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Hello all,
I got frustrated with the unrealistic 10% step battery reporting and unknown battery eaters so below are the steps I've taken. Scroll down to skip the initial stats.
First you should study http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=27927999 and use the tips given there. I will focus on more internal stuff that is in part specific to RAZR. This guide is for you if you see high battery usage of "Android OS".
Suggested apps:
- Circle Battery - free - it will report the real battery percentage as well as battery temperature. The higher the temperature the slower the phone will charge
- BetterBatteryStats - paid on the Market or free here on XDA
Measuring:
I would suggest to do measure any improvements during idle usage. It's a lot easier to track down the hungry settings.
Also, you should fully charge your phone between measurements so the battery stats get reset. There are also other ways to do it.
Establish the baseline usage of your phone with the current setup. You can assume a linear battery run down so you can extrapolate from the REAL 20% of battery usage that your phone will last 5 times more.
Go to Settings=>Battery and write down which apps used most of the battery.
If screen and cell standby are the biggest ones then you are mostly ok: cell switching for 2G->3G->4G switching is eating a lot of battery.
You can either: use WiFi for data (if available and has a good signal) or disable data altogether while in the problematic area. You can also disable high-speed connections and remain on 2G.
If Android OS is eating the most then write down the stats and read on.
Remove ALL the widgets on the home screen. Measure battery usage again as above. If still not satisfied, keep widgets removed and read on.
Go into Settings=>Accounts and disable unneeded syncing of accounts. You can manually sync your Drive app for example or the Books. For example, I have left only Browser, Calendar, Contacts, Chrome for my google account.
Set your email checking frequency to 1 hour for all email accounts, don't use push.
Measure and move on if not satisfied.
Open BetterBatteryStats and set the second drop-down as 'Since Unplugged'.
Select "Partial Wakelocks" from the first combo and study the output. It will tell you which apps are waking up the phone.
Select "Alarms" from first combo and study which apps are periodically waking up the phone to process data. Mostly email, calendar, facebook, but you might have a few surprises. Clicking on an alarm will show how many times the application has woken up the phone and how long it kept it up. There is a lot more information here on the forums about BBS usage so do a search.
Some other thing: high data usage would most like mean high CPU and battery usage. A friend with SGS noted that the News&Weather app ate 300MB of data in two days. While transferring, the phone is most likely not idle. You can check data usage in Settings=>Data Usage. From the options menu you can also enable the WiFi statistics and check those as well.
Hopefully by now you have identified what's keeping eating your battery so let's see the:
Actions
Is the app needed? If not, just disable it through Manage Apps=>App Info=>Disable
Does the app really need the data connection? If not, go to the data settings, set a limit to the data plan and you are able to disable background data for some apps.
Find battery-friendly alternatives for applications and widgets.
Use Tasker to set profiles. For example I'm automatically opening up the WiFi while near one of my home GSM Cells. This uses minimal battery as opposed to a GPS positioning. I'm disabling all data connections during night time, also good for sanity.
There's a lot more info about Tasker and building profiles on the Internet.
You can also use the built-in Smart Actions app, but it's not so flexible.
Increase the WiFi search delay from 45s to 90s or more.
[TODO: more measures]
Recommendations
On my phone MotoEmail was eating a lot of battery, even more while set as a widget on the home screen. I've replaced it with 'Inverted Mail', it's the stock ICS Google Email app with inverted colors. To replace it you have to use Root Explorer (or similar), set the /system as r/w and rename /system/app MotoEmail.apk to *.bak, copy the inverted app as MotoEmail.apk and install it. You will lose some options such as gestures, widget style and probably more.
Put a leash on location-aware apps like Latitude and Social Location, they will send a lot of work to Google Maps.
Use darker themes and low brightness for improved screen-on life.
Check live wallpaper CPU usage by enabling the checkbox inside the developer settings.
Give up your microSD card if you can live with 16GB.
Disable touch sounds and haptic feedback.
Disable automatic market update checking and notifications. Still at notifications, disable the notifications you don't really need.
Watch out for maps that automatically update graphically. Google maps live background or widget is nice but it kills the battery and performance.
Other stuff
There are also a lot of other options but I have not been able to confirm them on myr Razr since I have only had it since last week. These include underclocking, raising minimum CPU speed (worked on my other phones), using different colors for background and theme, disabling some logs, modifying buffer sync time, boot scripts etc.
Feel free to add to this thread by listing your changes that improved battery life.
TL;DR
Install Circle Battery Widget and BetterBatteryStats
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=27927999
Gesendet von meinem XT910 mit Tapatalk 2
Thanks, I actually followed that thread but it mostly deals with improving the result not solving the root of the problem.
I would say it's mostly a complement to your thread, except the recommendations which are pretty similar.
I could have added to your thread but the information gets lost quickly if you are not within the first few posts.
Above is only one of the ways in which you can systematically track down battery usage, mostly tailored for an ICS Razr.
Thanks again for your reference, it's very helpful and all owners should read it.
Explanations for varios high-usage services:
com*motoemail*
This is the default email client included by Motorola. I had to replace it with the standard ICS mail client and chose the inverted version:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1634469
I have seen a high improvement since I made the switch and functionality is almost the same.
The Motorola email client is hungry for wakelocks so something is badly coded there. The situation gets even worse if you add the widget to your homescreen.
I'm on the leak so situation might be improved by the OTA.
spi_tty_wakelock
This is actually the data connection (2G/3G/4G) transferring data.
Could be caused by always-online applications (Facebook, Messenger, GTalk) and by network location service.
This name is specific to Motorola.
PowerManagerService
Grouping of partial wakelocks: https://github.com/asksven/BetterBatteryStats-Knowledge-Base/wiki/PowerManagerService
AudioOut
Caused by: phone ringing, audio notifications, haptic/sound feedback for selections and keyboard, listening to radio/music.
usb
Caused by the USB connection, of course.
Tip: by doing a complete dump of the file you can study the running services as well, it's the last section of the file. I'm still trying to make figure out what the all the com.motorola services are doing and what input (data, location, ...) they need.
brainwash123 said:
Explanations for varios high-usage services:
com*motoemail*
This is the default email client included by Motorola. I had to replace it with the standard ICS mail client and chose the inverted version:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1634469
I have seen a high improvement since I made the switch and functionality is almost the same.
The Motorola email client is hungry for wakelocks so something is badly coded there. The situation gets even worse if you add the widget to your homescreen.
I'm on the leak so situation might be improved by the OTA.
spi_tty_wakelock
This is actually the data connection (2G/3G/4G) transferring data.
Could be caused by always-online applications (Facebook, Messenger, GTalk) and by network location service.
This name is specific to Motorola.
PowerManagerService
Grouping of partial wakelocks: https://github.com/asksven/BetterBatteryStats-Knowledge-Base/wiki/PowerManagerService
AudioOut
Caused by: phone ringing, audio notifications, haptic/sound feedback for selections and keyboard, listening to radio/music.
usb
Caused by the USB connection, of course.
Tip: by doing a complete dump of the file you can study the running services as well, it's the last section of the file. I'm still trying to make figure out what the all the com.motorola services are doing and what input (data, location, ...) they need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great tips, a somewhat different approach to increasing battery life.
Can I add this to my thread, get an all in one?
Nice write up. Thanks!
This post is about getting great battery life for the average, every-day user. It is not inclusive or exhaustive, so it will reference other posts. What is talked about is what I did, the user-level stuff, explained in a more user-friendly fashion than some of the more diagnostic-focused posts out there (still invaluable reading, though).
Note: I originally wrote this for the Hyperdrive ROM on GS4 thread, but I've had many requests to break it out into a separate [GUIDE] post and update it here for ease of subscribing and discussing. Also note, that therefore, this should be considered sort of Android 4.2 specific and may not apply to all versions of Android. So, here it is. I'll link the old post to here shortly.
Preface
Okay, I'm writing this because I believe that @sbreen94 @eschelon @iceandfire @Imoseyon @TrevE and @ktoonsez all have done awesome, awesome dev work from which I have benefited. There are SO many other devs, as well. These are some from whom I directly benefit, regularly, daily, or did at one time. If you want a name added to the list, I'll update my post. This post, though, is sort of Hyperdrive specific since @sbreen94 has added a few tweaks that make it SO EASY to address some major offenders of ... sucking the life out of your battery.
Why do I mention this? Because does anyone truly think that a ROM dev or Kernel dev, compiles code, puts it on their device, runs it for days/weeks, validates it with experienced, community testers, and then releases it, all the time thinking, "well, the battery life sucks, but I'm gonna push this out anyways."??? NO! So, then, WHY does every ROM/Kernel thread have post after post, of people saying “Hey, I loaded this ROM and my battery life sucks now.” Do you REALLY think it's the ROM/Kernel?
We also have those that think they have no apps loaded, or “only 3, 4, 5, or whatever number” - so it can't POSSIBLY be an app! If you think that, then do this, Wipe your Dalvic Cache, reboot your phone, and tell me the number of apps it says Android is now optimizing. That is the number of apps you have on your phone, not the number you personally loaded. That means each one of those is a potential culprit for causing battery drain.
BTW – at one time or another, I've probably been guilty of every of the above mindsets. So, I'm not calling YOU out, if YOU are reading this and think that I am. I'm just saying, it's not the ROM, and it's not the Kernel.
Background Reading
The below two threads had everything I needed to know to get started increasing my battery life. I, probably like many reading this, had for a long time followed along, envious of screenshots of people getting those 3, 4, 5+ hours of screen time, and day+ or days of battery. After reading these threads, doing the analysis, and basically just changing some app settings, I can now get the 4-5 hours of screen and full day of battery out of my GS4. Kernel doesn't have much effect, ROM doesn't have much effect, most all of them do what they're designed to do, and do it well. Sweet.
In the next section, Real World Battery Saving, I'll explain what I did, so if you want to skip the background stuff, you can.
These two threads contain basically everything you need to know about improving battery life. They have great details about diagnostics, what's what, etc. What many threads/posts like these sometimes lack, is, the straight-forward answer of “This is what you should do after analyzing x, y, z.” That's what's in the Real World Battery Saving section of this post.
[APP][2.1+][09 Sept. - V1.14] BetterBatteryStats
[GUIDE] Wakelocks Definition and how to prevent them
Read those threads, and do some analysis, and the majority of what I've posted below you'll figure out on your own. If you just wanna jump into fixing things without the above understanding, then just go to the next section. Provided there aren't any seriously misbehaving apps on your phone, you should be able to get great results without becoming a Wakelocks, Alarms, Deep Sleep, etc., expert.
Real World Battery Saving
For those of you that don't want to read too much more about the analysis of apps, etc., to get to better battery life, here's the summary of what's in the section below:
Minimize screen brightness
Disable all Push
Disable all system sounds (Dialing keypad tone, Touch sounds, Screen lock sound, Haptic feedback)
Install Xposed Framework and use:
Greenify Donation (Experimental features)
NLPUnbounce
Greenify any app that you don’t need to notify you of things - Note: If you pay for Greenify Donation and use Xposed, you can still get alerts from any GCM-enabled app (look for the blue GCM icon next to apps in Greenify)
Greenify every Google app (except Voice and Hangouts, both of these may significantly delay or prevent proper message notification, despite being GCM-tagged in Greenify, and they seem to behave okay on their own)
Uninstall GMail (use any other client with IMAP)
Disable all GPS (enable as necessary upon use) Note: I really don't do this anymore. With apps under control with Greenify, I just leave my GPS on and let apps use it when necessary. I have noticed that GPS will stay active during Airplane mode, though, so as not to have my phone dead upon landing, I generally always turn off GPS when in the air.
Disable the autostart of almost everything, at almost any time, on an app-by-app basis. AutoStart Check delivers in spades for this function, at no charge, though, I recommend donating (as I do for all apps here, I have either donated or bought them all, Lux, Greenify, etc.). Note: With Greenify, I no longer worry as much about stopping apps/services from auto-starting. I do still use Xposed plugin BootManager to prevent certain apps from starting, mostly just to increase boot speed (or so I feel like it might). I don't use AutoStart Check at all anymore.
Continuing on with details...
Note: Required app functionality. You don't have to use these if you know another way to do it. But, to accomplish what I recommend, there are 3 key apps you absolutely must have. I'm not going to explain them all in great detail, as there are plenty of other places that go into great depth on all of them. The 3 essential apps that I use to increase battery by more than 50% are:
Lux (Pro - I'll explain why below)
Greenify
Xposed Framework
In general:
You want your phone to sleep when not in use.
You want apps to not be doing anything when you're not using them.
You want your screen to only ever be as bright as it needs to be, no brighter (including, off when you're not looking at it).
Display Brightness
Lux – Get it here Lux Auto Brightness
Thread here: [APP][2.3+] Lux Auto Brightness 1.51
Update: After posting this, and getting a lot of questions/comments that Lux doesn't really rock like I think it does, I checked it out on a phone without using the Pro version. Okay, I agree, the free version really doesn't deliver. It doesn't poll right, and you can't really set your custom lighting scenarios and lock them in correctly without using Lux Pro. Basically, if you want to save tons of battery life without a lot of constant manual intervention, you're going to have to purchase Lux.
Screen uses more battery than anything. You can do all kinds of things to address this, for me, Lux has been a (battery) life saver. It's easy, it reads the ambient light in your environment. Open its dashboard, slide the slider to the brightness that works for you at that lumen level, hold down the link button in the middle, and there you have it, locked in for those conditions. You only have to do this a few times and you now have custom lighting profiles that fit your eyes' needs under all conditions. Note, sometimes, when waking the phone in the sun, you'll have to wait a few second for Lux to activate and bring the screen up bright enough. This means that Lux is behaving extremely well and not constantly running in the background (Wakelocks) sucking up battery.
Applications
For applications, firstly, if you have an app that has Push available, disable it. Nothing keeps your phone from deep sleep like a Push-enabled application. If you can't wait 5/10/15 minutes for updates, then you can't achieve maximum battery life. Sorry, I don't make the rules of Android app-physics, I'm just sharing them with you.
In my mind, I think of applications in categories. I guess, I have 4 now.. I started with 2. Point being, there are different apps that behave differently so you treat them differently with different solutions for extending your battery life.
Category 1 Apps I want running and want notifications from them. When configured properly, they generally do not misbehave and eat my phone's battery
Category 2 Apps that I cannot seem to control, regardless of their settings, but I still want to be able to use, but getting regular or instant updates from them is not that important to me
Category 3 Apps behave without any special settings and without any Greenification. Just load them, run them, use them, don't worry about them. I haven't seen them cause any sort of bad battery drain.
Category 4 Apps are apps you DO think are vital/desirable (to you) but cannot control their battery consumption with mere settings. For those, only the developer can help you, or you have to accept the battery loss that app's notifications bring with it.
Category 1 apps, well-behaved when configured properly, along with the settings I used to make them behave well and still deliver their updates to me.
Corporate E-mail: Built-in e-mail, TW or AOSP. Disable Push for any account, use Priority settings for 15 minute interval on work days. Non-prioirty times set to 1 hour.
Maildroid: For every account, you must do this separately, under Preferences / Advanced – Connection Management, select first account, the rule (usually 1. Default), Connection Management, Wi-Fi: Close connection when I exit mailbox, GPRS, 3G: Close connection when I exit mailbox, Interval to check mail: 10 (or to your liking), Check Mail Periodically. Go back, go back in (confirm settings were kept, I've seen it not keep them and have to do this a few times, per account). Alternatively, select Let device sleep, and it will only check when you wake it up. Go back to Accounts and select your next account, do this again. You must do this for all accounts listed.
Note about all mail client: If you have more than 2 or 3 e-mail accounts, Maildroid and all other IMAP clients I have tried get moved to Category 2. Basically, they start to keep enough Wakelocks that they keep the phone from going into Deep Sleep as much as I'd like. This is a difference of 1-3% per hour at idle, but if you're looking for 4+ hours screen time, then you need to Greenify them and just check e-mail manually.
Viber: Just make sure your Wi-Fi sleep policy is set to device and not constantly on, and Viber seems to behave pretty well as far as messaging apps go, but it's probably going to make the Category 4 list, as well.
WhatsApp: This one appears to work well (better than Viber from a wakeup perspective) and not have any sort of unnecessary battery drain. I generally don't use it any more since I feel they bait-and-switched me from free to fee, but I dethawed it to check it out. If anyone sees problems with it, let me know.
Category 2 Apps. These apps were keeping my phone awake at night with nightmares, and no amount of settings changes seemed to fix the problem altogether. If you have a solution of app settings that would move these to Category 1, please let me know. When I say solution, I mean, you've done the Wakelock and Alarm analysis and they're eliminated or minimized. For these, I Greenify them all. None of these apps' updates are so important to me that I can't just check up on them when I have a moment.
Facebook: I didn't play too much with settings here, but it seems that if FB is running, it's keeping your phone awake. I Greenify it and check it manually. I'd be interested in hearing if someone knows settings that will get it to not wakelock / alarm constantly.
FB Messenger: I love the chat heads and ease of use, but it's a big-time battery offender. I keep it installed and Greenified. If I get messages, I'll see them when I open the FB app, and when I reply, FB Messenger takes over and I use it normally until the conversation is done. At some point, Greenify takes over, and FB Messenger's battery damage is contained.
Google Maps: You can't fix this thing. No amount of settings will stop it from going after your phone. I love its functionality, though, so, unlike many guides that say uninstall it, I say Greenify it.
Google Goggles: A fun one to have around sometimes, but it will also chew up battery. Just Greenify it.
Google Play Store: There are plenty of apps and Android wakeups for the Play Store. I'm not worried about missing an update notification, or whatever else it might be sending my way. Greenifying it seems to have fixed the Google Play Services Alarms issue.
Almost everything else: If it's an app that doesn't need to provide you updates, just Greenify it. Why not? One of the first things I do after loading a new ROM and getting most of the configuration stuff done, is I go into Greenify, and I add every mundane app on my phone, for example: Vonage, Adobe Reader, Airbnb, Angry Birds, APN Manager Pro, Google Authenticator, Barcode Scanner, Citibank, Craigslist, Google Drive, DroidVPN, ES Task Manager, Fast Charge, FasterGPS, Flashlight, GasBuddy, GNotes, GooManager, GPS Status, Hyatt, Lucky Patcher, Office Document Viewer, Office Suite, OpenTable, Opera Classic, PayByPhone, SoundHound, Squeezebox, Street View, etc. My list goes on... You aren't going to lose their functionality, they don't suddenly stop when in use, and you don't have to worry about them ever causing problems you weren't thinking you had to look for.
Category 3 Apps that behave, no special settings, no Greenification
Alarm Clock Xtreme: I don't use the built-in Alarm Clock. I like all the features of Xtreme, it's never failed me, and it doesn't show up in Wakelock/Alarm offenders lists in my analyses.
Google Voice: Of all the Google offenders, this isn't one of them in my experience, and I love its features.
Lux: Nuff said.
WhosCall: A caller-ID type app. I don't love it, but haven't gone looking for something better, that said, it hasn't popped up on my battery draining radar, so that's a plus.
Hangouts: While I don't care for the new Google Talk, it sure doesn't seem to be a battery offender, and I use it to chat regularly.
Category 4 Apps are anything that would have gone into Category 2, but you want them as active as possible.
Line: In Settings, Chats and Voice Calls, I turn off Receive Voice Calls. This made Line tolerable (as in, way better), but it's still a Category 4 until (if ever) its devs reduce its number of wake-up Alarms
Exchange Services: Despite Corporate E-mail being a Category 1 now, Exchange Services is still keeping my phone awake more than I'd like. Nothing I can do here, though, so I live with it.
Viber: As stated, it's not a terrible offender, but it's still on the radar for keeping my phone awake. We'll see what their “any day now” major update brings. (someone remind me to update this post if I haven't post-Viber release)
Have Your Google and Your Battery
The Xposed module NLPUnbounce is awesome. I've given it a nice test, and it seems to perform excellent. NLPUnbounce allows you to use Google services as usual, including Android Device Manager features, like Remote Locate and Remote Wipe, but not do the crazy, crippling and disabling of Google Play Services like many guides have you do. It changes the polling rate of NLP (Network Location Provider) to something VERY reasonable. I haven't modified any of its settings, and it's reduced average idle consumption from ~4-5% to ~2-3%. I tested locating my phone and ringing it, all working.
Automatically Launching Applications
Not so much needed anymore. Just make sure you Greenify. For the "big things", use Xposed BootManager module.
AutoStart Check - Get it here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ro.rbrtoanna.autostartcheck&hl=en
Fire up AutoStart Check (or any other autostart configuration app), set your view to Group by App, and expand every one of them and look at just how many different places some of these apps are set to start. Your Gallery starts with your Camera? ES File Explorer starts when you mount media or remove bad media? Facebook fires itself up just because you plugged in your phone. Google Goggles sees fit to start with every picture you take - and of course, it will then either drain your battery trying to get a GPS signal while your GPS is off, or drain your battery by getting one – fail. If you use S Health, it starts when your time zone changes – that's important. YouTube, seriously, YouTube – change accounts, mount media, connect power, every boot – you obviously need YouTube to fire up. Yeah.
A note here, read some guides on these before turning off too many system services. For example, don't disable messaging, bad idea, bad things happen. But most of this stuff, turn it off. You aren't killing your ability to use it, you're just making sure it isn't turning on all the time. If you've also Greenified well, after using any of these, they'll hibernate in the background without you having to worry.
Disable all system sounds (Dialing keypad tone, Touch sounds, Screen lock sound, Haptic feedback)
This is explained in some of the other threads, but, if you don't want to do the research, basically, the background services in Android that manage these things keep your phone awake. Turn them all off, battery life goes up.
Media Scanner
@sbreen94 included in the Hyperdrive Tweaks tools a one-button solution to turning it off. If it's drainging your battery, or you just want to make sure it doesn't, go click the button. This thing is better than the Staples button!
I'm sure there's probably a more generic way of stopping/managing Media Scanner. Someone please let me know and I'll update this section!
Battery Save Apps
I used to be madly in love with 2x Battery. Others swear by JuiceDefender. I guess if you don't/won't want to take the time to optimize apps and Greenify, they might be beneficial. You know what I found, though, when I started down this path? Some of the biggest offenders of Wakelocks and keeping my phone from sleeping when it should, are these battery saving apps!!! I now get BETTER battery life WITHOUT 2x Battery!
Short thoughts on this and example concepts of what's going on...
It may sound counterinterintuitive, but it seems most of the apps are so vigilant they keep your phone awake when it could be sleeping. And the vigilance isn't so necessary when you've properly configure things to not need this sort of overactive management of things. I'd love to see 2x Battery properly manage my data connection for me, without Wakelocks, but what's to say that the app trying to sync when the data is off won't now stay awake with new Wakelocks trying to get out to the internet? There's a cascading effect of whatever approach you might choose, so try to think about that, and keep it in mind when you look at your Wakelocks and your Alarms and you do your analysis.
The End
Okay, so I think that's aobut it. I may have forgotten some things, and I know this is a long post. But, this leaves very little excuse for people to blame ROMs/Kernels, while at the same time giving you the straight-forward, real world answer to battery savings 101. Yes, there are apps and details I left out. If anyone thinks of some obvoius ones, just let me know and I'll happily update this post.
You don't have to analyze any statistics or logs to do this. The principles are sound, and you'll see a dramatic improvement in battery if you don't already get a day of usage and 3.5 to 4.5 hours of screen time on your GS4. You just make some of these relatively straight-foward, user-level, common-sense changes.
If these changes don't give you the results you'd like, then do the analysis work in the threads linked above and find out what's the real culprit. Profit, enjoy, be happy. And remember... It's not the ROM.
Thanks for the thread, Bill. Here are a few of my questions/comments:
Regarding Lux, I used it for a few days, but could never seem to get a setting that worked for me. Whether using periodic updating or any of the other modes, the brightness level always seemed to adjust either too frequently or too slowly. Then I started experimenting with night mode and it got even worse. Do you have any suggestions to a quick and simple setup that won't drive me insane?
In terms of greenifying different apps, I always make sure that my SMS app and alarm clock are not greenified, and I don't use any widgets on my homescreen, but what about apps like Better Battery Stats, Boot Manager (for Xposed) and Automagic (flow chart based automation app) that are monitoring events and automating my phone? Will Battery Stats stop recording data is I set it to hibernate? Will Automagic miss a trigger I've set if it's hibernating? I would like to greenify EVERYTHING that I know won't cause any issues, but notifications aren't the only thing happening in the background that I want to allow.
Then, expanding on the autostarts, I mentioned that I use the Xposed module Boot Manager. This doesn't seem able to handle all of the situations that you described, like apps being launched based on SD card state, network state, etc. Am I missing something in this app or will I need to go another route to get all the options you've descibed?
Regarding the SD media scanning, my current ROM is a very debloated lean and mean stock Touchwiz ROM that doesn't have a native way to disable media scanner like the AOSP ROMs I used to run. Is there an app that does ONLY this, as I prefer to use dedicated apps rather than giant monsters which can control tons of things I don't need.
Anyway, I already do a lot of the practices you're advocating here, but I'm always looking for ways to do things in a more efficient or streamlined way. Using Greenify, keeping the stock clock speeds, and making sure that nothing is syncing (I keep backgruond sync disabled, but use an Automagic flow to enable it periodically throughout the day and then turn it back off again), keeps my battery life pretty solid. Add to that Deep Sleep Battery Saver which automatically turns off my connections when the screen is off, but will periodically turn them back based on my preferences, keeps my battery level pretty much steady wheen the phone is idle.
I'm sorry if something like this has come up before, it's quite hard to search for specific things like this and I probably look stupid for just realising this now but here goes:
I always assumed that Greenify would only hibernate apps that I myself didn't have running (ie apps that weren't in overview or the foreground) yet I've recently realised that apps in the overview page (recent tasks) on lollipop are also susceptible to being greenified. Is it possible to have apps be excluded from hibernation whilst they are in overview?
For example, I greenify the Eurosport app because it runs a service even though I have push notifications off for it, but I still want to be able to have it in the background and jump back to it without it reloading, so the ideal would be I could leave it in the overview and multitask into it again later. However if the screen has been off for a few minutes Greenify hibernates it meaning it requires a reload, which may in fact use more battery overall than I saved by greenifying it in the first place.
Is it possible to add the condition that apps only get greenified once they've been cleared from overview/recent tasks/multitasking (whatever you want to call it)
It has been discussed before.
1. Android 5.0 removed the ability for an app to get the list of recent apps.
2. Recent app list is actually managed by Android system. An app in the list does not mean its process is still running, and some being squeezed out of the list also do not mean their processes are ended.
So it's not reliable for hibernation to depends on the recent apps list.
In your case, if that app does not cause battery issue, it's suggested to keep it out of Greenify for process to be cached.
I included a screenshot of all the options I'm given on the Greenify Settings tab. I've always avoided using Greenify because it seems very difficult to use; however, I keep hearing about all the miracles it does as far as battery life so I want to give it a chance.
My confusion comes from the fact that out of all the Tutorials, Reviews, Articles, etc. I've seen and read on YouTube & Google, everyone either has an older version of Greenify than me, or the options are a little different. Some versions have more options than mine, and some fewer. Some have specific settings enabled, some disabled.
For example, some tutorials said to enable Aggressive Doze and Automatic Hibernation, some said to disable them.
I would appreciate it very much if someone with more knowledge on the subject could explain to me what some of these settings do, and which would be better.
Merazomo said:
I included a screenshot of all the options I'm given on the Greenify Settings tab. I've always avoided using Greenify because it seems very difficult to use; however, I keep hearing about all the miracles it does as far as battery life so I want to give it a chance.
My confusion comes from the fact that out of all the Tutorials, Reviews, Articles, etc. I've seen and read on YouTube & Google, everyone either has an older version of Greenify than me, or the options are a little different. Some versions have more options than mine, and some fewer. Some have specific settings enabled, some disabled.
For example, some tutorials said to enable Aggressive Doze and Automatic Hibernation, some said to disable them.
I would appreciate it very much if someone with more knowledge on the subject could explain to me what some of these settings do, and which would be better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which version of Android are you running? If 7,8 or 9, most likely you will not need Greenify since Android itself handles the apps very well. Only apps which could not be controlled by Android and which drain battery excessively need control through Greenify or some similar app. Doze in these versions of Android is very capable.
If you want to know something more about this, search for posts from member Davey126 in https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/greenify/beta-greenify-3-1-build-1-1-23-2017-t3544311 thread.
tnsmani said:
Which version of Android are you running? If 7,8 or 9, most likely you will not need Greenify since Android itself handles the apps very well. Only apps which could not be controlled by Android and which drain battery excessively need control through Greenify or some similar app. Doze in these versions of Android is very capable.
If you want to know something more about this, search for posts from member Davey126 in https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/greenify/beta-greenify-3-1-build-1-1-23-2017-t3544311 thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@tnsmani obviously received my check ...
Kidding aside, his guidance is spot on. If you decide to experiment further ignore all the options. They are largely refinements; defaults are fine for most. Simply respond to initial setup prompts (including the all important 'root' query), add 'offending' apps to the watch list and observe whether Greenify helps to reduce background activity.
Wait...you don't have any "offending" apps, do not know how to identify bad actors have no idea if you actually have a problem with excessive (operative word) battery consumption?? If so Greenify will only work as well as your perception of good/evil/impotent which is often an inaccurate measure of reality.
Sadly, Greenify does not have magical powers. That said, It is an effective tool to address a specific type of 'problem': reining in undisciplined app driven background activity...plus a few other gems outside the scope of this discussion. If your device is rocking Android 6/7/8/9/27 native doze does a fine job managing cranky apps that want to eat your battery any small children within a 10 foot radius. Best part: no confusing knobs and dials! It just works.
Enjoy your device.
tnsmani said:
Which version of Android are you running? If 7,8 or 9, most likely you will not need Greenify since Android itself handles the apps very well. Only apps which could not be controlled by Android and which drain battery excessively need control through Greenify or some similar app. Doze in these versions of Android is very capable.
If you want to know something more about this, search for posts from member Davey126 in https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/greenify/beta-greenify-3-1-build-1-1-23-2017-t3544311 thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll definitely give that post by Davey126 a read, thanks.
I'm using a Galaxy Note 4 with Android Marshmallow 6.0.1. The phone is not officially supported anymore obviously, but with ROOT, it's still a great phone even today.
My only issue that made me consider Greenify; I don't know if this is typical of Android, is that I charge my phone to 100% before I go to sleep, and when I wake up it's at 86%. The battery is brand new and the phone has been restored to factory settings to start fresh.
Davey126 said:
@tnsmani obviously received my check ...
Kidding aside, his guidance is spot on. If you decide to experiment further ignore all the options. They are largely refinements; defaults are fine for most. Simply respond to initial setup prompts (including the all important 'root' query), add 'offending' apps to the watch list and observe whether Greenify helps to reduce background activity.
Wait...you don't have any "offending" apps, do not know how to identify bad actors have no idea if you actually have a problem with excessive (operative word) battery consumption?? If so Greenify will only work as well as your perception of good/evil/impotent which is often an inaccurate measure of reality.
Sadly, Greenify does not have magical powers. That said, It is an effective tool to address a specific type of 'problem': reining in undisciplined app driven background activity...plus a few other gems outside the scope of this discussion. If your device is rocking Android 6/7/8/9/27 native doze does a fine job managing cranky apps that want to eat your battery any small children within a 10 foot radius. Best part: no confusing knobs and dials! It just works.
Enjoy your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The screenshot I posted are the default settings as of now for my version of 4.3.2.0 of Greenify on my Galaxy Note 4. Would it be okay to assume that if I leave "these" settings on default without changing anything, and all I do is start choosing application to hibernate that I don't use often or don't need push notifications from, it's a good start?
I do have to choose applications manually for Greenify to start working right? I keep looking at all these "Smart Hibernation" & "Automatic Hibernation" settings and my brain goes back to regular applications like the old App Managers that would start working in the background without me settings anything up or choosing applications.
I'll give your post a read as well, and see if I can learn something from it. For once, I wish I had an Android phone with good battery life like my last iPhone; it wouldn't loose any charge overnight. Loosing 14% battery life overnight without doing anything is a little annoying, but now that I've tried Android with ROOT, it's practically imposible to go back to IOS; specially with all the customizing I can do on my Note 4.
Merazomo said:
I'll definitely give that post by Davey126 a read, thanks.
I'm using a Galaxy Note 4 with Android Marshmallow 6.0.1. The phone is not officially supported anymore obviously, but with ROOT, it's still a great phone even today.
My only issue that made me consider Greenify; I don't know if this is typical of Android, is that I charge my phone to 100% before I go to sleep, and when I wake up it's at 86%. The battery is brand new and the phone has been restored to factory settings to start fresh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On 6, you may require the help of Greenify but only after you identify the rogue app/s. Unless you sleep for 24 hours a day, your idle drain is high (14% during sleep).
Visit the BBS thread, learn how to create an idle dump, install latest BBS beta from the PlayStore, take an idle dump and post it in the BBS thread and ask for help.
Merazomo said:
The screenshot I posted are the default settings as of now for my version of 4.3.2.0 of Greenify on my Galaxy Note 4. Would it be okay to assume that if I leave "these" settings on default without changing anything, and all I do is start choosing application to hibernate that I don't use often or don't need push notifications from, it's a good start?
I do have to choose applications manually for Greenify to start working right? I keep looking at all these "Smart Hibernation" & "Automatic Hibernation" settings and my brain goes back to regular applications like the old App Managers that would start working in the background without me settings anything up or choosing applications.
I'll give your post a read as well, and see if I can learn something from it. For once, I wish I had an Android phone with good battery life like my last iPhone; it wouldn't loose any charge overnight. Loosing 14% battery life overnight without doing anything is a little annoying, but now that I've tried Android with ROOT, it's practically imposible to go back to IOS; specially with all the customizing I can do on my Note 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reread previous post. Your first task is to identify which app(s), if any, are draining your battery while the device is idle. Adding apps to Greenify w/o justification is a fools errand and will likely increase overall power consumption vs reduce it. Let's keep it simple. What apps regularly appear near the top of the list in Android's battery page in settings?
There are very few "new" batteries for 4 year old devices. While you many have purchased it recently there is a very good chance it sat on the shelf for several years. Or was 'loaded' with substandard cells with less than stated capacity.
Davey126 said:
Reread previous post. Your first task is to identify which app(s), if any, are draining your battery while the device is idle. Adding apps to Greenify w/o justification is a fools errand and will likely increase overall power consumption vs reduce it. Let's keep it simple. What apps regularly appear near the top of the list in Android's battery page in settings?
There are very few "new" batteries for 4 year old devices. While you many have purchased it recently there is a very good chance it sat on the shelf for several years. Or was 'loaded' with substandard cells with less than stated capacity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery is good since I was still using Lollipop LOL not that long on my Note 4, and I felt it ran a lot cooler and battery would last longer than on Marshmallow, but app permissions were horrible in Lollipop; I had no control of my privacy whatsoever with apps.
The only top app on my battery apps list with 20% of the battery used overnight was ESPN. I don't even have push notifications enabled for this app, and I used it hours before I went to sleep and before I charged the phone. That might be the app that is harming my battery life. All the other apps are at 0.04% or less.
Merazomo said:
The battery is good since I was still using Lollipop LOL not that long on my Note 4, and I felt it ran a lot cooler and battery would last longer than on Marshmallow, but app permissions were horrible in Lollipop; I had no control of my privacy whatsoever with apps.
The only top app on my battery apps list with 20% of the battery used overnight was ESPN. I don't even have push notifications enabled for this app, and I used it hours before I went to sleep and before I charged the phone. That might be the app that is harming my battery life. All the other apps are at 0.04% or less.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ESPN app would be an excellent candidate to Greenify. Add it to the 'watch' list and observe device behavior over 24-48 hours.
Davey126 said:
ESPN app would be an excellent candidate to Greenify. Add it to the 'watch' list and observe device behavior over 24-48 hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything is as you said. Greenify's default settings are more than satisfying, specially since all I wanted to do was to find the culprit that was killing my battery.
After using BetterBatteryStats & Greenify, it turns out "ESPN" and "Samsung Peel Remote Control" are both using more battery life overnight as I sleep, than the "System" itself.
ESPN behaves as it should when I hibernate it; however, Samsung's Peel Remote wakes up overnight; it won't stay hibernated.
I've been trying to use the scissor's icon to prevent other apps from waking the Peel Remote, but it gives me a failed message.
At least now I know that my problem is not the battery or the phone.
Merazomo said:
... however, Samsung's Peel Remote wakes up overnight; it won't stay hibernated.
I've been trying to use the scissor's icon to prevent other apps from waking the Peel Remote, but it gives me a failed message.
At least now I know that my problem is not the battery or the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me thinks you should consider another app:
https://fossbytes.com/peel-remote-use-remove-smart-remote/
There are ways to tame the monster using perfectly legal advanced tools (MAT, SD Maid, etc.) but such discussion is beyond the scope of this thread.
Davey126 said:
Me thinks you should consider another app:
https://fossbytes.com/peel-remote-use-remove-smart-remote/
There are ways to tame the monster using perfectly legal advanced tools (MAT, SD Maid, etc.) but such discussion is beyond the scope of this thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I though I was the only one struggling with these apps. I installed an app that called AFWall+ though, that blocks Internet/Data access to the Peel Remote. I no longer get that annoying TV Guide, Ads, or VOD recommendations; just the ability to use it as a normal remote.
The last 3 days, I've only lost 5% battery life overnight with the Greenify & AFWall+ combination. If that keeps up, it's as good as it is going to get for me. If it changes back to 14%, I'm just going to uninstall Peel.
Merazomo said:
I though I was the only one struggling with these apps. I installed an app that called AFWall+ though, that blocks Internet/Data access to the Peel Remote. I no longer get that annoying TV Guide, Ads, or VOD recommendations; just the ability to use it as a normal remote.
The last 3 days, I've only lost 5% battery life overnight with the Greenify & AFWall+ combination. If that keeps up, it's as good as it is going to get for me. If it changes back to 14%, I'm just going to uninstall Peel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A software firewall (preferably VPN based) is an excellent way to block unwanted content and network communications including ads, tracking uploads and/or malicious downloads. I run some type of software firewall on every device I own. As for idle drain rates, I average 0.15-0.25%/hr on WiFi only tablets; 0.4-0.6%/hr on phones. Pretty consistent range regardless of brand, ROM or other variables. Greenify, which I use sparingly, is the only non-native power management tool in my arsenal. No silly alarm/wakelock squashing, doze tuners, etc. Mind your settings, behaviors and app portfolio. Pretty simple stuff. Depressing news for budding geeks with too much time on their hands.
Merazomo said:
I though I was the only one struggling with these apps. I installed an app that called AFWall+ though, that blocks Internet/Data access to the Peel Remote. I no longer get that annoying TV Guide, Ads, or VOD recommendations; just the ability to use it as a normal remote.
The last 3 days, I've only lost 5% battery life overnight with the Greenify & AFWall+ combination. If that keeps up, it's as good as it is going to get for me. If it changes back to 14%, I'm just going to uninstall Peel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First and most important, it's exactly as @Davey126 stated directly above. Second in order to support your decision: For many years now, I use Greenify and AFWall+ Pro, and I confirm your observation. All of our telephones (we don't own an Android tablet etc.) achieve overnight battery drainages between 0.5 - 0.7%/h including network connection and some non-greenified apps. In airplane mode the drainage decreases to 0.2 - 0.3%/h. For quite some time till about a year ago, I also used tools like Amplify, PowerNap etc. until I realised it makes no sense to try to turn on these knobs i.e. to fight effects but not the causes - and more important I didn't gain any battery life by their utilisation.
BTW: If you're interested in trying a different firewall, NetGuard by M66B, very well known among all users interested in privacy, is an interesting alternative. Based on VPN and no-root required. The only reason why I stay with AFWall+ Pro and don't switch to NetGuard is Android's inherent limitation to only allow one VPN tunnel at a time. And as I always enable my own secure VPN connection with my RaspberryPi in our home network before I connect to mobile data or a foreign WiFi, I can't use NetGuard.
Oswald Boelcke said:
First and most important, it's exactly as @Davey126 stated directly above. Second in order to support your decision: For many years now, I use Greenify and AFWall+ Pro, and I confirm your observation. All of our telephones (we don't own an Android tablet etc.) achieve overnight battery drainages between 0.5 - 0.7%/h including network connection and some non-greenified apps. In airplane mode the drainage decreases to 0.2 - 0.3%/h. For quite some time till about a year ago, I also used tools like Amplify, PowerNap etc. until I realised it makes no sense to try to turn on these knobs i.e. to fight effects but not the causes - and more important I didn't gain any battery life by their utilisation.
BTW: If you're interested in trying a different firewall, NetGuard by M66B, very well known among all users interested in privacy, is an interesting alternative. Based on VPN and no-root required. The only reason why I stay with AFWall+ Pro and don't switch to NetGuard is Android's inherent limitation to only allow one VPN tunnel at a time. And as I always enable my own secure VPN connection with my RaspberryPi in our home network before I connect to mobile data or a foreign WiFi, I can't use NetGuard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, after doing much research online, it came down to NetGuard - NoRoot Firewall - Droidwall(now Avast) - Afwall+.
I chose Afwall+ because it seemed easier to use. The other apps seem more customizable if you know what you're doing, but for what I needed Afwall+ is more of a "click and save" type of app.
Davey126 said:
A software firewall (preferably VPN based) is an excellent way to block unwanted content and network communications including ads, tracking uploads and/or malicious downloads. I run some type of software firewall on every device I own. As for idle drain rates, I average 0.15-0.25%/hr on WiFi only tablets; 0.4-0.6%/hr on phones. Pretty consistent range regardless of brand, ROM or other variables. Greenify, which I use sparingly, is the only non-native power management tool in my arsenal. No silly alarm/wakelock squashing, doze tuners, etc. Mind your settings, behaviors and app portfolio. Pretty simple stuff. Depressing news for budding geeks with too much time on their hands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Curiosity bricked a few of my phones over the years LOL. I guess it's human nature.
Reading through a bunch of threads when I still didn't know what Greenify was, there were a few discussions about being able to get "push notifications" when an app was still in hibernation.
How much truth is there to those statements? I have Instagram, Messenger, Facebook, etc. installed on my phone not because I use them constantly, but because it's the easier/cheaper way for my family to contact me.
It would be great to be able to hibernate all those apps, and still know when my family is trying to contact me, even if I have to manually hibernate the apps again afterwards.
Or did I read too much into it and mixed things up?
Merazomo said:
Curiosity bricked a few of my phones over the years LOL. I guess it's human nature.
Reading through a bunch of threads when I still didn't know what Greenify was, there were a few discussions about being able to get "push notifications" when an app was still in hibernation.
How much truth is there to those statements? I have Instagram, Messenger, Facebook, etc. installed on my phone not because I use them constantly, but because it's the easier/cheaper way for my family to contact me.
It would be great to be able to hibernate all those apps, and still know when my family is trying to contact me, even if I have to manually hibernate the apps again afterwards.
Or did I read too much into it and mixed things up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Push notifications work with some Greenifed apps (must be GCM capable) but may be delayed by minutes/hours depending on Greenify settings, app design, GCM capabilities, availability of Xposed framework, timing of doze maintenance windows and a bunch of other variables. Best way to assess with your app portfolio is to try.
My background apps are killed way too often. Is it possible to change that behaviour? Even music apps are killed while I'm playing music.
I have tried several custom roms and kernels but nothing seems to change the settings. Is either able to change RAM management settings?
I have also tried several apps that claim to be able to change RAM management settings without success.
Disabling battery optimisation doesn't help.
I have uninstalled unused apps and disabled autostart (boot completed receiver) for non-essential apps to reduce RAM usage.
When I use a RAM monitor it will show RAM usage at ~75% when apps are killed.
My old phone (Note 4) only had 3 GB ram but could still keep more apps in memory.
I don't have that problem.
Have you tried Greenify or similar app to hibernate unwanted apps running in the background? They will only open then when being used and will automatically hibernate again when closed.
ChazzMatt said:
I don't have that problem.
Have you tried Greenify or similar app to hibernate unwanted apps running in the background? They will only open then when being used and will automatically hibernate again when closed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the reverse of what I'm looking for. I want the apps in the background to keep running.
Telorast said:
That's the reverse of what I'm looking for. I want the apps in the background to keep running.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you misunderstood what I wrote. Read it again.
It's exactly what you want, because then apps you don't want running won't take up your RAM and kick off the apps that you do want running. Like your flashlight app should NOT be running the background all the time. One example. Lots of devs think their apps are most important and should always run in the background, so when you "launch" them they are there instantly.
Like I said, I don't have your issue. My apps I WANT running stay running.
If you hibernate the UN-wanted apps, that will give more freedom to apps you DO want running in the background.
There are other apps besides Greenify which may do that task even better, it's just the most well known. It shows you complete list if apps running in the background and you can choose which you WANT to run and which you want to stay killed until you choose to activate them. Those apps will be forced hibernated from then on -- until you manually activate them. When you close them, they will STAY closed and not run in the background sucking up your RAM. It also allows you to go through your entire inventory and decide yes/no. For instance, weather widget, email, yes. Benchmarking app, NO.
Worth a try. Installed Greenify and added most apps with ignore background-free.
Telorast said:
Worth a try. Installed Greenify and added most apps with ignore background-free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I even hibernate alleged background free apps, just in case.
ChazzMatt said:
Lots of devs think their apps are most important and should always run in the background, so when you "launch" them they are there instantly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VERY TRUE!
This always infuriated me, not just on phones, PCs too, all the way back to the DOS days. An obsession with running in the background, as if it's particularly clever. :cyclops:
I've also found that turning off battery optimization for apps I don't want killed helps. I've had the same experience with music and podcast apps getting killed in the background and turning off their battery optimization usually fixes it.
There are some simple things to try that do not require any special apk's. One is to look in the apps section of the "Developer options" sub-menu. The default settings work well in most instances. Perhaps you accidently enabled closing of apps when a background limit has been reached or have ticked force closure of apps on exit.
Another place to look is in the "Power saving exclusions" sub-menu in the Battery settings. Music makes some boring forms of exercise less tiresome and provides additional motivation for activities that are challenging but fun (mountain biking). The music should not stop, but it might for default settings. Enabling a power saving exclusion for your music app will keep it running.
ChazzMatt said:
Then you misunderstood what I wrote. Read it again.
It's exactly what you want, because then apps you don't want running won't take up your RAM and kick off the apps that you do want running. Like your flashlight app should NOT be running the background all the time. One example. Lots of devs think their apps are most important and should always run in the background, so when you "launch" them they are there instantly.
Like I said, I don't have your issue. My apps I WANT running stay running.
If you hibernate the UN-wanted apps, that will give more freedom to apps you DO want running in the background.
There are other apps besides Greenify which may do that task even better, it's just the most well known. It shows you complete list if apps running in the background and you can choose which you WANT to run and which you want to stay killed until you choose to activate them. Those apps will be forced hibernated from then on -- until you manually activate them. When you close them, they will STAY closed and not run in the background sucking up your RAM. It also allows you to go through your entire inventory and decide yes/no. For instance, weather widget, email, yes. Benchmarking app, NO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been using Greenify for a bit now and doesn't seem to help much. It shows a bunch of hibernated apps but multitasking is still nearly impossible.
I had assumed the problem was related to the Mem Free settings rather than actual free memory but no one here has mentioned it. Is that because no one else thinks it's the problem or maybe I have misunderstood what those settings do?
I thought apps were free to use as much memory as they want until certain thresholds on total memory usage were met, then the system would ask or force apps to release memory.
Apps that let you edit those settings usually shows several thresholds where the system gets progressively more aggressive at freeing memory as memory is running out. But they all look hopelessly out of date so maybe it works completely differently today?