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Help First post - galaxy questions

Clock widget is just a mean of presentation of the clock information. Galxy does not have one by default, so yes, if you want a clock actually on your desktop - you'll need to get one from the Market. But beware, in my experience clock widgets further decrease battery life.

You can kill pretty much everything you see in Advanced Task Manager, but don't kill the keyboard (it will restart anyway), don't kill any apps that you know you want to run (a twitter client, custom alarm clock, you name it) - you can add them to ignore list in ATM.

As for the battery life - have you read the corresponding thread?

http://androidforums.com/samsung-i7500/14041-improving-troubleshooting-battery-life.html

Yes, and you have not specified whether you have 3G/2G data turned on and whether you use Auto Sync of Mail, Contacts and Calendar.

From my experience, 24 hours is about right if you are on 3G network with constant Auto-Sync and no nasty apps that prevent the phone from sleeping.
 
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Hello,

Yes I did read the thread you linked, but most of what is written is way above my head. But I will close down all the back-ground apps I am not using and see how much that improves.

I found auto-sync and turned that off, hopefully that saves a bunch of battery power. I'll dig deeper in to the ATM and and turn off additional apps. I have 2G/3G data running, as my physical location is 90% 3G coverage I figured I leave it turned on.

Thanks for the clock info... there is a default analog dial clock, i just wanted to change it to another style, but I will pass on the widgets.

Thanks!

Ryan
 
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Indeed I've forgotten about the default clock widget, but that changes nothing. Want different style - get something off the Market.

I guess you do know that if you turn auto-sync off your phone will not fetch mail and sync contacts and calendar. You'll have to do it manually! You could buy WiSyncPlus form the Market - this app can schedule sync 3g/2g data sessions and save you battery life.


As for the troubleshooting battery life - read it again. It is simple, take your time. But overall comparing with your use with my use - you're more or less fine.
 
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Getting mail depends on which mail app you use, there's two on the phone. The Gmail app and an ordinary mail app. If you turn sync off, you can still add your account to the ordinary mail app and have that check for new mail every xx minutes. I use mine that way, as I don't need up to the second mail delivery. I manually sync calendar and contacts as I need.
 
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Hey, a new Galaxy owner. Welcome! :D

Couple of points:
- I get about a day, or a day and a half, of life out of my phone. I usually charge it overnight and during the working day, but every so often I forget, and find my phone shut off. :( A proper pda and/or phone should, in my opinion, last a week, but at least a weekend would be nice. Them's the breaks nowadays, it seems.

- Leaving GPS turned off doesn't save as much battery as you might think. Even if enabled, the GPS is only active when apps request ("fine") location data, otherwise it's in sleep mode. I keep mine turned on permanently (esp. since only the Settings and the Galaxy "Switcher" can toggle it).

- It's very rare indeed that I turn my brightness up; usually it's at 0% (and when I do, I usually just hit the "Full brightness" instead of fumbling with the slider).

- I don't understand why people want a clock widget, since the time shown in the top bar can't be disabled anyway. Instead, I use a 3x3 "CalWidget" widget on my main home screen, I find that much more useful.

- I'm using "Toggle Settings" with a number of automatic rules:
--- Low battery (<20%): turn off everything except 3G (I get no 2G coverage).
--- 7am: "home" profile; auto sync, turn sound up
--- 8am on weekdays: "outdoor" profile; sync off again, and turn sound way up
--- 9am on weekdays: "work", auto sync on again, turn sound way down
--- 11pm: "night" profile; turn off everything, including sound
Toggle Settings takes a little bit of setting up, but once you have it, it's wonderful! :cool:
 
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My Bell Galaxy will not work in 2G mode, no carrier available. I'm in Vancouver but I would have thought the Bell network to be pretty universal across the country so if your getting 2G your doing better than I.

I use my phone pretty heavily so I will not even get 24HR on a single charge. I use it primarily for Exchange email, phone when not at my desk, commuter video(2 hours a day on the train), Google searches and I use the wifi and GPS a lot as well.

Here is one tip. Install the Google Voice Search which for some reason was left off our Galaxy and not included in the Market. You can download it as an APK at the bottom of this developers website:
Eclosion For Android
 
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switching 3g off (only switching it on when you surf etc.) will save you quite a bit of battery - get the 2g/3g widget on your homescreen

- Leaving GPS turned off doesn't save as much battery as you might think. Even if enabled, the GPS is only active when apps request ("fine") location data, otherwise it's in sleep mode. I keep mine turned on permanently (esp. since only the Settings and the Galaxy "Switcher" can toggle it)

there is a widget that'll toggle gps, tho' it has to restart either wifi or bluetooth (your choice) to do that

altho' it's an interesting point about leaving it on; i'll have to try that
 
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To save battery = consequence:

- Use 2g only = slower data

- Turn off Background data = will break auto update of some apps

- Turn off autosync = will prevent google contacts/mail etc auto syncing

- Turn off GPS - If an apps decides to use it, it WILL drain alot of battery while it searches for satelites. Use cell data for location instead. This uses very little battery. IF you are finding a battery saving by turning this off, it is more likely its because the apps that look for a location are turning themselves off when this is deselected. = less accurate (if u use cell data) or no location updates.

- Turn off APN - saves ALOT of battery = no data

When i had a galaxy i used the following setup:

- 3g off, 2g network
- Background data on
- Autosync off
- GPS off
- cell location on
- brightness auto

And install an APN on/off widget. I think its pointless having an android phone if u turn the data off completly, BUT that widget is very handy when you're not near a charger and hit about 40%. I'm happy to sacrifice data to make that 40% last me for calls alone.
You will be shocked at how long the battery lasts. It lasts me several days with no data from full!
 
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