Help Handcent draining battery?

[StevenSeed]

A while ago I got rid of Handcent because it was very laggy following updates.

Having heard this had been fixed, I have downloaded it again and it's no longer laggy which is great.

However, it is draining the battery. I know this because I've had the System Panel monitor on, and the history shows that the CPU usage for Handcent is high for about 15-20 minutes after I send a message (as opposed to the stock, which just goes down as soon as I've sent a message).

Is there a setting somewhere on Handcent that I'm missing, that's keeping the CPU usage high?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jason71]

I have handcent and System Panel and I can't see any excess cpu usage on handcent so I don't think it is a generic problem. I haven't changed any of the default settings as far as I am aware.

 

[StevenSeed]

I have handcent and System Panel and I can't see any excess cpu usage on handcent so I don't think it is a generic problem. I haven't changed any of the default settings as far as I am aware.

I wonder why it's a problem on mine then?

 

[sare99]

I've been texting heavily all morning using Handcent (maybe 30 texts or so outbound) but it's only showing 2% battery usage in my stats.

I'm using the "What's been using the battery" option from the phone settings rather than System Panel though. I can't say I'm noticing Handcent causing any particular problems and love it because I can have different coloured notification LED's.....*does happy dance*

 

[StevenSeed]

I'm thinking it may be a problem with system panel, or a possible "layer 8" problem (i.e. I can't read it right).

I've just sent a text to myself at 12:50, and that hasn't shown up on the CPU usage for Handcent on system panel at all. I'll try sending a message to myself, leaving it for 5 minutes and retrieving it now to see if it's actually the blue flashing LED that's causing the issue.

 

[StevenSeed]

Sods law! The second I posted that the graph has updated itself (must poll the CPU every so often or something) and it's shown CPU usage for Handcent between 12:50 and 13:10!!

So even when I send a text, and flick the phone into standby, Handcent still uses CPU for 20 minutes later. Any further suggestions as to what is causing this would be greatly appreciated. I really love Handcent and would hate to have to ditch it, especially after reading the thread about texts going to the wrong people on the stock app!

 

[StevenSeed]

I'm using the "What's been using the battery" option from the phone settings rather than System Panel though.

Sorry to be a nuisance, but is this the *#*#4636#*#* thing?

 

[StevenSeed]

Sorry to be a nuisance, but is this the *#*#4636#*#* thing?

I've just looked and it's definitely stopping the phone from sleeping for 20 mins after texting.

Partial wake usage, since last unplugged (4 hours ago), sent about 10 texts, blue bar is almost halfway across screen. What's keeping it awake?

 

[furious duck]

I've just looked and it's definitely stopping the phone from sleeping for 20 mins after texting.

Partial wake usage, since last unplugged (4 hours ago), sent about 10 texts, blue bar is almost halfway across screen. What's keeping it awake?

Never had the issue you're describing. Have you tried an uninstall and then reinstall?

 

[StevenSeed]

Never had the issue you're describing. Have you tried an uninstall and then reinstall?

In all honesty, I'd rather not do this as I've just got the settings how I want them, and an uninstall/reinstall would mean I'd have to redo everything.

If there's no other option, I'll give it a go, and see if it makes a difference.

Thanks

 

[StevenSeed]

Okay, just swallowed hard and re-installed. Let's see what happens....

 

[StevenSeed]

I found the issue!

When you receive a message, the phone does not sleep until you retrieve the message.

This is a real shame as I can't always get to messages straight away so it's really going to sap my battery, but I'm surprised no one else is experiencing this....

 

[LECTER]

Send an email here:

admin@handcent.com

They are great at helping out.

 

[StevenSeed]

Send an email here:

admin@handcent.com

They are great at helping out.

You must have read my mind - I've literally just done that!!!

 

[LECTER]

You must have read my mind - I've literally just done that!!!

lol!!

 

[sookster54]

Been using Handcent for months, haven't seen any odd issues, I also use the blue LED (which stays on solid in Cyanogenmod 6, wish it flashed like normal).

As someone else said in another thread, funny how many people have different behavior on the same device.

 

[StevenSeed]

Been using Handcent for months, haven't seen any odd issues, I also use the blue LED (which stays on solid in Cyanogenmod 6, wish it flashed like normal).

As someone else said in another thread, funny how many people have different behavior on the same device.

It's very frustrating - I'd love to be able to use Handcent knowing that it wasn't killing my battery. I'll wait and see what Handcent Admin come back with.

 

[StevenSeed]

Think I've found the issue - it's the LED setting.

I've set it to Default, and it doesn't seem to keep the phone awake with a new message now. Only thing is the default option is just a stable blue light, and I quite liked it blinking. Oh well, guess you can't have everything.

 

[robinta]

I had this. If I set the LED notification to anything other than default, the app went crazy & drained the battery. Setting to default means its been fine & I quite like the solid blue LED !

 

[sare99]

Sorry to be a nuisance, but is this the *#*#4636#*#* thing?

Um no......I don't know what the System Panel the original poster refers to is but here is where I got my data from:-

Menu ----> Settings ----> About Phone ----> Battery ----> What has been using the Battery

 

[StevenSeed]

Um no......I don't know what the System Panel the original poster refers to is but here is where I got my data from:-

Menu ----> Settings ----> About Phone ----> Battery ----> What has been using the Battery

Sorry should have posted earlier - i did manage to find this. Problem is it doesn't really tell you much - "Android System" is rather vague!

 

[Rob Jones]

Sorry should have posted earlier - i did manage to find this. Problem is it doesn't really tell you much - "Android System" is rather vague!

So what does it all mean? I use handcent and have the following:
cell standby 61%
phone idle 31%

 

[StevenSeed]

So what does it all mean? I use handcent and have the following:
cell standby 61%
phone idle 31%

Cell Standby is the % of battery taken up by your phone having no signal, and Phone Idle is the % of battery taken up by the phone being in an idle state (i.e. you not doing anything with it).

Handcent comes under the "Android System" bracket, which as I said is rather vague and could be anything. Be nice if that was broken down a bit....

 

[tobydjones]

Think I've found the issue - it's the LED setting.

I've set it to Default, and it doesn't seem to keep the phone awake with a new message now. Only thing is the default option is just a stable blue light, and I quite liked it blinking. Oh well, guess you can't have everything.

Thanks to this post I looked at my LED settings. I realised it was set to root control of LED to allow me to change the colour. Turning this off has stopped the phone going to 100% CPU after each text (and explained why handcent was asking for su!) so thank you! (My LED is now blinking, but green - apparently on the Desire only phones with sense are able to change LED colour).

 

[TimMatrix]

Try downloading a cool software called "MyPhoneExplorer" available at this site: FJ Software Development.

Select ANDROID and follow instructions. When installed, you'll be able to see the CPU usage in REAL TIME on the PC screen, while you're using the HTC Desire (still connected to PC with a USB cable). That way, you can identify which app is using the CPU resources.

Try it and let me know if that helps?