[GUIDE] Using Apps Ops (or Privacy Guard) 4 blocking wakelocks & saving battery

Before I begin note for:
Everyone:
I am making this thread as much as noob friendly. So if anyone doesn't understand any term or anything please let me know through posting here or PM me.

Moderators:
This is my first guide. I tried to follow all the rules if my thread is breaking any rules please let me know so I can make appropriate changes.
If the thread is in wrong section please move it.

This guide is only for:
- Android 4.3 and above which has app ops (privacy guard)

App Ops (or privacy guard) can be used for:
- denying specific permission to a certain app
-checking which apps are kepping your phone awake and which apps are the one using resources like location, personal stuff, etc ( only if your app ops or privacy guard has " advance" option. watch video to know what it is.)
- preventing app from causing wakelock
-overall it can be sort of used like wakelock blocker, battery saver app ( because of its feature to block wakelock) and noob friendly way of determining apps that causes wakelocks.


Usefull Links
using BBS to find cause of your battery drain. short video on that here
How to prevent & handle wakelocks & save battery life[GUIDE]
COMPLETE GUIDE for BATTERY SAVING on AOKP,AOSP,CM, SAMMY ROMs

Video on How to prevent wakelock using privacy guard (app ops) and prevent battery drain by a particular app.



Another small video with little different content

Power Point Presentation
for those who are not able to understand my accent or usually have trouble with spoken english. or just are not in mood for wasting data on youtube video. here is the power point presentation. I was not able to upload here on xda so i have used google drive.
PPT on Using App Ops( privacy guard) to its full potential (includes saving battery)
(Best viewed on laptops, computer or mobile devices with bigger screen)




I was a little late (actually lot late) to use app ops
It was recently that I started using app ops (now mostly know as privacy guard)
Not only can it be used for privacy purposes but it can also be used as battery saving app or wakelock blocker.
Different Roms have a little different app ops( privacy guard) some provides user advance options some don’t. Some even has little extra option and sort of interactive mode like xprivacy. (like temasek’s ROM which I use)

I am made this video with temasek’s ROM which is my favorite ROM.

Reserved

aavvaallooss said:

Waiting for PowerPoint because my understanding of spoken english is (very) limited.

Thank you!

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Will be soon just waiting for one or two days. I have asked for some screenshots on various threads of different ROMs. So that it will make a better presentation and comparison of different options in different ROMs. If i don't get enough screenshots in two days then i will myself download and flash some ROMs.

C114 said:

When i launch App Ops Starter it crushes saying 'settings has stopped'

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I faced same problem once. Don't remember now when and why as ut was long time back. I think it might have something to do with your ROM. If you are using xposed framework try using "app ops" module. I will try to recreate this error when i flash different ROM (Which is at least once a week) if i am able to replicate this error i will let you know why and what caused it.
I flashed one ROM over another after wiping just cache, dalvik and system which lead to same error message except it was when i tried to access "developer option"
So did you change your ROM recently without full wipe or procedure as mentioned in your ROM's thread?

KnifeHead said:

How's for S4 I9500?
Anyone know where to find this option, or how to unhide it?

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If you are using xposed. Try "app ops" module . uf there is app ops hidden on your device it will unhide it. But from some stock ROMs it has been completely removed. And in some custom ROMs developers might have limited its use(functionality).
Try asking in the thread of ROM that you are currently on. You will known for sure from there where the app ops is on your ROM.

C114 said:

App Ops module for xposed does not work as well. Same problem. Im on 4.4.2 Google Edition. I have Samsung s4. Flashed current rom with full wipe as it stated in instruction. Cheers

Send from my C3350 using Tapatalk.

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you can give this app a try.
found one article here some text from that is below:
Users of Galaxy S4 Google Play edition handsets have started receiving Android 4.2.2 over-the-air update notifications just a day after the same update was rolled out to Play editions of LG G Pad 8.3 and HTC One.

Android 4.4.2 not only brings in new features and bug fixes, but also removes App Ops from the OS which Google claims was mistakenly tagged along with the Android 4.3 update. The Apps Ops allowed users to control how much access can third party apps have on their personal data.


the app for which i have given you the link installs some customized version of app ops. not sure whether it will work on your phone or not.

setspeed said:

Can someone confirm for me what some of the permissions are actually for?

Wi-Fi change
Data change
Bluetooth change

Also, if I allow an app 'Wake up', but not 'Keep awake' - could the app keep waking the phone in an attempt to gain the wakelock which it is being denied?

'Keep awake' only applies if the screen is off, correct?
If I deny 'Keep awake' then an app won't close down while I'm using it, but it could be put into hibernation (don't know the correct term) by Android while it's in the middle of a background task? Like a radio app could just close, or a browser which is downloading something could just terminate the download before it's completed?

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wake up means : if device is in standby mode then that app can wake up your phone from sleep. like Facebook app when you recieve some notification it wakes up your phone to show notification.
keep awake means: while your phone is in use. if you are using some app and it is performing some operation and your phone screen times out and display switched off. after a while your phone will go in deep sleep. this permission will prevent it from going in deep sleep mode and keep phone awake. for example if you are downloading something via some download manager. and you have denied that download manager "keep awake" permission. so after you screen times out and there is no other app or process that is keeping your phone awake. this download manager will not be able to keep your phone awake. so download will stop .

so you need to use these permissions carefully. make sure you don't deny some app permission which is essential for its normal function.

you can deny Facebook both these wakelocks if you don't care about getting facebook notification all the time

Wifi Change and Data change is normally shown in apps that uses data. and also have options like sync or download only on wifi or only on mobile data. it is essential for that app to determine the change. so that it can act according to its settings.

For Bluetooth change you need to tell me for which app you are talking about? maybe some automatic profiles app like llama, tasker, etc they need this permission as there are profiles or conditions like switch on Bluetooth when in this area or if connected to this Bluetooth device do this

few people denied "settings" wake up and keep awake permission and they screwed up their phone. they had to reflash the entire ROM . they reported no touch, device not waking up from deep sleep. etc.
so just be extra careful when you are experimenting with system apps.

C114 said:

On play store it says 'item not found'.
Thanks for your help.

Send from my C3350 using Tapatalk.

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Search play store for App ops
there are plenty of apps that unhide App ops and some also flash App Ops files .
Also can you give me the link to thread of your current ROM.

C114 said:

Link to the ROM
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2557353

I think i found the solution with this app
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.findsdk.apppermission

Send from my C3350 using Tapatalk.

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if thats working for you then great.

BTW your ROM does have app ops
below quote is from your ROM chnagelog 02/18/2014.

Enabled app ops in Settings > Security, Take total control of the permissions apps are granted when you install them from google play, VERY useful if you are concerned about privacy or you just don't want some misc app seeing your SMS's or having network permissions

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aavvaallooss said:

Waiting for PowerPoint because my understanding of spoken english is (very) limited.

Thank you!

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PPT uploaded