Optimize your Droid Eris battery life (READ THIS)

[jms493]

Yeah when I am not going to use the phone for a while I have a widget on my homepage that turns on/off the "mobile network" When I am not using the phone the battery meter never moves.

I have found that from Battery meter gauge 100-90 will drain super fast....then it seems to drain normally....but when I get down to about 15 it drains super slow....not sure how accurate this Battery Meter is to be honest.

 

[HP2]

This is just on one charge. I posted my suggestions on how to save your battery life on one of the earlier Stickies on Eris battery life. I'm still using my native SMS app, my awake time hovers between 18%-21%. I don't turn on Wi-Fi unless I need it. My Background Data is turned off in Data Synchronization>Google>Background Data. My screen timeout is 30 seconds. Hopefully this helps.

P.S. During the workday, I only make a few calls on the cell, and surf the web on my computer, so that could contribute to keeping up my battery's life. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Copa Native]

Can overcharging have a negative affect on battery life, short or long term?

We all have read and probably experienced the limitations of the Eris battery. With that in mind I usually leave my phone charging in my office most of the day. Just curious if this will have any lasting affects on the battery.

 

[wildgoose]

Yeah when I am not going to use the phone for a while I have a widget on my homepage that turns on/off the "mobile network" When I am not using the phone the battery meter never moves.

I wonder if it's possible to write an app that do this automatically. Basically if the phone goes to stand by, turn OFF mobile network. If the phone awakes from user action, turn it back on. This can be tweaked further. If the phone is in sleep for longer than an hour, turn it off. Or if the phone is awake for more than X seconds, turn it on...

I've downloaded the SDK but haven't really played with it, just wondering if it's technically possible to do so.

 

[CalifJewls]

People just need to be patient, the Eris has been out for 13 days, right? Let's wait until the updates come. Every smartphone I have ever had issues with the battery, including my Storm, which when I first received it I got just hours out of it, after updates I could go for days...

My advice, utilize the tips others have suggested and be patient and I bet they fix these issues quickly, you can bet that they read these forums.

 

[misterdroid]

Yeah when I am not going to use the phone for a while I have a widget on my homepage that turns on/off the "mobile network" When I am not using the phone the battery meter never moves.

I have found that from Battery meter gauge 100-90 will drain super fast....then it seems to drain normally....but when I get down to about 15 it drains super slow....not sure how accurate this Battery Meter is to be honest.

What widget turns off the mobile network? I've looked for that and haven't found it...

 

[CalifJewls]

What widget turns off the mobile network? I've looked for that and haven't found it...

+>HTC widget>Settings>choose drop down menu>mobile network

 

[yankeeboy]

It turns off your phone's internet access, like unplugging your dsl model. Your phone can make and receive voice calls and sms messages.

My guess is the voice network has been highly optimized for battery life, after all, it's been out for years and you'll get a lot of pissed off customers if they all need to charge their phone every day. But internet access is relatively new, so it's not as optimized, and people on the data plan right now generally don't mind charge their phone every day for the benefit.

OK. While I get your point here, this is ridiculous to me...if I wanted a "dumb" phone that "sometimes" had the capabilities of a smart phone, I would buy one of those - whatever the heck that would be called. A later posting, someone suggests to calm down, and the battery issue will be worked out with updates, etc....additionally, over the 10 days I have had the phone, the battery time and awake time have improved drastically. I went from 4-6 hours, to just about 13 hrs and still at 40% today. Why the heck would I want to buy a phone that only works "On-Demand", why dont I just get a cell phone and carry an HP iPaq for Christ's sake. (The battery sucked on that too).

I also found that once I stopped fuddling around with battery settings and task killers all day that the battery was much improved.

 

[jms493]

Again at 15% Battery Life the phone stayed like that for a while. I finally just played xbox and had a continuous loop of you-tube videos playing for 45 minutes till the phone died. The phone lasts me all day. I expect the life to improve after I do 3-4 full battery charge cycles.

The phone is really awesome!

 

[misterdroid]

+>HTC widget>Settings>choose drop down menu>mobile network

Thanks!

 

[jeffgman]

OK. While I get your point here, this is ridiculous to me...if I wanted a "dumb" phone that "sometimes" had the capabilities of a smart phone, I would buy one of those - whatever the heck that would be called. A later posting, someone suggests to calm down, and the battery issue will be worked out with updates, etc....additionally, over the 10 days I have had the phone, the battery time and awake time have improved drastically. I went from 4-6 hours, to just about 13 hrs and still at 40% today. Why the heck would I want to buy a phone that only works "On-Demand", why dont I just get a cell phone and carry an HP iPaq for Christ's sake. (The battery sucked on that too).

I also found that once I stopped fuddling around with battery settings and task killers all day that the battery was much improved.

Very true. I have found my battery life has increased over time. The battery probably needs a little conditioning and after a few charges it gets better.

This is one of the best phones I have ever had. Plus the Android OS is so much better than the Windows Mobile OS. I came from a Verizon XV6800.

 

[pskins34]

How do i make the sms handcent app my default sms????

 

[Caddyman]

Just turn off notifications in the regular sms app and only use handcent. First time you get a text it will ask you what program to open it in, handcent or messaging, pick handcent and tick the default box and hit ok.

 

[velospeed]

just want to thank all of you eris guys for your input. you just saved me a trip to the verizon store which would've taken hours and likely produced enough frustration to fill a football stadium.

your tips are appreciated. i've tweaked some settings and hope to see some improvements over the coming days. luckily, i did not have the 100% usage bug thingy.

i know that holding down the power button is pretty easy, but i really liked the idea of a widget on the homescreen to toggle on/off the mobile network. CalifJewls, you mention HTC widgets. I don't see this in settings; should i be looking elsewhere?

btw, waiting until dec. 11th for the patch is annyong! since it's beyond the 30 day return period, we are forced to roll the dice on our faith in the patch.

finally, i might've read somewhere that this phone will be able to support android2 soon. is that true? any further info?

thanks again.

 

[rcliff]

I tried unchecking "Enable always-on mobile network" and it did make a huge improvement in battery usage but as expected it does kill Activesync. So here I am left with a smart phone with no push email OR leave mobile always-on and get terrible battery life. Definitely a deal breaker for me and not a choice I am willing to make. This is clearly not ready for prime time yet. Maybe there will be better options in 6 months. It's too bad because I really like it otherwise.

 

[JerseyFF]

I found that my Youmail app was the holdup on my Eris that was keeping my device from sleeping. My up time is down to ONLY 36% from a constant 100%. Hoping Youmail developers are able to update this bug since I absolutely LOVE their free VM service!

EDIT: Had to delete the app for any success in the phone actually sleeping, and the battery lasts all day for me now too!

 

[misterdroid]

This may have been asked before, but is there a way to slave mobile networking on/off to putting the phone in standby mode? I would love to have mobile networking automatically shut off when I press the off button, rather than have to remember to always toggle it before I put the phone to sleep.

 

[Magnus_CA]

This may have been asked before, but is there a way to slave mobile networking on/off to putting the phone in standby mode? I would love to have mobile networking automatically shut off when I press the off button, rather than have to remember to always toggle it before I put the phone to sleep.

Automatic Task Killer will shut down whatever programs you choose, automatically, every time it goes to sleep. Look for it in the Market.

 

[Magnus_CA]

Anyone notice that the 'Messages' app keeps getting reloaded into memory even when notifications are turned off and Handcent is your default SMS app?

 

[Needsdecaf]

Automatic Task Killer will shut down whatever programs you choose, automatically, every time it goes to sleep. Look for it in the Market.

And has been reported to be a battery killer.

 

[Magnus_CA]

And has been reported to be a battery killer.

Is there an app that isn't a battery killer once you run it the first time since the last boot? All of these memory management programs run full time, which is going to have an impact on battery life and processor overhead. Unless you're inferring ATK doesn't allow the Eris to go to sleep properly, which would present a problem.

 

[Santinoirish]

I'm still uncertain about the repercussions associated with Disabling Mobile Always On. Due to the inadequacy of the security of the Eris, I am not connected through exchange. I do synchronize with Google (gmail, calendar, contacts). I also am connected through my work e-mail via a POP server.

Disabling mobile connectivity overall is not an option for those who receive work e-mails.

Therefore, what are the ramifications for Disabling Mobile Always On? Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Caddyman]

I think disabling mobiles always on stops you from getting emails and what not instantly. Any pushed data notifications you have to manually "get" or "refresh" for....like a iPhone

 

[Daralike]

I applied all the tips from this thread, yet my Eris will not sleep. Any ideas why this is still happening? Should I do a master reset and then do it all again?

 

[Caddyman]

i wouldnt, no, what apps are you running?