Solved: Android System eating battery

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vanButton

Senior Member
Mar 4, 2012
57
14
Dumbarton
So, I've seen quite a few posts now about Android System eating way more battery than it should, and I'd noticed the same thing on my phone since day 1. I tried turning features and settings on and off, disabling apps etc etc all to no avail, but I've finally cracked it :D

Format your external SD card via the phone settings, and use Kies to re-sync your content. Mine was originally formatted as FAT32 and I'd dragged and dropped the music and photos onto it via my computer. I don't quite understand the mechanism responsible, but this seems to be the source of my phone's unusual battery drain. Android System battery utilisation has dropped markedly, and battery life is greatly extended. I noticed the media scanner working for a few hours after I initially inserted the SD card, however after formatting and reloading via Kies the media scanner didn't run, yet all the content shows up where it should. I can only guess that some process responsible for indexing the media was running amok? Either way it's now able to sit in flight mode overnight without dropping a single %, whereas previously it'd drop at least 6%. In active use the display now always sits at the top of the battery use table rather than Android System, usually by a large margin :victory:
 
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thegame2388

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2010
380
18
So, I've seen quite a few posts now about Android System eating way more battery than it should, and I'd noticed the same thing on my phone since day 1. I tried turning features and settings on and off, disabling apps etc etc all to no avail, but I've finally cracked it :D

Format your external SD card via the phone settings, and use Kies to re-sync your content. Mine was originally formatted as FAT32 and I'd dragged and dropped the music and photos onto it via my computer. I don't quite understand the mechanism responsible, but this seems to be the source of my phone's unusual battery drain. Android System battery utilisation has dropped markedly, and battery life is greatly extended. I noticed the media scanner working for a few hours after I initially inserted the SD card, however after formatting and reloading via Kies the media scanner didn't run, yet all the content shows up where it should. I can only guess that some process responsible for indexing the media was running amok? Either way it's now able to sit in flight mode overnight without dropping a single %, whereas previously it'd drop at least 6%. In active use the display now always sits at the top of the battery use table rather than Android System, usually by a large margin :victory:

What if we don't have an external SD card?
 

JoeFCaputo113

Senior Member
Feb 2, 2013
6,613
2,850
New York
So, I've seen quite a few posts now about Android System eating way more battery than it should, and I'd noticed the same thing on my phone since day 1. I tried turning features and settings on and off, disabling apps etc etc all to no avail, but I've finally cracked it :D

Format your external SD card via the phone settings, and use Kies to re-sync your content. Mine was originally formatted as FAT32 and I'd dragged and dropped the music and photos onto it via my computer. I don't quite understand the mechanism responsible, but this seems to be the source of my phone's unusual battery drain. Android System battery utilisation has dropped markedly, and battery life is greatly extended. I noticed the media scanner working for a few hours after I initially inserted the SD card, however after formatting and reloading via Kies the media scanner didn't run, yet all the content shows up where it should. I can only guess that some process responsible for indexing the media was running amok? Either way it's now able to sit in flight mode overnight without dropping a single %, whereas previously it'd drop at least 6%. In active use the display now always sits at the top of the battery use table rather than Android System, usually by a large margin :victory:

So what should we format the memory card to? Fat32 still?
 

vanButton

Senior Member
Mar 4, 2012
57
14
Dumbarton
Interesting. And what's your battery like now?

Much, much better. Oddly the Gallery app now shows more album artwork that was always located on the external SD card, but obviously was not being properly indexed. So far today I've got 3.5 hours of screen-on time and still have 58% battery capacity. Previously it'd have been that low with no screen time.
 

JoeFCaputo113

Senior Member
Feb 2, 2013
6,613
2,850
New York
Much, much better. Oddly the Gallery app now shows more album artwork that was always located on the external SD card, but obviously was not being properly indexed. So far today I've got 3.5 hours of screen-on time and still have 58% battery capacity. Previously it'd have been that low with no screen time.

Couple more questions thn I'll stop annoying you :silly:

1. What's your Android System vs Screen now in terms of usage of the battery (% wise). And how was it before you did this little trick?
2. How should I go about putting everything back onto my SD Card (backups, pics. apps, etc.)? I've never used Kies before so I have no idea what to do lol.
3. All you did was go to settings, then storage and hit format sd card, correct?
 

vanButton

Senior Member
Mar 4, 2012
57
14
Dumbarton
Couple more questions thn I'll stop annoying you :silly:

1. What's your Android System vs Screen now in terms of usage of the battery (% wise). And how was it before you did this little trick?
2. How should I go about putting everything back onto my SD Card (backups, pics. apps, etc.)? I've never used Kies before so I have no idea what to do lol.
3. All you did was go to settings, then storage and hit format sd card, correct?

You're not annoying me, honest, that's why I shared my results here ;P

1: Android System is currently 13%, screen is 29%. Previously Android System would be over 30% no matter what and often much higher if I didn't use the phone much that day.

2: Copy everything off your SD card onto your computer using whichever method you currently use. In Kies there's a file browser icon that lets you browse the contents of your phone, as well as copy things to and from it. You don't have to use the automated sync tools in Kies, you can simply drag and drop using the Kies browser.

3: Yup, that is correct. Not sure if it's maybe formatted using exFAT now, but I believe that's Android's preferred format these days.
 
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atg284

Senior Member
Nov 26, 2012
422
109
I think I formatted my new SD card when I put it in the phone but not sure.

Is there any way to check and see what the card is formatted to? exFAT? Fat32? It was a brand new Samsung card.

I'm not really seeing bad battery life at all just curious.
 

JoeFCaputo113

Senior Member
Feb 2, 2013
6,613
2,850
New York
You're not annoying me, honest, that's why I shared my results here ;P

1: Android System is currently 13%, screen is 29%. Previously Android System would be over 30% no matter what and often much higher if I didn't use the phone much that day.

2: Copy everything off your SD card onto your computer using whichever method you currently use. In Kies there's a file browser icon that lets you browse the contents of your phone, as well as copy things to and from it. You don't have to use the automated sync tools in Kies, you can simply drag and drop using the Kies browser.

3: Yup, that is correct. Not sure if it's maybe formatted using exFAT now, but I believe that's Android's preferred format these days.

So when I re copy everything to my phone... Can I put it on my SD card again or should I place it in the internal storage? (using kies as you stated) thanks a lot buddy :)

Sent from a Galaxy 5 light years away
 

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    So, I've seen quite a few posts now about Android System eating way more battery than it should, and I'd noticed the same thing on my phone since day 1. I tried turning features and settings on and off, disabling apps etc etc all to no avail, but I've finally cracked it :D

    Format your external SD card via the phone settings, and use Kies to re-sync your content. Mine was originally formatted as FAT32 and I'd dragged and dropped the music and photos onto it via my computer. I don't quite understand the mechanism responsible, but this seems to be the source of my phone's unusual battery drain. Android System battery utilisation has dropped markedly, and battery life is greatly extended. I noticed the media scanner working for a few hours after I initially inserted the SD card, however after formatting and reloading via Kies the media scanner didn't run, yet all the content shows up where it should. I can only guess that some process responsible for indexing the media was running amok? Either way it's now able to sit in flight mode overnight without dropping a single %, whereas previously it'd drop at least 6%. In active use the display now always sits at the top of the battery use table rather than Android System, usually by a large margin :victory:
    1
    What if we don't have an external SD card?

    Then this isn't what's causing your issue.
    1
    Couple more questions thn I'll stop annoying you :silly:

    1. What's your Android System vs Screen now in terms of usage of the battery (% wise). And how was it before you did this little trick?
    2. How should I go about putting everything back onto my SD Card (backups, pics. apps, etc.)? I've never used Kies before so I have no idea what to do lol.
    3. All you did was go to settings, then storage and hit format sd card, correct?

    You're not annoying me, honest, that's why I shared my results here ;P

    1: Android System is currently 13%, screen is 29%. Previously Android System would be over 30% no matter what and often much higher if I didn't use the phone much that day.

    2: Copy everything off your SD card onto your computer using whichever method you currently use. In Kies there's a file browser icon that lets you browse the contents of your phone, as well as copy things to and from it. You don't have to use the automated sync tools in Kies, you can simply drag and drop using the Kies browser.

    3: Yup, that is correct. Not sure if it's maybe formatted using exFAT now, but I believe that's Android's preferred format these days.
    1
    Dumb. Not related to battery drain

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