The last week or so since I got my HTC One Max, I have been slowly configuring it and setting it up to my tastes. On my previous phone, an HTC Rezound, I used an app called Clean Master to manage the phones ram, and Battery Doctor to extend its battery life. I tried an application called Battery Guru on my Max, but it actually drained the battery faster while the phone was not doing anything. After uninstalling it, my battery life seems to have shot upwards. I have not re-installed Battery Doctor. I have read the following things about these battery saver apps over the last few days:
1. Some say the applications are not needed and you should not use them, especially if they include a task manager. The logic was that Android was designed to have multiple apps in memory all the time, and closing them, then opening them again from scratch, uses up the battery.
2.Others have said just the opposite. They claim the applications greatly increase battery life. If you read the reviews on the Android Market about these two applications, that seems to be the case.
Both of these applications I have used get rave reviews from the many folks that have used them. Is the benefit they are seeing just imagined? Do the applications actually work? Is it also possible that they work for some and not others, since there are a lot of models of Android devices out there?
Most things that are ram "cleaners" are just giving you a slight point in time speed boost. Your ram will fill up again (as it should). Most so called battery doctors cripple your phone to extend battery life (think extreme power saver on the Max). What you want is something that blocks the applications that you do have running from performing activities in the background that you dont need at that moment ( think facebook looking for your location even when not using it just so it will know it faster when you open the app).
I use a combo of firewall to block most apps from using the internet (radio takes a lot of battery) and greenify which hibernates the app while keeping it in ram so it brings me into the app where I was before.
mikekoz said:
The last week or so since I got my HTC One Max, I have been slowly configuring it and setting it up to my tastes. On my previous phone, an HTC Rezound, I used an app called Clean Master to manage the phones ram, and Battery Doctor to extend its battery life. I tried an application called Battery Guru on my Max, but it actually drained the battery faster while the phone was not doing anything. After uninstalling it, my battery life seems to have shot upwards. I have not re-installed Battery Doctor. I have read the following things about these battery saver apps over the last few days:
1. Some say the applications are not needed and you should not use them, especially if they include a task manager. The logic was that Android was designed to have multiple apps in memory all the time, and closing them, then opening them again from scratch, uses up the battery.
2.Others have said just the opposite. They claim the applications greatly increase battery life. If you read the reviews on the Android Market about these two applications, that seems to be the case.
Both of these applications I have used get rave reviews from the many folks that have used them. Is the benefit they are seeing just imagined? Do the applications actually work? Is it also possible that they work for some and not others, since there are a lot of models of Android devices out there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try greenify
Sent from my HTC One max using xda app-developers app
Free ram is idle ram. Having a lot of ram usage isnt a bad thing... Don't know how many people think the opposite. Now if it gets too high then yea its an issue when opening new apps but this issue died with gingerbread in all reality. Some would argue task managers even died with froyo.
Sent from my HTC0P3P7 using xda app-developers app
Thanks everybody! I have installed Greenify, and removed Battery Doctor and Clean Sweep, and my phone is running great! I like it so much, I have put Greenify on my other Android tablets. No more battery saving apps or task managers for me!!
The trick is to properly manage the apps that you use.
The problem with task killers is that some apps that you kill will simply "respawn" themselves automatically in the background. Killing apps that do this just means your phone is constantly closing/opening the app again and again which is worse than not killing it in the first place. You will just have to experiment and check which apps respawn after killing them and avoid having the task killer auto-kill those apps, or uninstall those apps.
You also have battery saver apps that try to manage turning certain features on/off like WiFi, GPS and Blutooth. The most efficient way of managing this is to manually disable those features when you don't need them. Having an app do this for you means that app now has to be running all the time to manage those other features, which itself will ironically increase battery usage.
Avoiding as many apps as possible that need to constantly run in the background to perform it's function. These mostly include instant messenger apps or other apps that regularly check the internet for updates in the background. Either avoid them or if possible increase the delay between how often the app checks for updates/info. The Greenify app will allow you to "suspend/pause/freeze" specific apps when they are not currently on your screen. This keeps them from performing any activity in the background, and will help save battery if used on apps that would normally be doing tasks in the background. The downside is that if that app is suppose to be doing something while in the background, it won't be doing that anymore...like checking for updates, chat messages etc...
Keep screen brightness on automatic, so you don't waste power on a bright screen when in a darker environment.
These should be more than enough tips to help you better manage your battery.
Related
I have read that taskkiller is not necessary on Android as the OS will kill off running apps when it needs memory - what are people's thoughts on this?
Hmmm...I read somewhere (maybe on here) heard if the App is coded properly that when not in use it will be background so not take up memory.
Not too knowledgable, but in that case would imagine they are acting like a windows service so will be taking up memory somewhere....so perhaps what I read was nonsense
Well, I have stopped killing tasks and guess what - I notice no difference at all! Hero is just as speedy (or slow depending on how you wanna look at it!).
Interesting!
Killing truly idle applications wont have significant effect. There are however many applications which appear idle, but still drains resources. An example is Peep, the twitter client, which starts automatically even if there's no twitter account configured. It has some frequent checks that put load on the CPU and thus helps drain power. Killing it adds many hours of standby time.
i'm not using any task manager/killer, did try them for a couple of days, can't really tell the difference, except i was wasting time constantly killing apps :/
suisen said:
i'm not using any task manager/killer, did try them for a couple of days, can't really tell the difference, except i was wasting time constantly killing apps :/
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Click to collapse
Ditto... surely there is no need as the OS will kill a unused app if it needs the memory ??? I don't have any problem running any apps one after the other... they just load.
The only lag I get is while the handset starts a widget update, once they are started everything runs slickly.
I found it a little slicker without taskiller. Especially in the use of big apps like copilot or documents2go. It seems to be managing itself pretty well.
Yep. I can report that the phone is working very well without Taskkiller. I have uninstalled it now.
If you are reading this, give it a try for a few days and tell us what you think. You may be pleasantly surprised...
Ditto - I've removed taskiller so I don't get tempted. Surprise surprise, no problems, no lag, etc. Now mostly this is due to removing the clock and people widget, but memory management seems fine after playing many different games and browsing the internet.
I think a benefit to doing this is that you aren't going to get and bizarre problems caused by killing system processes by accident - ie you won't miss alarms or stop receiving email alerts.
Hi,
Since I read up on how the Android OS works I have not used TaskKiller or similar and the OS works great (MCR 2.8).
I think these task killer apps are redundant.
Anyone actually think they are needed at all?
It's true that the system will kill apps itself when the memory is needed, but a side-affect of having 192MB available to android, is that there will be a lot of open apps before that happens.
While some apps will become 'frozen'/ only taking memory and no cpu time, other will not.
Having these apps in memory, and using cpu while not needing/using those apps, will drain the battery faster.
In such a case, a task killer will be useful.
It may do more harm than good though, I missed an alarm because I killed the clock app once
short answer: no, not needed unless an app is draining the battery while the app is not used/necessary.
Theory is one thing, reality is another.
When I hit the 'kill all' button on taskiller my phone definatly speeds up, sometimes it's essential when an app hangs(phandroid has gone like this recently) or is rather resource heavy (like sky map) as the phone gets rather laggy untill it's taskilled.
yeah, what she said ^^^
If an app is still using cpu after you closed it, then (task-)kill dat motherf-
I've got Taskiller ocd! Less stuff running definitely keeps your phone running nice and fast so if I'm not actively using an app then I kill it. Although I do have all the important stuff on the ignore list so the phone doesn't crash... or I miss an alarm like E2K
I'm currently trying to decide which app I like best for the purpose, Taskiller Full or TaskPanel.
TaskPanel has more useful options like Auto-kill however I think it has a bigger memory footprint than Taskiller.
So I installed automatic task killer just to see if I noticed a difference. So it says it is freeing memory when I engage it. Great, more memory available seems to allow the phone to run smoother/quicker. However, give the phone a couple of hours and gradually the available memory on the phone lowers and lowers until it goes below 100mb and beyond. Engaging automatic task killer frees some memory but does not bring it back to its startup memory of over 150mb. I of course do notice that my phone begins to get "laggy" once I start to dip below 100mb. I guess my question is, "where is all my memory going?". Im not too concerned about using automatic task killer. I just want to know where my memory is going cause this is most certainly the cause of a laggy phone. A quick reboot and my phone is back to its highest point of 158mb and running nice and smooth. What gives? Also where are the other 150mb or so that the phone has available according to specs? If its all dedicated to the the android OS than why is the phone so laggy by the end of day? Sorry if its too many questions but im just looking for some insight into the memory management of the x10 and android. Maybe a 1.6 issue?
It's nothing to worry about. Unused memory is useless memory. It's *nix based so the memory in use isn't going to drain the battery or slow the system down. It manages everything by itself. By repeatedly killing tasks you're actually stressing things unnecessarily.
The only time you should kill all the tasks is when you know something is being problematic, before locking your phone when you have a suspicious app that doesn't always stop automatically, etc. Otherwise the Android OS takes care of this by itself.
I stopped using task killers months ago (except for when I lock my phone because of what I mentioned above.. programs keeping it from going into a deep sleep) and my battery easily lasts two days with periods of very heavy usage.
I only use a task killer to kill certain things when they cause problems, which is not often. Things I use often I leave in memory, they only get reloaded anyway.
Tbh if things are getting laggy that quickly you probably have an app that is misbehaving.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
Thanks for the quick replies. Automatic task killer has already been uninstalled. Looking forward to the update with hopes that it helps with lag issues
Sent from my X10a using XDA App
Well that still doesn't solve the problem of badly written apps draining the battery. Often I've found that without a task killer my battery life has improved, but on occasion when I download a new app, I look at my battery usage a few hours later, and that app has managed to use 45% of my battery even though I used it for a few minutes. So then I just reboot
In conclusion, don't use a task killer, but keep an eye on the battery usage feature if you find that it has suddenly gone down (Settings -> About Phone -> Battery Usage)
I use Memory Booster. Quiet amazing.
hi i used to be same as you and always used talk killers
then i came across this article http:// www.ipmart-forum.com/ showthread.php?t=528674 (watch for spaces in the link)
since reading this i installed watchdog lite and i only kill a task if its overusing the system.
you can set it to notify you when an app is using more than a certain % of resources and its great then if i need to i just kill that app/process
pngface said:
Well that still doesn't solve the problem of badly written apps draining the battery. Often I've found that without a task killer my battery life has improved, but on occasion when I download a new app, I look at my battery usage a few hours later, and that app has managed to use 45% of my battery even though I used it for a few minutes. So then I just reboot
In conclusion, don't use a task killer, but keep an eye on the battery usage feature if you find that it has suddenly gone down (Settings -> About Phone -> Battery Usage)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that doesn't work all the time is kinda annoying to keep checking your phone and see if the battery is alive or not
bongd said:
It's nothing to worry about. Unused memory is useless memory. It's *nix based so the memory in use isn't going to drain the battery or slow the system down. It manages everything by itself. By repeatedly killing tasks you're actually stressing things unnecessarily.
The only time you should kill all the tasks is when you know something is being problematic, before locking your phone when you have a suspicious app that doesn't always stop automatically, etc. Otherwise the Android OS takes care of this by itself.
I stopped using task killers months ago (except for when I lock my phone because of what I mentioned above.. programs keeping it from going into a deep sleep) and my battery easily lasts two days with periods of very heavy usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
K i seriusly need some answers how the hell do people come to know which app prevents it from sleeping? how can you figure out a bad application . does sleep here means when locks itself and screen goes blank? confused :S
I already posted about this in the NRG ROM because that's the ROM I'm using, but I am so impressed with the battery improvement after using this app for a week that I had to cross post to a larger audience. I know the battery is the one major drawback on the Amaze. This is just not a problem for me anymore since I started using Greenify.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oasisfeng.greenify
I've been getting over 24 hours regularly with 3-4 hours screen time. I'm using NRG with stock kernel, but I see no reason why this app wouldn't offer improvement for any configuration. It enables effective hibernation of apps without freezing them. They'll run but only in the foreground. It cuts out all background processes of the apps you select.
You have total control over which apps you want running in the background and allows you to keep the aggressive battery hogs at bay. You select which apps should hibernate. For instance, now Google maps will really stay asleep when it's not being used, no constant wake locks, but unlike with freezing it, you can conveniently launch it when needed. However any apps with background processes that are actually useful are free to do their thing, eg, widgets you want to auto update. It's taming the beast that is android.
And not only is my battery improved, but my phone is more responsive too. Highly recommended. Here's the xda thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2155737
thanks a lot for sharing this, will try it out, always wanted an app like this, the maps kill the battery for no good reason.
My pleasure. I hope your experience is as satisfying mine.
dosnt kill maps most apps remain in idle, pending hibernation mode.
EDIT, opened my eyes and read the FAQ. - maps not gonna die :|
Q: Some of my greenified apps (e.g. Google Maps) seems not hibernating.
A: In short, don't worry about frequently awake apps. It will still hibernate in minutes after screen goes off, thus hardly add observable battery consumption. Use battery statistics in settings or "BetterBatteryStats" to confirm that.
While most greenified apps will stay in hibernation quietly, some apps do break hibernation, due to being waken up by others. Some known cases include enabled account sync, backup agent, and explicit launch by other app.
Since version 1.45, Greenify will now automatically turn off directly involved account sync of greenified apps when going to hibernate, to avoid the periodic account sync wake them up. For backup agents, Greenify will NOT disable them, to ensure your backup of app data is always up-to-date. As backup usually does not perform often, they are thus unlikely to be waken up often.
Google Maps is a typical example of explicit launch by other app. Some Google apps, including Google Now (a.k.a Google Search), will start the NetworkLocationProvider of Google Maps for its proprietary implementation instead of the public Android one if Google Maps is installed.
Since Greenify is designed to not break any explicit usage of greenified apps, these behaviors are considered "normal", and will NOT be "fixed". To clear out your unease, Greenify will still put them into hibernation when standby to protect your battery consumption.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bilaliz said:
dosnt kill maps most apps remain in idle, pending hibernation mode.
EDIT, opened my eyes and read the FAQ. - maps not gonna die :|
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can manually put them into hibernation mode by selecting them, and hitting the pause button at the top of the screen. To help control maps make sure you don't have Google Now running or have it on in a very limited mode. (Google Now sucker punches battery. Honestly, I just presume that anyone interested in battery preservation has abandoned Google Now.) The other anti-maps tactic I use is to go to System Settings>>Location and disable "GPS satellites" and "Location & Google search." I can easily re-enable these through a widget I have set up when I need Maps capability, but it keeps the program quiet for the most part and Greenify does the rest.
The proof is in the screenshots. I never got any battery life like this before Greenify.
Shabidoo said:
The proof is in the screenshots. I never got any battery life like this before Greenify.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but in those pics i also see juice defender running, so that may be playing a part too. also there are no phone calls, phone calls take a lot of juice.
regarless of that i have witnessed significant battery improvement with this app, i think i'll be giving a donation to this guy. he deserves it.
bilaliz said:
but in those pics i also see juice defender running, so that may be playing a part too. also there are no phone calls, phone calls take a lot of juice.
regarless of that i have witnessed significant battery improvement with this app, i think i'll be giving a donation to this guy. he deserves it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol yea juice defender
Sent from my Amaze 4G using xda app-developers app
I've had Juice Defender going as long as I've had my phone. I use the customization in ultimate, but before Greenify, I was getting around 17 hours battery life. So JD has not been a variable for me in evaluating the app.
I'm not a big phone call maker, but I do use bluetooth for music streaming a lot. I think it was so minor in comparison to the screen usage that day that it probably didn't even register 1% battery usage.
So I'm giving it a try. This a pretty much a light app that kills the app you select when you aren't using it.
Sent from my Amaze 4G using xda app-developers app
Trying this out now but just thought I'd pass along some info that really helped me with maps. Using Autorun manager (free on playstore) I killed any process under map that had the word friend in it and it has made a big difference even though Latitude has been disabled since day 1. There are lots of other battery saving and wake lock preventing things you can do with this app.
Justin
Sent from my Amaze 4G using xda app-developers app
mestguy182 said:
Trying this out now but just thought I'd pass along some info that really helped me with maps. Using Autorun manager (free on playstore) I killed any process under map that had the word friend in it and it has made a big difference even though Latitude has been disabled since day 1. There are lots of other battery saving and wake lock preventing things you can do with this app.
Justin
Sent from my Amaze 4G using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did the same and it helped my battery life dramatically.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using xda app-developers app
mestguy182 said:
Trying this out now but just thought I'd pass along some info that really helped me with maps. Using Autorun manager (free on playstore) I killed any process under map that had the word friend in it and it has made a big difference even though Latitude has been disabled since day 1. There are lots of other battery saving and wake lock preventing things you can do with this app.
Justin
Sent from my Amaze 4G using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip. I am trying this out as well and after 2 days, my battery life has doubled. :good: Even works very well on my wife's GNex, where the battery life is worse than the Amaze
Hi there ! Today my simple question is how to increase battery life of android mobile ! Please tell me some tips cause I'm tired ?
use a taskkiller to Close unused apps!
mflapp said:
use a taskkiller to Close unused apps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never use a task killer
Hit Thanks if that was helpful
- Turn off all unnecessary connections. That includes GPS, NFC, Locationservices, Sync, etc. That alone will save you days.
- Turn off WiFi when you're not using it.
- Greenify all apps before you turn the screen off. Android keeps apps running in the background for quick access, but it eats battery. Yes, greenifying them will mean they take a second longer to open, but it'll save battery life.
- Turn down the brightness. Use LUX to go below 0%. (Which doesn't actually mean the screen turns off.)
- Disable or delete all bloatware, or as much as you can.
- Using a MicroSD? Drop a .nomedia file in every folder that doesn't need to show up in a mediaplayer. (pdf's, comics, etc). You can still open the files through a filemanager, but MediaScanner/Indexingservice won't freeze on them.
- Turn off all unnecessary sensors. Especially if you're using a Samsung, those have quite a lot of sensors.
Is there a way to get NOTHING running in the background?
Maybe you should remove bloatwares using titanium backup im doing this on my galaxy note before. Even on my s2
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA Free mobile app
You should download du battery saver from playstore
X3RATH said:
Is there a way to get NOTHING running in the background?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Developers options > Limit Background Processes > "No Background Processes".
Remember that this means that if you're writing an email, and you open the browser, the email is gone. If you're listening to music, that's it, you can't do anything else or the music app shuts down.
There is absolutely no need to use task killers or anything like that on an Android. Android is designed to run with apps cached for quick opening of them. And designed to run on little free memory.
As long as apps "behave", it will not affect your battery having them running in background. If the odd app does seem to cause trouble, try using Greenify to hibernate such apps.
Having no apps running will definitely cause more drain for you, as it takes more cpu power to initialize them every time you open them, or the system does. Hence why task killers do more harm than good. :good:
If you have battery issues, it's likely poor reception on data, an inefficient setup or app wakelocks. Use GSAM to see about that.