I brought mine back and got a new one. This one says Google on the back instead of htc. This one seems to sleep properly. I have not used sms since I had it. I disabled the factory program and installed handcent. I'll post back after a day or so to see how its goin. I'm at 47% right now. But I used it a lot after getting it.
I installed chompSMS last night and it fixed my battery problem. However, this morning, I was unable to receive texts and people were calling me asking why I wasn't responding to their texts (impatient, right?).
I rebooted my phone again and everything is working fine now, except my chompSMS icon no longer says chompSMS. Instead, it is called com.p1.chompsms, its program name. Any way to change it back? It's not a big deal because it works, it's mostly for aesthetics.
Ultimate fixed that I found was buy an extra Battery. I get through the whole day with wifi on, gps on ,message like a mad man, etc conference calls with speaker on.
Ultimate fixed that I found was buy an extra Battery. I get through the whole day with wifi on, gps on ,message like a mad man, etc conference calls with speaker on.
Found this forum searching Google to buy a stronger battery because of the voracious battery drain of this of my new Sprint HTC Hero. Saw this thread, and have now joined the forums, and implemented the suggestions, in this thread. Using Handcent etc., and the phone is now sleeping. Thanks to all for the temporary solution until the OS is upgraded and hopefully fixes this problem.
Other than this small problem, I am having a great time getting familiar with this phone. It's my first PDA/Smartphone, and I realize this is really a computer that makes phone calls! I had been considering the iPhone, but have been a Sprint customer for a long time, and didn't want to switch over to AT&T. Plus, I like the fact that the HTC Hero has a removable battery, and expandable memory, plus the ability for anyone to write programs and share them.
Every phone or product will have it's pluses and minuses, but overall I'm having fun hooking into 21st century phone technology, and being able to share texts, photos etc. with family and friends. I'm looking forward to reading this forum on a regular basis, and utilizing all the tips, tricks, and programs I find here. All you contributors, and Admins rock!
Question. I have tried both chomp and handcent and with both of them I still have to go into taskiller to kill the message task after I send a text message. I installed taskpanel and use the auto kill feature to kill the message app after 5 minutes, but it too drains the battery pretty quickly. When everyone else installed chomp or handcent, did you guys (and gals) still have to kill the message app after you send a text? I did shut off the notification of the factory installed message app.
rckozma, go back and read the instructions again ;-)
*You do not need to kill anything.*
Just do not use the Messages app that came with the phone and you are all set.
(Messages will still run in the background because it is needed, but ignore it.)
Thanks ron, but when I would leave it running my battery life would drain fast. I did everything in the instructions, which is why I was asking the question. If I send a text (again using either chomp or handsent) then go into taskiller and kill the message app, my battery would last all day like everyone elses. But if I send a text using chomp or handsent and not kill the message app then I am recharging the battery after about 5-6 hours. I guess that is why I was asking the question. There have been a few times that I forgot to kill the message app after sending a text and a couple of hours later I look at my phone and it is almost dead. I haven't used the message app that came with the phone since this thread was started. Although I got to say I miss the widget for the built in message app (the scrolling billboard one).
So it sounds like everyone else doesn't have to kill the message app after sending a text once they have implemented this fix? I though I read somewhere that chomp still used the message app to send sms as it did not have a sms feature unless you wanted to pay for its' credits, which is why I also tried the handsent.
I will go back to the first message and re-do the fix step-by-step again, maybe I missed something. I did reboot it after shutting off the notification of the factory messaging app.
Last edited by rckozma; October 27th, 2009 at 10:03 AM.
We have a clear issue here, someone -a good samaritan- found and reported a bug in HTC's OS.The same person did a darn good job suggesting a workaround for it.
Now it's time for HTC to do something, an update or ..don't know.
I mean, this smartphone is a best seller and by now the one of the most polished Android devices, when will they give us the chance to use every feature in the bundled software?
I feel lucky to have found this post and this forum but I'm wondering how many people are unaware of the whole thing and feel sorry for thei voracious Hero.
It's time to do something, dear developers, we're waiting
And, last but not least, many thanks to flipz, since now I'm not so concerned while strolling around with my Hero without USB ports nearby..
My friend and I both purchased Heros and we are both seeing pretty poor battery life. Using a couple of different things we believe we have figured out where the problem lies, but we are unsure how to fix it!
Here's what we know:
Menu < Settings < About Phone < Status < Awake Time
Both of ours have an awake time of 100%. According to other Android users, the lower this number is the better your battery life. So basically this is saying that even when the phone is off, it's not asleep. It is fully awake 100% of the time. Up time should not be the same as awake time.
Using an app called Spare Parts (Cyrket - Spare Parts) you can dig a little deeper.
Spare Parts < Battery History < Partial Wake Usage < Since Last Unplugged.
My phone is showing that the dialer has a wake lock for 16h. This appears to mean that the phone can't sleep because the dialer has locked it.
You can also check under "Other Usage." I have "Running", "Screen on", and "Phone on." Running says:
ll you have to do is download power manger from the market and that will fix the battery problem... I even get result as low as 34%
No I'm sorry its not that easy. He needs to reset the phone completely and do not use the factory sms..download hancent from the market. Disable the factory program. Do not use task kill..that kept my phone from not sleeping too. My phone stays at 8% wake time.
No I'm sorry its not that easy. He needs to reset the phone completely and do not use the factory sms..download hancent from the market. Disable the factory program. Do not use task kill..that kept my phone from not sleeping too. My phone stays at 8% wake time.
Thats where my wake time was sitting before I returned my Hero.
__________________ You can get blood from a stone, you just have to throw it hard enough.
Firstly, thanks to everyone working on this Fix; I can't believe how frustrating it is to buy this fascinating phone and not have it work properly out of the gate, nor have an update out in a timely fashion. Patience, right?
Anyway, I have attempted all of the above recommendations, up to and including reset, and unfortunately I'm still not getting sleep time for my phone. After the reset/handcent/disabling of messaging scenario this morning, I did see sleep time for a while, but when I woke up, I noticed that the % was nowhere near where it should have been, indicating that something woke it up while I was asleep. It was not charging, I received no texts/calls, and I did receive hotmail. Since the reset, the only thing I've DL'd is Handcent. I have charged my phone another cycle, and rebooted(now several tims, to no avail). I wonder why we are all getting such different results?
Also, I noticed something on my reboots: I keep my phone on vibrate always, and when it was able to sleep, it did not "chirp" during the HTC Hero screens; however, now everytime I reboot it does chirp, even on vibrate, and it will not sleep; coincidence, or co-symptomatic?
Thanks in advance; I can't wait to actually fix this...:/
Is there a way to actually see what programs are causing the hero NOT to sleep. I've done the fix, so my hero is not awake 100%, but I have anecdotal evidence that with the standard lock screen from Sprint, I don't get as low of an awake percentage as I do with Lock 2.0. This is only anecdotal evidence, and I'm not sure what the difference is, but I do notice about a 15-20% difference in awake time.
I suspect there are other apps that are prohibiting the hero from true sleep and I wonder if there is a way to find them out.
I also read in some other forum that once you reboot youre phone you cant let it automatically go to sleep. You have to push the red button to make it sleep manually the first time. It actually worked for me.
Does anyone know if this issue was resolved in an OS update? I am impressed by the research and effort so many of you put into this. I'm hoping you'll all be around for the first problem I encounter with my Hero when it arrives!
Device(s): Palm for almost 10 years -> HTC Hero and loving it!
Thanks: 6
Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by quentinfisher
Handcent seems to consume less battery power than ChompSMS for me, anyone else tried both of these?
there was another thread about this issue and they found chomp was still a problem so i continued using the stock messanger for a while to see what else they'd say - a few people mentioned handscent as a battery helper so i gave it a shot and love it - it's so customizable and saved my battery! i disabled the notifications and clear the history for the stock messanger and have since had no issues. people in the other thread (which i'd post except i closed the window and can't seem to locate it just yet!!) mentioned that chomp still utilizes the stock service in the background without you knowing so doesn't fix it as well as it could be fixed. i will post a link to the other thread just as soon as i can track it down!!
Okay, so just to be sure I understand, I should download chompsms, KILL the message app using TaskKiller, and turn off wifi and bluetooth.
How do I turn off GPS? And how can I manage the sleep/wake thing (I know, you've all gone through it tons of times, but I'm technologically challenged). And what's this Always-ON feature SNAKExBITE mentioned? Also, what is partial wake lock?
Thanks, and sorry again for being so dense.
I had a task killer and used to kill everything I did not need running. Taking the advise on this forum, I stopped using it. My battery life has almost doubled. At 10:00 last night I was still over 50% battery life. The phone will manage the programs by itself, and put to sleep the programs that are not running. Try it and you will see the difference. I am getting much better battery life and my phone is running much better, with very little to no lag. Good luck.
Everyone has had this problem except me. My Hero can go 2 days without charging and I text A LOT! The only battery problem I had was when I downloaded the BBC news app. That thing sucked my Hero dry.
you shouldn't need task killer, when you download apps, make sure it doesn't say under the descriptions that it prevents phone from sleeping. Apps, like youmail will keep your awake time at 100%. If your awake time is at 100% and you already are using a 3rd market sms app, then you need to delete the apps you got from the market one by one and turn off screen after each one you delete, if your awake time changes then thats the app thats causing your phone from sleeping.
OK - I will sound stupid but I have only had my Hero 3 weeks. The first couple of weeks I had no problem with battery life. For about the last week it has been pathetic. How can I find what the awake percent is that you all are talking about. FYI - I have had Handcent since about the first day. I want to turn all the notifications off for the default 'message' app. Can somebody tell me briefly and very precisely how to do this. Thanks
...How can I find what the awake percent is that you all are talking about.
...I want to turn all the notifications off for the default 'message' app.
For the awake percent, goto Menu > About Phone > Status > and then at the bottom of the next screen is the awake time.
Turn off notifications in original Messaging App; Goto the original messaging app by hitting the up arrow next to the phone button then selecting "messages". Hit menu > Settings> and uncheck Notifications.
I just bought my Hero thanks to a trade in credit available to me and an early Father's day present from my wife.
First thing I noticed was the horrible battery life!
Started searching my best friend, Google, for an answer, and found this forum and thread.
Implemented everything I found in this thread and nothing worked well until I turned off the GPS. That alone seems to have done it for me.
Since yesterday, I have had to charge the phone 3 times, but, I have not let it go completely down, but, already, after turning GPS off, I can tell the battery drain is dropping.
Don't see why I would need GPS, I would think that the cell tower location method will work fine, I have a Tom Tom for use in my vehicle, so I will rarely have to use Sprint Navigation.
I do like the Handcent SMS application and Google Sky, and so far, really love the phone now that the battery life thing seems to be solved.
My last phone was the original Instinct and the battery was getting to where it would no longer hold a charge for the whole day, and it came with a 2nd battery and I really didn't want to have a new phone with the same problem!
Thanks to all who contributed to solving this problem!!
After I rooted my Hero. and install CM6.1. I'm in love all over again. Blazing fast, Interface eye candy, Apps that really perform up to standards like Rom Manager, apps2sd, Spare Parts, Superuser, etc. It even fix my drop calls problem. No more lags,
But battery was still an issue. After reading this threat I started to check for things that might suck my battery's blood like a vampire in front of a bloody person. Of course the messaging was one of them, but I also found that my wifi was sucking 99%. My wifi is on all the time. Never though of tuning the wifi off since i purchased the phone. And also the GPS was consuming battery like the energizer bunny. So Hopefully this will fix the issue, if not I'll be back in no time.
get power manger
