Help AT&T recommends ATK

[r0bert4]

I have been having issues with my battery not lasting very long. Less than 11 hours with my screen on 0%, email checking every 30 minutes, and weatherbug once an hour, and a dark wallpaper.

She asked if I was using a task killer and I told her I was not. I had read the pros and cons of task killers and had decided against it. She told me that with THIS phone, the Capitivate, that it was necessary to use one to improve battery life. There are too many apps that start up with the phone that use system memory and it kills the battery.

I recharged my phone, but have yet to see that it is making much of a difference. It has been unplugged for 2 hours and 17 minutes and the battery is at 73%. Voice calls are 61% and display is 21%. The voice calls lasted 16 minutes.

So, any thoughts on being told by a "Droid" specialist at AT&T to use a task killer and why is my battery dying so fast. I bought a second battery and it dies just as fast.

robert

As a side note, I am using advanced task killer, but not auto-killing stuff. I manually hit the widget when I am done doing stuff or making calls in order to kill the apps.

 

[contradictions]

Sure, how about AT&T instead give us a way to remove their preinstalled bloatware instead. Killing apps with task killers can have adverse side effects in most circumstances and hurt battery life overall. It kills too many tasks that really should be running.

 

[Simba501]

I use ATK...and it has no adverse effects if used properly. With ATK, you can set the security to high and it doesn't show processes. It will only show apps. The key, after this, is to establish a well thought out ignore list of things that need to remain open for any type of updating (email, clock, any widgets, etc.).

 

[EarlyMon]

Welcome to the forums!

Sprint recommended this for Evo owners (many reps even insist on installing it at their stores) - and we all tried it - but - we found the improvement wasn't what it seemed and in general, stopped.

We found that mostly, the stock configuration is set to constantly babble data - Facebook, Twitter, Google Talk, etc.

If you're using Gmail (and it's configured in there somewhere - you need it a gmail acct with Android), you might check out Google Talk. Most users find that Google Talk is always on - it tends to babble to the servers - and when it sees email, it triggers an instant download for Gmail.

Myself, I opened Google Talk, went to settings, and turned off auto-login - and then killed it.

I then turned off Gmail and set my stock Mail app to get email from all my accounts - these poll on their own configured setting. I have work set to poll every 10 minutes, but my friend-email accts to poll once an hour.

If you don't have such a stock Mail app on the Captivate, you can try that with K-9 Mail (free, Market) - or get other Captivate user's advice.

Also - check all of your apps settings for auto- this and auto- that. Your phone might be trying to post your GPS location to Locations, and you might not be using that.

In fact - I have a widget that lets me turn my GPS on and off when I choose.

You can also turn off Google account auto-syncing - just sync once a day by hand.

These are all great battery saving tips - but take the word of other Captivate owners over mine.

If you must try auto-killing apps (and I don't recommend it, really) consider trying Startup Cleaner 2.0 instead of ATK. While many claim it's improved - ATK itself tends to use too much battery.

And to see the truth, free in the Market, get SystemPanel Lite and/or Spare Parts. They'll show you the truth of what's running and using what resources. Note with these tools, things that look like just displayed info tend to really be buttons - so press anything you see to get the hang of them.

We may move this thread to one of the sub-forums so you'll get the attention you need. Don't be alarmed by this.

Read the "Sticky" post of the thread you're moved to.

Cheers!

 

[r0bert4]

I have gone through and changed some more settings on my phone based on the recommendations here. I turned off google talk and told gmail not to sync. My wife has the exact same phone and hers has been on 15 hours and is at 65%. It's just beating me down.

She is running a live wallpaper, auto brightness (mine is set at 0%) and has facebook, gmail and everything else syncing all the time. Did I just get a bad phone?

I will check my settings after it recharges to 100% again and see how it does now...

Thanks for the advice,
robert

 

[lunatic59]

I have gone through and changed some more settings on my phone based on the recommendations here. I turned off google talk and told gmail not to sync. My wife has the exact same phone and hers has been on 15 hours and is at 65%. It's just beating me down.

She is running a live wallpaper, auto brightness (mine is set at 0%) and has facebook, gmail and everything else syncing all the time. Did I just get a bad phone?

I will check my settings after it recharges to 100% again and see how it does now...

Thanks for the advice,
robert

One thing that might be causing such a rapid battery drain is an app running out of control. Give Watchdog Task Manager Lite - Android app on AppBrain a try. It will alert you if an app exceeds normal CPU cycles.

 

[EarlyMon]

Have you tried the SystemPanel Lite or Spare Parts yet?

Are her settings truly the same?

 

[Jack45]

One thing that might be causing such a rapid battery drain is an app running out of control. Give Watchdog Task Manager Lite - Android app on AppBrain a try. It will alert you if an app exceeds normal CPU cycles.

+1

 

[r0bert4]

Have you tried the SystemPanel Lite or Spare Parts yet?

Are her settings truly the same?

Her settings are not the same. She has a live wallpaper running, her email,facebook, and weatherbug update 4 times more often, and her screen is brighter. However, her battery is lasting 3 times as long. I am going to switch batteries tonight and verify that it isn't the battery. I am using watchdog and systempanel, and neither show anything unusual.

AT&T is supposed to call tomorrow as a followup and I am going to request a warranty replacement if the second battery doesn't fix this. This is the 3rd time I have tried to fix this with them. It might just be easier to drop it in the toilet and get the insurance replacement.

I wouldn't be so frustrated if my wife's phone wasn't mocking me every day.

robert

 

[EarlyMon]

Officially, we don't condone fraud on the forums - you can imagine...

With other brands, we've seen this sort of thing related to things like the 3G radio in the phone being buggy. I doubt you'd see that sort of issue with software tools if there's any underlying hardware problem.

Even a bit of errant solder on the motherboard could be bleeding charge.

Rather than drop it in the toilet, try taking it to the store and insisting, as part of your consumer rights, that it's not your job to diagnose this - it's theirs

Best luck! Keep us posted.

 

[mjosephc]

It might just be easier to drop it in the toilet and get the insurance replacement.

See, Robert, this is not how you're supposed to do it. Now you're on the RECORD with your attempts to commit fraud.

And yes, for the record, I know this guy personally...unfortunately.

 

[r0bert4]

I wouldn't actually drop it in the toilet because I don't want to pay the deductible on the phone, I am just frustrated. When they call tomorrow I will insist on a new phone. This has been going on for too long now.

I just got the phone looking the way I wanted too. Crap.

I do appreciate all the help.

 

[EarlyMon]

Stongly advise a good backup, like MyBackup Pro (paid app, Market) - it'll pay for itself in your time alone, IMO.

Basically, you'll backup everything to your SD card, and then back that entire SD card up to your PC. That way, if they don't swap your SD card - you're safe.

I use Titanium Backup, for rooted users, personally, but the one I'm suggesting seems to get the most user votes around here.

Other backup products are suggested in this thread for Evo - but Android is Android.

http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-support-troubleshooting/141369-how-fix-froyo.html

I always recommend a good backup. An investment of a few bucks saves a lot of time - and these are smartphones, and we all know Murphy's Law.

 

[garak0410]

Well, over the past few days, I had problems with my phone turning off by itself or rebooting at random and sometimes in a loop...so I disabled Advanced Task Killer and rebooted...my battery life TANKED...and this was with moderate use...I'd take it off the charger in the morning and by noon, it was almost out...I do have a lot of installed apps too...and the rebooting returned, so I think I've narrowed it down to a suspect app...I turned ATK back on and battery life increased a lot...

 

[garak0410]

I use ATK...and it has no adverse effects if used properly. With ATK, you can set the security to high and it doesn't show processes. It will only show apps. The key, after this, is to establish a well thought out ignore list of things that need to remain open for any type of updating (email, clock, any widgets, etc.).

I agree there...I ignore some favorite apps and especially EMAIL...

 

[wes78]

I use it a million times a day and kill everything all the time and nothing has ever gone wrong. It's a great app.

 

[shoman94]

I personally use it and set it to aggressive. I chose apps that I use all the time... like messaging, gmail, etc.... my gmail is set to push so its instant. My display is auto.... but the browser brightness is lowered in the browser settings.
I probably have about 3 hrs worth of browsing... 1 hr of talking... texting most of the day..... tweets every 30 minutes. Plus whatever else..... some angry birds...lol
I have a live background also..... trees swaying and snowflakes.

Anyways..... phone has been unplugged for 16hrs.... I'm at 20% remaining..... I'm ok with it so far....

So for right now... I like ATK.... working well

 

[r0bert4]

So as a followup, I received a new phone on Friday from AT&T. I immediately killed the normal things, gmail, talk, but put my email back to every 10 minutes (email is important in my work life), and facebook to every 30 minutes, and weatherbug to 30 minutes. Still not using a live wallpaper since I am checking battery life for a normal workday.

Today it has been on for 12 hours and is at 44% left. Normally it would have died over an hour ago. I used my phone as I would normally use it.

So, in conclusion, my old phone had a flaw somewhere and this one doesn't.

Also, all my apps work, and the phone itself is at least twice as fast even with the exact same stuff on it as before.

I think as a test, I may try a task killer just to see a difference. Maybe a week of recording my % remaining after 12 hours with no task killer, and then a week with a task killer. It might be interesting.

I appreciate the help and am using the information gained from this thread and applying it to the new phone.

Thank you very much,
robert

 

[lunatic59]

I use it a million times a day and kill everything all the time and nothing has ever gone wrong. It's a great app.

So ... you use it once every second ... I wish I had a 277 hour day