Easy way to increase battery life

[Gardium]

As this seems to be a popular topic, I thought I'd post my suggestion .

My DHD has a battery life of about 2 full days (meaning, after one night of charging, I unplugg it, and don't plug it in, before the evening about 40 hours after). By the time I charge, it has about 20% battery left, so I charge it over the night so it doesn't die during the next day before I can charge.

This is ofc, without much gaming, nor listening much to music. Maybe 1-2 hours of both in the duration of those two days, so ofc doing these things will decrease the time. But it does include using the phone to call with (say, about 10 calls each lasting 5-6 min) and texting about 30-40 texts.

I also have sync on, so my google calendar and gmail are updated, and I use the weather/clock app (the standard one from HTC), plus widgets (such as Spotify, power control widget, and data control widget, profile widget, I have the favorite contact widget, the full weather widget and the GPS/position widget).

1) What I found to cut down battery use a lot, is a option under the Mobile network. When at your home screen, tap the menu button -> Settings -> Wireless & networks -> Mobile networks -> and now uncheck the bottom option that says "Enable always-on mobile data" (under it does say "uses more power on some mobile networks). This will disable the "constant" communication the phone might have on. However, it does not disable the active sync. So having active sync on for google, HTC sense and weather still work (these are the active syncs I have on).

2) Another thing, is the screen brightness. At your home screen, tap the menu button -> Settings -> Display -> Brightness -> now put the screen brightness to about 1/3 of full strength, and disable automatic brightness

3) Use a background on your home screen that is static. I use the HTC wallpapers nr. 7 (blueish background with white transparent curly lines). Its nice and pleasant to watch, and gives good contrast. Do not use the live wallpapers. As for the scene and skin I just use the HTC default.

4) Use a good task-killer app, and use it OFTEN. I usually kill all the apps on my phone about every 4-6 hours when I'm awake. The more task that are on, the more battery it uses. I recommend using the "Advanced Task Killer Free". It's programmed to ignore vital system processes, it shuts down the apps and doesn't care if they start up again (so no internal "fight" that can suck up juice), and its easy to use.

Hope this guide helps, and that it prolongs your battery life on your DHD . If anyone has any questions, please feel free to post them, and I'll answer as well as I can , though no guarantees

 

[NelleKelly85]

Hi there

I have had my HTC HD Desire phone now for a week and 3 days. I am happy with it but not happy with the battery life I have read your tips and have done what you have suggested however My phone has not lasted a whole day since I got it! I don

 

[dvhttn]

... 4) Use a good task-killer app, and use it OFTEN. I usually kill all the apps on my phone about every 4-6 hours when I'm awake. The more task that are on, the more battery it uses. I recommend using the "Advanced Task Killer Free". It's programmed to ignore vital system processes, it shuts down the apps and doesn't care if they start up again (so no internal "fight" that can suck up juice), and its easy to use. ...

DO NOT USE A TASK KILLER!

For more enlightenment go see:

FAQ: Why You Shouldn’t Be Using a Task Killer with Android

http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid/18334-task-killer-apps-truth.html
"... Just my 2 pennies...but I've found my Droid to perform noticeably faster with Advanced Task Killer uninstalled. This was one of the first apps I put on my phone to help KEEP it running quickly, but I have been very unhappy with the slow performance. I've gone through multiple reboots and systematic installing/uninstalling of apps until I hit upon the least likely culprit, ATK. After removing it completely, I've noticed a significant difference in respect to keyboard lag, UI refreshing, and possibly battery life. ..."

Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn't Use Them

etc etc

Android does NOT work the same way as Windows.

Dave

 

[Gardium]

Hi there

I have had my HTC HD Desire phone now for a week and 3 days. I am happy with it but not happy with the battery life I have read your tips and have done what you have suggested however My phone has not lasted a whole day since I got it! I don’t use it much as I am at work for 9 hours of the day! Do you have any other suggestions for me? I am almost ready to take it back!

Hmm. I see your problem. Can you go to: Home screen -> Menu -> Settings -> (all the way down) About phone -> Battery -> Battery Use

Can you please list what is written there, and their respective %?

It sounds like your phone is doing stuff in the background that it really shouldn't be doing, and there can be various reasons. But first its a good idea to localize WHAT is taking much of your battery power.

Also, have you conditioned your battery? Usually, when I get a new phone (although I know that with newer batteries its not NECESSARY, but it still has an effect on battery life I believe), I dont open it before the night before I go to bed, and I let the battery charge throughout the whole night (i.e. 8-9 hours) before I unplugg it, and then I let it drain as much battery as I can (basically the phone is dying, or has died and can't start up again) before I charge it again. And this I do again, I let it charge 8-9 hours, then drain it completely again.

If you have used your battery though, and not done this, there are other methods. I'm not too familiar with those, but something like "charge for 9 hours while on, then turn off, charge 1 hour more, then unplug, and drain for 2-3 hours, plug in again while on for 5-6 hours , then turn off and let it be for 1 hour charging more before unplugging and turning on" (but again, I'm not sure about this).

As for the post last posted here, I'd disregard that. It was a known issues with earlier version of Android, before the programmers made "better" task-killers. Some people have stuck to the idea never to have them again, but like with all new software, things are bound to be buggy and bad in the start, but they eventually get fixed. There are still many buggy task-killers out there, but if you use "Advanced Task Killer Free" (and take the one that is not phony ofc, just check for ratings and comments) there should be no problems at all with the latest version. Also remember to update your apps from the market regularly

PS! I have read the links in that last post, and I see what they claim, however, a good task-killer does not kill essential system processes, and it does not try to keep the program it closes shut. IF the program is designed to be up all the time, the app-killer I refer to will simply shut it, dump its memory, and the process will start back up again. Ergo there will be no "fight", and thus no juice being pulled unnecessarily

PS again! Check the date of the FAQ...

This entry was posted by flipz on December 26, 2009

It was for pre Android 1.6 ^^, I say no more

(Edit: sorry the quoted rating was for a comment in the article )

 

[abhineetkundu]

Hmm. I see your problem. Can you go to: Home screen -> Menu -> Settings -> (all the way down) About phone -> Battery -> Battery Use

Can you please list what is written there, and their respective %?

It sounds like your phone is doing stuff in the background that it really shouldn't be doing, and there can be various reasons. But first its a good idea to localize WHAT is taking much of your battery power.

Also, have you conditioned your battery? Usually, when I get a new phone (although I know that with newer batteries its not NECESSARY, but it still has an effect on battery life I believe), I dont open it before the night before I go to bed, and I let the battery charge throughout the whole night (i.e. 8-9 hours) before I unplugg it, and then I let it drain as much battery as I can (basically the phone is dying, or has died and can't start up again) before I charge it again. And this I do again, I let it charge 8-9 hours, then drain it completely again.

If you have used your battery though, and not done this, there are other methods. I'm not too familiar with those, but something like "charge for 9 hours while on, then turn off, charge 1 hour more, then unplug, and drain for 2-3 hours, plug in again while on for 5-6 hours , then turn off and let it be for 1 hour charging more before unplugging and turning on" (but again, I'm not sure about this).

As for the post last posted here, I'd disregard that. It was a known issues with earlier version of Android, before the programmers made "better" task-killers. Some people have stuck to the idea never to have them again, but like with all new software, things are bound to be buggy and bad in the start, but they eventually get fixed. There are still many buggy task-killers out there, but if you use "Advanced Task Killer Free" (and take the one that is not phony ofc, just check for ratings and comments) there should be no problems at all with the latest version. Also remember to update your apps from the market regularly

PS! I have read the links in that last post, and I see what they claim, however, a good task-killer does not kill essential system processes, and it does not try to keep the program it closes shut. IF the program is designed to be up all the time, the app-killer I refer to will simply shut it, dump its memory, and the process will start back up again. Ergo there will be no "fight", and thus no juice being pulled unnecessarily

PS again! Check the date of the FAQ...

It was for pre Android 1.6 ^^, I say no more

(Edit: sorry the quoted rating was for a comment in the article )

I had tried that conditioning thing you told me before. The thing is that it worked wonders the first time i did it. My phone was up for more than 40hrs with everything working fine. But when I had to recharge it, my phone was back to its normal self, i.e. <24hrs battery life.

 

[dvhttn]

... PS! I have read the links in that last post, and I see what they claim, however, a good task-killer does not kill essential system processes, and it does not try to keep the program it closes shut. IF the program is designed to be up all the time, the app-killer I refer to will simply shut it, dump its memory, and the process will start back up again. Ergo there will be no "fight", and thus no juice being pulled unnecessarily

PS again! Check the date of the FAQ...

It was for pre Android 1.6 ^^, I say no more

(Edit: sorry the quoted rating was for a comment in the article )

OK. How about an article from an Android developer (a developer of Android that is!) explaining why they are NOT necessary ... Android Developers Blog: Multitasking the Android Way ... but you go ahead and use one if you feel you know more than the designers/coders of Android ....

Dave

 

[Gardium]

I had tried that conditioning thing you told me before. The thing is that it worked wonders the first time i did it. My phone was up for more than 40hrs with everything working fine. But when I had to recharge it, my phone was back to its normal self, i.e. <24hrs battery life.

Hi. As I did state, I do not know much about the conditioning on "boosting" an already used battery. I have just read about it. Honestly, I have always conditioned my battery from first use, and that has done wonders for me. The latest phones I have had, have always lasted almost 10-20% longer in battery life than what has been stated by the manufacturer.

So my recommendation for you, if you want a good battery, is unfortunately to buy a complete new battery, and do as I have explained in the guide (charging 8-9 hours the two/three first times, and drain the battery completely before charging again). Hope it works out

PS! My batteries have also lasted over 1 year before getting a noticable worse effect =)

 

[Gardium]

OK. How about an article from an Android developer (a developer of Android that is!) explaining why they are NOT necessary ... Android Developers Blog: Multitasking the Android Way ... but you go ahead and use one if you feel you know more than the designers/coders of Android ....

Dave

Well, I do admit this article is a bit more up-to-date, but it's still almost 1 year old now.

And if you focus on this thread, we are talking BATTERY LIFE, not functionaltiy/performance. TBH, with such a phone as the DHD, there is really no problem with speed and efficiency, as this is such a powerful phone.

I see what the developers write, and I agree, to some extent it's good to let some of the apps run in the background. However, when you have so many apps open (even if they say the application is not doing anything), the RAM is filled up. This will drain battery power no matter what (and as stated, even if they are not doing anything). This is because RAM memory work with a constant pull of power to keep the memory there. The metal used in RAM is not magnetic, and thus cannot store the information like the ROMs (that do not pull a constant flow of power, but are rather "read" by the magnitization). So I think it's good to find a balance, between how much "smoothness" you want in your applications, and how much battery you want to use. Thus I only kill my apps every 4-6 hours. However this is quite "often". On the other hand, I get a nice battery life, without noticing too much delay in efficiency

PS! That last article did not say anything about that it is bad to have task-killer apps... Although I do see the point about the efficiency. But again, this thread is about the power , and if having a slightly laggy start on something is what it takes so the battery can keep for 1.5 days+, I'm fine with that.

 

[dvhttn]

...

PS! That last article did not say anything about that it is bad to have task-killer apps... Although I do see the point about the efficiency. But again, this thread is about the power , and if having a slightly laggy start on something is what it takes so the battery can keep for 1.5 days+, I'm fine with that.

OK. On to battery efficiency then. Until recently I was charging thew phone every day but, as I'm at home most of the time now, I decided to test out switching on 3G and wifi only when needed instead of having them on all the time. Afder all, at home I have a PC that's much more convenient for email/web browsing etc. I now get 3 days out of a single charge rather than 1 (I always switch it off at night come what may).

So, that shows to me what the heaviest battery users are.

Dave

 

[poopookakada]

When it comes to keeping my battery consumption down I tend to switch off GPS, Wireless, Bluetooth and Auto-Sync when I'm at work and the wireless goes on again when i get home (the xbox is too far from the PC to get around it ) mobile data is always on and (obviously) the wireless takes over when it can and on top of that, I keep auto brightness on.
I mainly do it all this way over your suggestions as there is a widget i can bang on a homescreen to switch all of it on and off when i want to.
AND Advanced Task MANAGER is a godsend, it keeps my processes down (saving battery life) and once I've defined what I want it to kill I can keep the widget on the home screen to kill it all as and when I feel the need to (a similar timeframe to yourself actually)

Just thought I'd post my 2cents without following the trends of posting MORE battery-life threads (not a dig )

 

[Gardium]

When it comes to keeping my battery consumption down I tend to switch off GPS, Wireless, Bluetooth and Auto-Sync when I'm at work and the wireless goes on again when i get home (the xbox is too far from the PC to get around it ) mobile data is always on and (obviously) the wireless takes over when it can and on top of that, I keep auto brightness on.
I mainly do it all this way over your suggestions as there is a widget i can bang on a homescreen to switch all of it on and off when i want to.
AND Advanced Task MANAGER is a godsend, it keeps my processes down (saving battery life) and once I've defined what I want it to kill I can keep the widget on the home screen to kill it all as and when I feel the need to (a similar timeframe to yourself actually)

Just thought I'd post my 2cents without following the trends of posting MORE battery-life threads (not a dig )

Yea, that is also a way to do it that works great. I also have the standard HTC power control widgets on my screen. However, the first point is still valid, no matter what power controller you use, so you might wanna check into that one. As for the others being auto set and then disabling when not needed, it sure works, but I find that I get that extra touch of juice that makes it last just slightly longer. But, then ofc, as I stated, when I charge my phone its usually around 20%, SO doing it your way works also for making it last 1.5+ days

PS! This is the kind of positive entries I wanted for this thread. I just posted my ideas, and people can come with well constructed arguements and tips that are valid in some facts. Not like a certain person here that just simply has to show that apparently he knows best... (referring to type of language in his first posts...)

 

[poopookakada]

Just started messing with Launcher Pro now and it SEEMS to save battery too. Only thing with it is that I love the sense UI and all the widgets from HTC.
So if you crave longer battery life try it out, but if (like me) you'd rather have a UI you like and are used to (it's actually the reason i bought the phone) you'll have to go without the possible 3rd day without charge.

Oh, Gardium, you never mentioned if you keep your phone on at night or switch it off?

 

[Gardium]

Just started messing with Launcher Pro now and it SEEMS to save battery too. Only thing with it is that I love the sense UI and all the widgets from HTC.
So if you crave longer battery life try it out, but if (like me) you'd rather have a UI you like and are used to (it's actually the reason i bought the phone) you'll have to go without the possible 3rd day without charge.

Oh, Gardium, you never mentioned if you keep your phone on at night or switch it off?

Yes, the UI is an important part for me to, I simply LOVE HTC UI . But yes, I have actually heard the HTC sense UI is power consuming (not MUCH, but compared to other UIs).

I keep it on at night. If I did turn it off, I'd maybe get 4-5 days without charging .

Did you check out the first point of my post btw? The "constant" on communications?

But to be honest, I really do believe my conditioning of the battery is the "killer" that makes it last so long. Many have kind of "followed" the claim that new batteries don't need as much treatment to last long. I believe those new batteries might not have a problem lasting 1 year with the inital cycle life, BUT I do believe that conditioning the battery from the very first use increases the cycle life (i.e. the time that battery lasts from one charge).

 

[poopookakada]

I thought you did. We both seem to get the same length of time out of it without having to switch off at night (saying that I used to switch my old phone off to make sure I got a proper night sleep)

Yea I tried it out before because my girlfriend has a Desire and she said it saves her the most power, but on the DHD I've not found it to save much really. Although when I went to Amsterdam it was set like you suggest and it DID last a little longer now i think about it.

I "condition" the battery too... it's a habit since the good old days of the Nokia 5110

 

[Gardium]

I thought you did. We both seem to get the same length of time out of it without having to switch off at night (saying that I used to switch my old phone off to make sure I got a proper night sleep)

Yea I tried it out before because my girlfriend has a Desire and she said it saves her the most power, but on the DHD I've not found it to save much really. Although when I went to Amsterdam it was set like you suggest and it DID last a little longer now i think about it.

I "condition" the battery too... it's a habit since the good old days of the Nokia 5110

Ah, yes, that about sleep can sometimes be a bit of a problem (a sweet GF that thinks about one during the night ), but I don't mind.

Yes, well it all depends I think on circumstances with the actual network you use. For me it saved a lot of juice when I suddenly noticed that option.

Hehe, conditioning, a GOOD habbit

 

[dvhttn]

... As for what you posted about the phone and the user being smart, I was reconning that most people have a basic understanding of the phone, and thus don't need a tip like the one you posted last. I don't mind people disagree, but some politeness and behaviour I do expect...

I understand people use the phone differently, thus as stated, I'm only posing MY tips. But when people come with unreasonable, and rude statements towards my post I react... And on the easy aspect, I figured easy in the way of still being able to use the phone as it's meant to, as a smart phone with data communications ON

You obviously didn't bother to read and understand my post about turning off wifi/3G at times. I turn them off when I don't need them. It's still a smart phone, it will do email/web browsing/making the toast still, but only when I need it to. And they are 'easy' to do. Just put the widget on one of your screens and it's one touch on or off. If you don't want 'easy' tips like this then I struggle to figure out what you do want ....

As for 'politeness' you should remember that email/web/forums are very impersonal. Especially from someone like me who likes to be "brief" in what they write, so don't take things so personally.

Dave

Dave

 

[{LCD}Stelios]

You obviously didn't bother to read and understand my post about turning off wifi/3G at times. I turn them off when I don't need them. It's still a smart phone, it will do email/web browsing/making the toast still, but only when I need it to. And they are 'easy' to do. Just put the widget on one of your screens and it's one touch on or off. If you don't want 'easy' tips like this then I struggle to figure out what you do want ....

As for 'politeness' you should remember that email/web/forums are very impersonal. Especially from someone like me who likes to be "brief" in what they write, so don't take things so personally.

Dave

Dave

He means every one knows to turn WIFI and GPS off when not using it is a no brainer.

 

[shauram]

Thanks for posting this information. I just bought a new Droid X and I have been operating with a "Windows" mentality.

 

[Tempusfugit]

Dear Gardium,

You're wrong about task killers. Get over it.

Thanks.

 

[EarlyMon]

Ok. That's enough - time to settle down.

First - we have rules, links in my sig, and everyone was required to subscribe to them when joining.

I'll break them down into a few simple concepts:

• Attack the issue and not each other
• Stay on-topic
• Please be polite

The truth is that task killers are very bad, and the higher you go up in Android revision levels the worse harm they do. It's not true that you simply use a better task killer.

I can provide system logs to prove that unused apps go nicely to sleep and consume no battery power, even if they show up in the "running" task list.

That said - many find that task killers are apparently beneficial to battery life - but that's like a drug. The more you use it, the more you need to use it.

The real issue if you're actually finding a task killer effective for increasing your battery life is that you have an app or apps that are misbehaving badly. Some do this by design - US carrier bloatware is a great example, I can't speak for what's on the Desire HD.

In any case, the offending apps are better removed - or if they're system apps, then you might well consider a backup, factory reset (to clear the dalvik cache and data areas) and a restore.

Instructions for how to do that effectively are here: http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-support-troubleshooting/141369-how-fix-froyo.html - and trust me, that works swimmingly for 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, stock or rooted, stock or custom rom.

Bottom line is that few tasks consume power just by running (let alone consume zero power when set to sleep) - the real issue is some apps are using resources behind your back that you might well not approve of - many, for example, like to keep waking themselves up and phoning home to momma over the net - that's what is likely to using the battery. The more you kill an app like that, the more likely it is to reset its wake-up timer and just the cycle just spirals.

Factory reset will get you back to a clean config.

And if your phone was like that out of the box - join the club. So was mine and about half of the HTC owners I've spoken to.

I made the same mistake with task killers at first - please trust me, they're bad and not good.

So - just stay friendly in this thread, discuss that issue without resorting to questioning people's motives or intelligence, etc, etc.

We're all in this together.

 

[EarlyMon]

PS - This is for an American phone with a completely different carrier scheme, but there might be one or two ideas in here of use to you fellow HTC owners to try out - http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-tips-tricks/150799-battery-tweaks-htc-evo-4g.html

This is yet another retread of what's been posted - http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-tips-tricks/85554-task-killers-must-read-new-android-users.html

And please note that at AndroidForums, threads don't belong to the OP - they belong to everyone who writes in or even just reads them.

We're here for each other - that's the deal.

 

[zarkrax]

This is what I do to save the battery:

1. Turn off wi-fi
2. Check Emails every hour
3. Turn off sync
4. Turn off background data
5. Turn off mobile data always on
6. Set screen brightness to auto
7. Turn off all the location via GPS and wi-fi.


I find only then use between 25% to 30% in an eight hour period.

Where with it all switched on the battery would only have 5% left.

Of course i will sync a couple of times in the day.

And when I get home switch it all on.

My typical usage in that eight hour period is:

Receive/send 10 txt messages
Make about 5 calls no longer than 5 mins
Receive 10 emails download about 2 of them
20 mins internet browsing
30 mins social networking
10 mins rss feeds.

 

[zildj]

5hrs stand by 2% consumption. Battery on this phone is not bad at all.

 

[landovr]

My battery life has increased alot since i bought my phone two weeks ago. But since i bought it i have installed so many different apps and i had a problem with one of them not letting my mobile network turn on. So i have uninstalled all my apps and factory reset the phone just now to see if it will increase the battery life even more. I was suprised to see after the reset all my music and pictures were still on the sd card, and really surprised to see all my contacts still in my phone along with all my text messages. I will let you know if the reset has increased my battery life.

 

[landovr]

Well, i was very skeptical about this reset making batter life better but my dhd seems to be transformed into a different phone. Unplugged my phone this morning at 9am and it is now 8pm and my phone is still at 75% with what i would call normal use. Here is my battery usage details.

Display 52%
Cell Standby 13%
Voice calls 12%
Phone idle 11%
Android system 3%
Maps 3%
Wifi 2%
Live wallpaper 2%
Android os 2%


What i did was Factory reset the phone, Formatted the sd card and then copied my music and pictures back onto it. That is all. Normally by now i would be in the 50% range so i would say my battery consumption has been cut by around 50%