hours with 4.5 hrs screen on.
 

chrisrotolo

Senior Member
Nov 3, 2010
1,905
462
Corona, CA
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
ther have been many apps and disucssions on BL. heres some common tips.

screen to lowest brightness possible setting. background data always off unless using market. disable -use wireless networks- options, no gps, no location. also turn off *back up my data*. wifi always off not in use. screeen timeout no more than 2 minutes. turn off animations and transitions. setcpu with moderate settings (if you can do a screen off profile it will be beneficial but beware Sleep of Death.) no live wallpapers. minimum widgets or none. minimum homescreens or 1. startup manger. adfree. location cache app. and battery calibration to get the most juice.
 

John_2k2

Senior Member
Aug 4, 2011
139
46
San Jose
the issues seems to be alot with hardware the Htc inspire and HD2 have 1250 Mah Batteries , which are very small.
 

fluxgfx

Senior Member
Jun 1, 2011
743
90
Ottawa
www.cryovex.com
If some people are just like me... I can kill at 1800mah battery in 5 hours even at full charge...

I do everything on my smartphone. So anything to save the battery is a good way.
I have the Galaxsy S II and I've managed to drain the battery in 6hours of usage and since I'm not near a power source most of the time then yeah I need all the juice....

I don't sit in an office or am near a power source 80% of the time. I usually carry 2 spare batteries with me and a charger for them just in case.

Cheers! (Extreme power user).

whats the point? Where ever you sleep you have access to a plug/usb w/e so whats the big deal ? how hard is it to charge the phone every night? even thought my galaxy s2 hold battery for 40hrs+ i never need that :|
 
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Irvysan

Senior Member
Dec 10, 2010
160
88
whats the point? Where ever you sleep you have access to a plug/usb w/e so whats the big deal ? how hard is it to charge the phone every night? even thought my galaxy s2 hold battery for 40hrs+ i never need that :|

Whats the point??

Here is my daily usage :

Alarm goes off at 6:30am (phone gets unplugged)

Blahblah (at work) reply to emails and messages throughout the day, on twitter A LOT (plume premium)

2 calls approx 30 mins each

Play some games at break and lunchtime (Drag racing KILLS my battery, a bit of plants vs zombies, grave defence HD and maybe some pinball deluxe)

more emails and twitter

another 20min call

a little more gaming while im waiting on customers (1hr or so??)

6pm go home for 6:30pm

BAM! battery is at 10-20% and i need to plug it in again.

this is a typical 12hr day for me and im sure others have longer days and i would appreciate not having to rush home (sometimes) if im expecting a call.

so as far as im concerned anything which will save some precious battery on my devices is appreciated.

btw i have reduced my homescreens to 3 and only have 2 widgets running and that has made a great difference to my battery life (esp. on the DHD)

Irvysan :p
 

alroger

Senior Member
May 19, 2011
1,299
1,937
Deerfield Beach
OnePlus 6
Moto G Stylus 5G
Basically kill factory and carrier bloatware and you are getting better.
One thing I was amazed about was the eBook reader that comes with our Galaxy Tabs, and suppose others too.. it always working even if you dont have or use it.
And remember, the screen is what takes most out of your BL, always. Lower brightness? Get a better ROM with no bloatware and maybe undervolt the screen.

Homescreens dont change a bit. Widgets do, if they update a lot.. more than that notification stuff do. Like if you use a antivirus or antisomething, just check of notifications.. check of any unneeded notifications.

Vibration theorically is what consumes the most.. but since its not as used as the screen, you dont even compare them. But every little bit helps. Check off keyboard clicks and hepatic feedback - vibrations.

Wifi, bluetooth, data... don't actually consume much.. actually it's better if you leave a service stable on, than keep sleeping and switching it. So leave wifi always on, no sleep policy. But when you go out turn it of so it doesnt keep scanning all the time (unless you want to :p).

Just like any PC, the more you install.... Just check what you got going on, learn how to check processes and services that keep on all the time, and there are some utils to help stop some crap from starting up. I use ROM Toolbox and Autostarts.. some stuff get activated just because you plug you device to charge!

DONT use task killers... dont let anything like that keep running... and no, GMail push notifications wont use any batt. Maybe pop/imap emails always pollling will use some.. but probably nothing compared to the examples above.

Cheers for my 2 cents.

EDIT: and after Xmas, remove those animated wallpapers! :D
 
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FlagshipX

Member
Feb 22, 2011
41
6
Is Juice Defender a task killer? Not really sure what is it but I've been wondering about that.

Juice Defender Ultimate has been giving me about a 1/3 more time with screen on max. Why is my screen on max, because I was trying to drain the phone. It's on about 40% now which is still pretty bright. I wouldn't be mad to get more life but I think 20+ hrs with moderate use isn't bad. I think the most I did was search the net about 4 hours total. But I was also, customizing, so it the screen was lit for a while.

This is a TMO GSII I'm talking about.
 

robinsons1214

Member
Feb 26, 2008
8
1
There are a ton of things you can do, but the truth of it all is that our 3G/4G radios pull so hard they drain the battery, which is why you were on the right track when you disable active since, Facebook and Twitter.
The main two things I do, is
1. add a widget for turning off 3G or 4G (If its in your area).
2. Installed Startup Manager ( it disables startup programs in the unseen background, (my phone is rooted)).

by doing these two things I am able to get 17hrs+ on a standard HTC EVO 4G battery. Keep in mind the more you use the Internet the more it will drain your battery. So I only turn the internet connection on when I need it or the app needs it.

*I also only use one screen and remove unnecessary widgets but I find that doesn't help the battery life all that much, (my personal Preference)
*When I or my sons game on my phone I put it on Airplane more which turns off all Radios including the Phone (call/text)
*Drawback to turning 3G off, you have to wait a few second for the internet to come back on and MMS won't download through your messenger unless have it one.
I've been off the charge for 8hrs and my battery life is still at 65%

Sorry to be long winded but if I know anything its battery life
 
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Drashna

Senior Member
Apr 11, 2011
114
24
San Diego
breakinghomeserver.com
Completely agree. What's the point. Either you don't use your phone for ANYTHING, and watch the battery last for 2 weeks (literally), or you use it so heavily that it lasts only 2 hours....

I was sick recently, and as such couldn't use my phone (I couldn't open my eyes without getting dizzy, and even closed.... still was). Suddenly my HTC Inspire 4G used only 20% of the battery in 10 hours. The previous day, heavy mail, "friendstream" (HTC's facebook/twitter/etc app/widget), listening to music (well, audiobooks) for about 8 hours, and I had only 20% left. And i've found that overclocking the phone to 1.3GHz helps more than any other tweak.

Don't get me wrong, I'm obsessive about using my phone *and* getting awesome battery life out of it. But the ONLY way to true "maximize" your battery life is to *minimize* your usage. But then you might as well buy a feature phone.

And I know a few people with iPhones. a 3GS and a 4 and a 4S. They don't get any better battery life than I do. Heck, they get worse. Even under the same type of usage.

For me, the problem isn't the usage, isn't what's running, or what's loaded (but it does help/hurt). The problem is that battery technology has NOT kept up with consumer needs, or IT development. Your battery is dying as soon as it leaves the factory. Your battery is dying every time you change it. Especially when it gets hot. your battery dies faster when it's cold outside. We need better energy storage medium. Period.
 
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jedah

Senior Member
Jun 10, 2008
459
49
I don't think the use of WiFi could be overstated.

On my Skyrocket, leaving Wifi on (indoors), it'll sip about 1% every hour. I go out and have 4G LTE on, it drinks up about 3% every hour.

Minimizing widgets also helps. I saw noticeably better battery after removing my facebook and Latitude widgets.

The screen also sucks up the most battery. Turn it off on every occasion. Just turning it off instead of letting it shut off by itself has made a difference for me.
 

phoenix_rizzen

Senior Member
Aug 10, 2011
903
380
For me, the problem isn't the usage, isn't what's running, or what's loaded (but it does help/hurt). The problem is that battery technology has NOT kept up with consumer needs, or IT development.

Battery technology has kept up with usage. However, battery size in relation to the power draw, has not.

Compare the size of the back cover on your phone, with the size of the battery. Why is the battery this tiny little 2" square, when the phone is 5" tall and 2.5" wide? Why aren't batteries the same height/width as the phone? Why isn't the battery the same size as the back cover? Why aren't phone manufacturers optimising the size of the battery (meaning, making it as big as possible)?

It would be so nice if phone manufacturers would stop with this stupid "race to the thinnest" crap, and started:
- releasing phones that are actually comfortable to hold like a phone
- releasing phones with batteries larger than a pack of matches

your battery dies faster when it's cold outside.

Actually, keeping a battery cool makes it last longer, not drain faster.
 

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  • 3
    The thing is, that battery consumption should be minimal AS LONG AS it doesn't make our devices unusable. So - unlike some people - I'm not willing to disable EVERYTHING to gain 3 more hours of usage.

    I have an HD2.. with a regular 1230mAh battery.

    I use android alarms all the time so I keep TypoClock on my homescreen all the time. I also use the calendar and tasks.. so I have pure calendar on. I have 10 icons of my most used apps (along with the lower shortcut bar in launcher pro) and I read tons of RSS articles so I have Scrollable News Widget (which is AMAZING, btw).

    What I am doing, is maximize battery life in a different way.
    I use Tasker to do most of the job for me. I have like 20 profiles..

    I can also assure you that putting on a black theme instead of white one will NOT help your battery life. It will kill it. The lighting - as far as I know - has nothing to do with the color of your background. A white background will only help you see better since you need less light to see things since it returns most of it. A black background will swallow more light and you will have to use higher brightness.

    I'll try to algorithm-ize everything (this is NOT what I use in tasker.. it's only a logical array of what's actually going on).

    1. Data
    Code:
    If "WiFi Available" And Not "Dead Hours" Then
         Enable "WiFi" & Disable "Mobile Data"
    Else
         If "Mobile Data" is Required Then
              If Not "Signal Strength" = Very Low
                   Enable "Mobile Data"
              End If
         Else
              While "Dead Hours"
                   Disable "Mobile Data"
                   Disable "WiFi"
         End If
    End If

    2. Bluetooth
    Code:
    If "Bluetooth" is Required Then
         Enable "Bluetooth"
    Else
         Disable "Bluetooth"
    End If

    3. GPS
    Code:
    If "Relevant Applications" = Running Then
         "GPS" = On
    Else
         "GPS" = Off
    End If

    4. Brightness
    Code:
    If "Alarm" = On Then
         "Screen Brightness" = 10
    Else If "Relevant Applications" = Running Then
         "Screen Brightness" = Auto
    Else
         Use "Brightness Motion Pro" (for fast manual control)
    End If

    5.Auto-Sync
    Code:
    While "Dead Hours"
         Disable Auto-Sync

    6. USE A WATCH! How many times a day do you turn your display on to look at the time? You're not only waking up the screen. You're interrupting sleep mode.

    7. Data sync. I will not get into it too much as every person uses a different set of applications. The idea is, that you need to learn what's important to you and at what frequency and set the polling interval to as low as possible or to not at all.
    For instance, I poll my work mail every 15 mins instead of using push and it's a battery saver.

    8. Use "Current Widget". You will learn how to act accordingly.

    9. If you're not a market addict, use wifi only for updates. Using mobile data for downloads is MUCH worse a battery eater than downloading thru wifi.

    10. Use MORE apps which SHORTEN your usage - LESS apps which you do not use.
    When you spend more time with your display on (which is, of course, the WORST battery killer) you will need to recharge more. I use Homescreen Icons, Launcher Pro's shortcut bar and "Wave Launcher" to minimize the need to look for apps in my drawer and I use SwipePad to call my favs instead of having to look for them in my contacts app. I also use Delayed Lock so that I don't have to unlock my phone every time when i'm in a familiar place. Idle apps will hardly consume battery - and these apps are 99% idle.

    Some apps which you're not using might require background sync/whatever...

    11. Minimize SD Card usage.
    You don't have to stop listening to music if that's your thing. What you CAN do, is move as less apps as possible to your sdcard. SD access consumes more battery (if i'm not mistaken) than nand access.

    12. Disable as many "less important (to you) features" as possible, in settings.
    Disabling haptic feedback and other vibration-using features will help a lot. Disabling animations.. will help less, but still help.

    13. Volume
    Lowering the Volume of ringtones and notifications in quieter places will consume less battery. For instance - I use:

    Code:
    While "Location" = "Home" || "GF's Place" || ...
         If Not "Alarm Volume" Then
              "Volume" = 30%-

    14. Last thing. Some of you probably turn it on to see if something has changed in the last 22 seconds (IT DIDN'T!) or to click the app drawer, roll thru the apps, and turn the screen off again. Stop that. It's stupid. It doesn't even have anything to do with your battery life.. it's stupid regardless of that :)

    You're invited to pm me if you want some help with setting up tasker.

    cheers.
    2
    An application is a single, whole program package that is loaded into the phone. Examples would be Tapatalk, the default Calculator, and Angry Birds.

    An application can have one or more widgets in it -- a widget is an interactive thing you can place on the home screen. It can give you information, and you can tap on it to change what it says. A good example of that would be Beautiful Widgets, or the little Android guy that tells you about how to use your new phone.

    Sent from my Wildfire S
    2
    I've taken similar measures and have been able to go 11 DAYS on a single charge at one time, now averaging about 6-7 days per charge.

    http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1305130

    The important thing is to get the idle battery use down (< 1%/hr idle), and let important notifications through (using SMS is more efficient than keeping a 3G connection active.
    2
    Completely agree. What's the point. Either you don't use your phone for ANYTHING, and watch the battery last for 2 weeks (literally), or you use it so heavily that it lasts only 2 hours....

    I was sick recently, and as such couldn't use my phone (I couldn't open my eyes without getting dizzy, and even closed.... still was). Suddenly my HTC Inspire 4G used only 20% of the battery in 10 hours. The previous day, heavy mail, "friendstream" (HTC's facebook/twitter/etc app/widget), listening to music (well, audiobooks) for about 8 hours, and I had only 20% left. And i've found that overclocking the phone to 1.3GHz helps more than any other tweak.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm obsessive about using my phone *and* getting awesome battery life out of it. But the ONLY way to true "maximize" your battery life is to *minimize* your usage. But then you might as well buy a feature phone.

    And I know a few people with iPhones. a 3GS and a 4 and a 4S. They don't get any better battery life than I do. Heck, they get worse. Even under the same type of usage.

    For me, the problem isn't the usage, isn't what's running, or what's loaded (but it does help/hurt). The problem is that battery technology has NOT kept up with consumer needs, or IT development. Your battery is dying as soon as it leaves the factory. Your battery is dying every time you change it. Especially when it gets hot. your battery dies faster when it's cold outside. We need better energy storage medium. Period.
    1
    Thank you for the info on Slide Screen Pro (I found only it's homepage. Can't find it on the market though). I'll make sure to check it out since I believe it's the thing I would love to use + save up BL. It's funny that this app actually reminds me on the homescreen of my old HP iPaq 100 series with Windows Mobile 6.0 :)

    Edit: Unfortunately Slide Screen Pro has somehow stopped developing that's why it's not on the market anymore :/. Thanks anyways ^_^

    yea, the apk is there though, is it still useful?

    Code:
    http://larvalabs.com/blog/android/the-end-of-slidescreen/