Extending Battery Life

[neilselden]

Hi,

I really like my smartphone.  But out of the box, it consumed too much battery when idle.  No matter what I did during the day, I was charging the phone every night.  I started to miss my really old plain old cellphone - the battery lasted for days!

So here are a couple of tips to improve your battery life:

1. If you are technically savvy, root your phone.  This gives you a lot of control over what happens
2. Installl Green Power (available at Google Play).
   1. It requires root access to turn data on/off
   2. Use really long times in between sync and turning data and WiFi on/off
3. Install the 3C Toolbox (requires a rooted phone)
   1. Use the battery monitor to see exactly what is draining your battery
      1. Hint: It's usually Google Play Services.
   2. Then find ways to stop those battery draining services
      1. You'll need a rooted phone
      2. Install DisableService and use it to disable the battery services you identified using the 3c Toolbox

Now I can at least two days without charging.  Unless I watch videos or surf the web for a long time.  The screen really eats your battery quickly.

Have fun (and be very careful once you root),

Neil

[Korth]

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@computergeek541 wrote:

Phone manufacturers could also care less at how much data or how continuously someone uses data. Such notification about data usage are there to protect the usage from extreme data usages amounts and charges, or at the very least, to help make people aware that they've nearly used up all their data.  These notifications settings can be altered or disabled.

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Device manufacturers don't really care much about data usage unless it impacts specs.

But Google cares a lot (and so do Apple and Microsoft) - they want to know their customers intimately - it's how they make a lot of money. Manufacturers who want to use this lucrative branding are forced to install annoying mechanisms into their products. I suspect low-/mid-end Android phones get hit hardest, the high-end Androids (and iPhones) already have strong enough branding to sell without sucking up to Google. 

Invasive notifications cannot be altered or disabled, at least not for long, they persist or they always return. The settings which normally control the behaviours of these apps are not present, greyed out, or ignored (do nothing). Choices boil down to live with the stupid annoyance, deliberately or inadvertently click it and let it do whatever Google wants, or root/mod the device to gain full user control.

App Permission Management jumped into my face constantly. Couldn't dismiss or close, could only hide (with "remind me again in a few minutes" locked on the greyed out checkmark) or click "OK, turn off App Permission Management" . Because other apps (actually, all the apps) need all sorts of permissions some users (like me) find disagreeable - Calculator, for example, wanted full access to read and write to SD, access contacts, access calendar, access camera, access microphone, access network, access location - and I wish I was making this up.

Similar story with the "Background Data Restricted" notification... always stealing focus and jumping into your face, click to turn the annoyance off or click to send it away for a short time, no other options. And "Google Survey", I ain't gonna do your rotten survey, ever, so just go away stay away. I already know "Network Data is OFF and Wifi Internet is OFF", I turn them off when I'm not using them, I don't want them turning themselves on every time I don't intercept (manually reject) the random notification. "Google Voice is OFF" (along with Google Voice input, etc) because I have no intention of ever talking to my phone unless I'm running s Record app or there's somebody on the other end of a phone call, but Google would rather keep it turned on in case I somehow disabled all nine of those buried Settings and Permissions by accident, the notification is there to help. 

This sort of stuff is poor UI design. Awful UI design. It spans several manufacturers and it's version eight or nine or ten now, all the old problems already have old solutions and a UI can only be made so badly because of very deliberate choices. 

Try out some cheap generic Google-bragging Androids (like $100-$200 RCA or SKY phones) for yourself... if you get stuck using one for a month or so then you'll appreciate the truth of my mini-rant, lol. 

[cellphoneuser1]

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@kerago wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for the tips!

What phone are you using? Not all phone were born equal so I guess some phones will have better battery life than others.

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More powerful phones tend to have worse battery life but most important thing is usually the amount of screen time. That uses more battery than anything else.

[kerago]

Hi,

Thanks for the tips!

What phone are you using? Not all phone were born equal so I guess some phones will have better battery life than others.

I was a long time Samsung user but last Christmas I switched to a Huawei P20 and I must say battery like is incredible!

If things won't get too rocky between USA to China I am sure my next phone will be Huawei again.

Cheers!

[computergeek541]

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@Korth wrote:

Phones are beginning to restrict user options to restrict continuous networking.

Or thry nag the user to death with notifications which can't be dismissed and just won't go away. 

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Maybe not as much as before with some carrier experimenting with "unlimited" data, but carriers would like nothing more than for user to use more data. Even with these "unlimited"  packages, using more data and at a faster rate is to the carrier's advantage because it means that the user is more likely to buy an add-on package to get back to full speed.  Phone manufacturers could also care less at how much data or how continuously someone uses data. Such notification about data usage are there to protect the usage from extreme data usages amounts and charges, or at the very least, to help make people aware that they've nearly used up all their data.  These notifications settings can be altered or disabled.

[Korth]

Phones are beginning to restrict user options to restrict continuous networking.

Or thry nag the user to death with notifications which can't be dismissed and just won't go away. 

[skrdan]

Unfortunately, I require wi-fi on at home. Since I've only taken 1GB data plan,when I'm at home, it switches to my unlimited wi-fi plan for t.v. watching. All my phone calls are on wi-fi.  I've been doing this for years,reserving my data.  At one time @3 yrs ago...for 7 years I watched "television" on my HTC 4.7 inch  cell phone screen until my sister pressured me to buy a t.v.

If you really observe data plans - almost everywhere there is free wi-fi...so you really need less Data plan.  Just make sure you have your security protocols up to date on your phone and YES RESTRICT background data.

[GR]

@skrdan  must be better service so the phone operates on less energy cause the tower is closer!  

[skrdan]

Since switching from FIDO to PM,I've noticed that my battery on my Samsung S5 Galaxy has improved and I can go 3 days on standby which I couldn't before.  At most,I can go a whole day,i.e.:@18 hours without charging.

Everything is so much Better with PM!!!

Thanks P.M.

[srlawren]

@CecicliaGarcia regarding quitting background software:  if it's software you use regularly, you are actually usually better to leave it running than to continuously open-use-kill, open-use-kill, etc.  It often takes more power to load the app from scratch than it does to keep it idle in the background.

[CecicliaGarcia]

Actually, increasing battery life for Android Phone is not such a difficult thing as you think. To make your device run for a longer time, you only need to adjust some settings of your device like reducing the brightness of screen, disabling wireless network, quitting background software and so on.

[EmilyBaker]

There is some tips that could save the battery life for your reference:

1) Use Low Power Mode

2) Restrict Unimportant Notifications

3) Turn off Wi-fi if You Don't Need It

4) Do not Activate Location Service

5) Lower Screen Brightness

6) Limit Background Refresh for Applications

7) Tighten Up Auto-Lock the shortest period for your device, namely 30 seconds.

[Aleks24]

Your list is missing disabling some services that aren't needed most of the day and consume power.  In the order from worst:

1. Sync.  Eats battery power like a pig!

2. Bluetooth - disable when not using headphones/speakers.

3. Location

4. Screen rotation

The best thing is to leave only services really needed active, like Wi-Fi, to avoid data use and make sure to be connected when possible.

Not to mention the screen brightness.  I keep mine always at the minimum and increase only when needed.  Also, when you aren't looking at the screen, turn it off.

[Korth]

lol and most people say I talk too much 

[zhadj030]

@Korth this is definitely one of the best posts I ever read in this community, very calm, and educated. I agree with you 300%. Thank you for taking the time to write all of this useful informations. Usually You would be reading 5 hours on the internet to know all of those and you just put it in these small defined paragraphes. BIG THANK YOU for the amazing effort

[Korth]

A lot of consumers are misled by brand and marketing hype.  But in the end all rechargeable lithium batteries are based off the same chemistry and the same mechanisms.  Wikipedia's articles about Lithium-polymer batteries (the kind built into every mobile device these days) and Lithium-ion batteries (the older, bulkier, cheaper, less powerful, and less safe kind).

There's a lot of conflicting advice about the best way to care for your battery and preserve maximum useful life.  The general consensus from battery manufacturers and battery engineers is 1) always always follow the manufacturer's recommendations (especially when you need to "condition" a new battery), 2) avoid letting your battery ever discharge completely ("into the red"), 3) avoid partial-charging sessions and instead always let it keep charging until it reaches "100%" full capacity.  Many people also add 4) avoid simultaneously charging and discharging the battery, especially when it starts getting hot.  I add 5) always store the battery in a partially-charged state (between 50% and 75% or so) if it won't be used for long periods of time.

These batteries don't (normally) suddenly flatline forever, they slide down an exponential performance curve and suffer from gradually diminishing charge and discharge capacities as they age and the electrical potency of their internal chemistries erode.  Apple states that their iPhone batteries will last through two years of "average" use, and this is consistent with a battery holding only 80% of it's initial maximum capacity (Apple's "low-power mode" threshold) after about 400-500 full charging cycles.  This is also consistent with most Android smartphones, their batteries will generally work for over two years before needing replacement.  (And yes, you can keep using the same old battery for 5 years or longer, with an exponentially-decreasing ratio of happy phone uptime vs frustrating charger downtime.)

All Li-poly and most Li-ion batteries also contain internal regulator circuits and a charging "chip" which is smart enough to safely "maintain" the battery and share battery metrics (like current charge, max charge, total charge cycles, etc) with the charging circuitry built into the powered device.  Software (like iCopyBot) can log and report these battery metrics to the user, a good thing to check whenever buying a used phone.

If you're in a rush to charge your phone then turn "Airplane mode" ON and keep the display OFF for the duration, it will reduce your charge time significantly.

I agree with @zhadj030's advice about rooting the device, uninstalling useless bloatware and killing useless running apps.  Although the specific instructions and apps provided above won't work on every device, interested rooters will usually have to do some google.

But many people are apprehensive about rooting their devices, usually because they fear voiding a warranty or they just don't want to "break" anything.  They can still install any one of many excellent (and free) Process Manager or Task Killer apps to gain some control over their phones (letting the phones run as fast, stable, and long as possible).  I use ES Task Manager (along with ES File Explorer), it's simple and has always worked perfectly for me so I haven't seriously tried any of the many alternatives.

[zhadj030]

@neilselden Thanks for the topic it seems very promising. 

I totally agree that having a rooted phone does indeed help a lot

I would like to add that if you receive 1-2 bars only (lets say at home) change your connection mode to WCMDA instead of LTE as it seems to "swallow" your battery's % by a huge difference. 

I will try a couple of the advices that you posted since I don't know a couple of those and hopefully I should see some difference. 

Lastly (long live smartphones with removable batteries) as it seems My Galaxy S5 needs a charging case and maybe a new battery (just for backup ) 

Big bravo for the post.

Thanks