Battery readings since 2.3.3 Update & Dialer?

[El Presidente]

Since the 2.3.3 update yesterday, I've noticed Android OS & Android System no longer appear on my battery usage screen. I have noticed a new clickable called Dialer. It appears to be taking up a reasonable amount of battery too.

When I click on it, it shows me this screen -

Any idea what it is, why it's using data (albeit a tiny amount) and what the Included Packages are?

 

[BOZG]

Since the 2.3.3 update yesterday, I've noticed Android OS & Android System no longer appear on my battery usage screen. I have noticed a new clickable called Dialer. It appears to be taking up a reasonable amount of battery too.

When I click on it, it shows me this screen -

Any idea what it is, why it's using data (albeit a tiny amount) and what the Included Packages are?

Dialer is the stock phone app. HTC seemed to have changed how they calculate battery usage and Dialer appears to be using significantly more juice now. Not sure if this is a bug or whether there was originally a bug that downplayed how much battery power the phone used in idle mode.

 

[springy]

Problem already reported:

Dialer using large amount of battery after update on Gingerbread - xda-developers

And it might be a Google Gingerbread Problem, track it on the google code issue list:

Issue 15057 - android - Heavy battery drain after Gingerbread upgrade on Nexus One - Android - An Open Handset Alliance Project - Google Project Hosting

------------------

Now my situation is that I seem to get poor battery life now. Not too sure why. It seems that when my data connection is on, WIFI or Mobile data it seems to drain it quite fast. Nothing is using my data connection as I track the useage, but the dialer is set quite high.

Also a note, the dialer will only come up in the battery app if you use your phone for the first time after a fresh boot. If you don't boot it won't boot up.

 

[El Presidente]

Interesting, thank you folks.

I would actually say my battery life has improved, but I've obviously only been using it for a few days so will see what it's like in the long term.

 

[volvo940seturbo]

My Battery life has gone down by a large amount. Would normally have 50% left after a full day of use, now having to charge it by 7pm. Android system now uses over 10% all the time going upto around 30% at the start after coming off charge, also copilot seems to be always using battery even though it has been closed.

 

[Actual]

I am also experiencing worse battery performance since the HTC Desire HD 2.3.3 update.

Previously I was right on the limit for getting though the day on a single charge. Now I feel I need to top up during the day.

It is possible that the only change is what the battery is indicating and the actual period between charges for my typical usage has not changed.

 

[Kingy63]

My Battery life has gone down by a large amount. Would normally have 50% left after a full day of use, now having to charge it by 7pm. Android system now uses over 10% all the time going upto around 30% at the start after coming off charge, also copilot seems to be always using battery even though it has been closed.

My battery is now much better, but have also noticed that co-pilot is using battery when not in use. I have raised this with co-pilot support who keep asking am I sure I have exited properly. Can you also report it so they take it as a serious issue. Unless I restart the phone afetr each use it is my top battery user after display.

 

[sparksuk71]

My battery is now much better, but have also noticed that co-pilot is using battery when not in use. I have raised this with co-pilot support who keep asking am I sure I have exited properly. Can you also report it so they take it as a serious issue. Unless I restart the phone afetr each use it is my top battery user after display.

Had this with my copilot showing at the top of the usage list, had to reinstall mine and appears to be ok again, although google maps still shows up, not as bad tho

 

[volvo940seturbo]

have reported it to copilot took over and hour on the phone to them, gave various information from the phone to them, also sent a report to htc about this and the battery issues I now seem to have. Will try and re install copilot and see what happens.

 

[john_g]

I only noticed Dialer after getting Gingerbread and it did seem to be consuming a lot of battery juice. Following advice found via this thread, I cleared Dialer data and did a battery-pull and restart. Since then the Dialer hasn't even appeared on the list of what's been using the battery. Mind you, I've not made a phone call since then... I'll report back after I've done so.

 

[springy]

Right, it is definitely something to do when my phone is on mobile data. In a very unscientific experienment, if I leave mobile data on it drains around 4% an hour. Even with wifi it isn't this bad. I am going to do some testing this weekend.. But yea I have given up with this ROM, gonna root and put something else on.. LOL. Just wish there was a way to backup data. why do google secure it on the /root

 

[volvo940seturbo]

I have noticed that if I leave it on 3g connected to my sure signal box, in one place in the house, use it for a few texts and the odd call, it lasts very well on battery about 1% per hour. If however I go out and even switch it to 2g only, it uses 4-5% per hour with no use at all, if I make/receive calls or send/read texts, never mind brows internet, then that goes upto 6-8% per hour.

No use at all as a phone, this needs sorted as soon as HTC if you even bother to read any negative things about your products.

 

[springy]

I have been reporting problems with my phone when it is connected to mobile data. I am not too sure that is the case anymore.

I did a test yesterday where I charge it up and use data on 2g and the battery life is good. Once I go to work and leave the data on, my battery life is rubbish. I really do not have a clue why sometimes I get good life and others I don't. Really strange...

 

[john_g]

I finally got round to concluding my observations about the impact of Dialer on battery life. I've got two sets of battery consumption readings, each taken after unplugging the phone from the charger once the battery was full, and leaving the phone untouched overnight. Data, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth were all turned off. In each case the display consumption shown relates to approximately five minutes use whilst I grabbed and noted the readings.

Firstly, after a re-start of the phone and no calls made, so that the Dialer wasn't running...
After 8h 30m:
Battery 97% remaining
Cell standby 47%
Phone idle 43%
Display 10%

Then the same, but not re-starting the phone after I'd made some phone calls prior to re-charging, so Dialer was running...
After 7h 30m:
Battery 98% remaining
Dialer 50%
Cell standby 22%
Phone idle 20%
Display 8%

Despite the Dialer appearing to be a major user of power, the reality is that, despite it topping the usage chart, the phone is still showing broadly the same hourly power consumption of, very approximately, 1% of battery capacity every 3 hours.

I'm not sure I understand what's going on, but at least I know I don't need to worry about the Dialer draining the battery!

 

[Matti79]

Hi,

I have an Incredible S and received the same update along with the Desire HD.

I am really unhappy about battery life. I got up to 4 days with Android 2.2 and now with 2.3 I have to plugin at day 2.
I do not call much, didn't call much with 2.2, and have disabled all connections, gps etc, when I am not using it.
Also use(d task killer to kill unnecessary task.

Any thoughts?

Would rather go back to 2.2 if that is possible.

cheers,

Mattijs

 

[.ParanoidAndroid.]

Before this update, I'd get around a couple of days battery. Basically, I'd need not worry about the battery life.

Since this update, I get 6 hours. 6 hours of battery usage. No change in my habits or use of the phone.
6 hours and I'm down to 10%

Whatever has changed has had a fundamental and detrimental affect on the battery life and my ability to use my phone how I want to use my phone.

 

[springy]

Hi,

I have an Incredible S and received the same update along with the Desire HD.

I am really unhappy about battery life. I got up to 4 days with Android 2.2 and now with 2.3 I have to plugin at day 2.
I do not call much, didn't call much with 2.2, and have disabled all connections, gps etc, when I am not using it.
Also use(d task killer to kill unnecessary task.

Any thoughts?

Would rather go back to 2.2 if that is possible.

cheers,

Mattijs

Don't use task killer.. there isn't any need and it might actually make your battery worse

 

[Matti79]

Don't use task killer.. there isn't any need and it might actually make your battery worse

I think I have to disagree on that. I you see how much stuff is loaded when the Phone reboots...takes up a lot of memory, skype, What'sApp, Locations, Stocks...etc....I do not believe those apps should be running when I am not using them.

I am aware that I might kill an app with Task Killer that does something to the battery life, but since my device is NOT rooted, I think every necessary services will restart anyway.

 

[john_g]

I think I have to disagree on that. I you see how much stuff is loaded when the Phone reboots...takes up a lot of memory, skype, What'sApp, Locations, Stocks...etc....I do not believe those apps should be running when I am not using them.

I am aware that I might kill an app with Task Killer that does something to the battery life, but since my device is NOT rooted, I think every necessary services will restart anyway.

Taking up memory is not the same as consuming battery or processor power. I'm happy to use the information Android provides regarding battery use (Settings -> About phone -> Battery -> Battery use) and have found this to be a good reflection of how I've been using my phone. My phone isn't rooted and doesn't have a task killer installed, I have display brightness set to auto. My only concession to power saving is that I do keep bluetooth, data and wi-fi switched off by default and, as noted earlier in this thread, my battery would last in excess of 10 days if I just left the phone sitting on its own.

 

[El Presidente]

What springy and john_g said, since 2.1 (I think), task killers haven't been necessary as Android is pretty good at being it's own task manager. An app sitting dormant in memory, does not necessarily equate to CPU usage and therefore does not eat away at battery life.

AndroidSPIN Why you don’t need a task killer app with Android.

Android Developers Blog: Multitasking the Android Way

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

 

[springy]

In Froyo, google implemented a system where it will kill task when it needs to. It will only kill task that are sleep and not needed anymore.

The problem with task killer is that from Froyo onwards because you are not killing the process properly, the job then comes back again and therefore it will start up again. This starting up takes up more energy then having an app lie in dormant state.

The only way to properly kill a task from what I know is go into the app draw -> menu -> running and then force stop there.

 

[Matti79]

In Froyo, google implemented a system where it will kill task when it needs to. It will only kill task that are sleep and not needed anymore.

The problem with task killer is that from Froyo onwards because you are not killing the process properly, the job then comes back again and therefore it will start up again. This starting up takes up more energy then having an app lie in dormant state.

The only way to properly kill a task from what I know is go into the app draw -> menu -> running and then force stop there.

Some of the tasks come back anyway, like Skype and whatspp, facebook etc. Whenever you have an active internet connections, those apps popup as a service and I guess take up ram?
So that is why i clean them up, so I can get more free ram= more speed.

Anyway, the battery issue that I am having now seems to be related with the DAILER services. When my phone runs out after 2 days, the dailer has used up to 45% of the battery.
And...in those 2 days I didn't make a call....
So it seems that the dailer service is taking unnecessary power?

 

[rhod]

noticed on my phone that the dialer service only shows up in battery consumption stats if I have made or received a call...yesterday, for instance, I didn't call anyone and it didn't show up. Found an interesting post on xda developers forum but unfortunately no definite answers yet:

site: Dialer using large amount of battery after update on Gingerbread - Page 10 - xda-developers

post:

Hi all, I have an update.

Using spare parts and some other battery monitoring apps we can tell that the reason the Dialer uses a lot of battery is that after one call, the Dialer keeps polling the sensor.

Basically it looks like the Dialer will constantly try and check the proximity sensor when in a call, along with the accelerometer, to see if the phone is face-down on a table. Now I've just tried that, in CoreDroid 6.8, and it looks like it does immediately mute the incoming call if you put the phone face-down.

According to some people the fix used to be to disable the function for 'mute when phone face down' -- but in CD and other new ROMs, this function isn't available. That could mean that the old Dialer code is still in these new ROMs, with the Dialer constantly checking the proximity sensor even when there are no calls. It also explains why rebooting the phone fixes the problem, because rebooting resets the sensors.

So, to fix this, there are a few options:

* A way to reset the sensors, (apart from rebooting) will (hopefully) clear the issue.
* For a clever dev to look at the Dialer app and fix the bug where it polls the proximity sensor after a call has ended.
* To bundle in (or make available as an .apk) the old Dialer with the option given to un-check 'mute when phone face down'. e.g. does anyone have an older version of phone.apk or HTCDialer.apk?
* For a dev / ROM team to see if they can restore the option to 'mute while face down' so that we can disable that option, and stop the Dialer constantly checking the sensors.

 

[Kingy63]

noticed on my phone that the dialer service only shows up in battery consumption stats if I have made or received a call...yesterday, for instance, I didn't call anyone and it didn't show up. Found an interesting post on xda developers forum but unfortunately no definite answers yet:

site: Dialer using large amount of battery after update on Gingerbread - Page 10 - xda-developers

post:

Hi all, I have an update.

Using spare parts and some other battery monitoring apps we can tell that the reason the Dialer uses a lot of battery is that after one call, the Dialer keeps polling the sensor.

Basically it looks like the Dialer will constantly try and check the proximity sensor when in a call, along with the accelerometer, to see if the phone is face-down on a table. Now I've just tried that, in CoreDroid 6.8, and it looks like it does immediately mute the incoming call if you put the phone face-down.

According to some people the fix used to be to disable the function for 'mute when phone face down' -- but in CD and other new ROMs, this function isn't available. That could mean that the old Dialer code is still in these new ROMs, with the Dialer constantly checking the proximity sensor even when there are no calls. It also explains why rebooting the phone fixes the problem, because rebooting resets the sensors.

So, to fix this, there are a few options:

* A way to reset the sensors, (apart from rebooting) will (hopefully) clear the issue.
* For a clever dev to look at the Dialer app and fix the bug where it polls the proximity sensor after a call has ended.
* To bundle in (or make available as an .apk) the old Dialer with the option given to un-check 'mute when phone face down'. e.g. does anyone have an older version of phone.apk or HTCDialer.apk?
* For a dev / ROM team to see if they can restore the option to 'mute while face down' so that we can disable that option, and stop the Dialer constantly checking the sensors.

I wonder if that is the same sort of issue with CoPilot, I haven't used that for a week and it still shows it is using battery, and it is definitely not running, so is that too polling something?