Battery Draining in Airplane Mode (2.1 v2)

[Bswartz95]

Well, I blamed Helix, Beautiful Widgets, Weather Widget Donate, and countless other apps for severe battery drain. My phone would not sleep when in airplane mode and it was the Android System eating up all of the power (per Spare Parts).

I realized that I was waiting to put the phone into airplane mode after I had already lost signal. The phone wouldn't sleep. I then found that if you put the phone into airplane mode before you lose signal, all will be good.

I'm running 2.1 v2. Never had this problem before while running 1.5.

Hope this will help some people who use airplane mode frequently.

 

[pwabbit]

I also found that often, when in airplane mode, the battery is drained if I don't deselect: Menu>settings>accounts & sync>background data.

 

[Bswartz95]

You may be on to something here. In my classroom, I don't get any cell service at all. Even in Airplane Mode, my battery is draining insanely fast. It could be that Google keeps trying to sync.

I checked my running services and nothing is out of the ordinary. Spare Parts is saying that the Android System is eating up all the juice.

I thought Airplane mode was supposed to stop all the syncing services. It looks like it cuts off the signal, but the phone tries to keep syncing. Perhaps this is a bug with 2.1?

I don't remember this problem with 1.5. I'll bet this has something to do with that "time without a signal" issue.

Whenver I put my phone in Airplane mode with a signal, there's no problem.

 

[pwabbit]

I think it is just an overall Android thing. My Hero did it also when it had the stock 1.5 rom. The radio that I currently have loaded in the Hero seams to keep the signal better, so I have less of those issues. As far as it not draining when switching on airplane mode while a signal is present, I concur. I was wondering why sometimes the phone would behave fine when airplane mode was turned on. Like you wrote, the phone hadn't started searching yet to find a signal. Interesting observation.

 

[Bswartz95]

My awake time only goes crazy in airplane mode. If I take it out of airplane mode, all returns to normal. I've been testing this today where I have had a signal and don't.. it doesn't seem to matter. Looks like I will be shutting my phone off completely from now on while I'm at work.

This is both mind-boggling and frustrating. More people have to experience this; probably just not noticing it.

 

[smacky]

You think it may be an app that just opens up? Do you use a task killer? See if you can see what it is that's opened in the background.

Also, look at "Battery Use." If that shows nothing out of the ordinary, then I dunno.

You're a teacher, right? Is there a computer you can just plug the phone into using USB, or maybe even in the wall outlet and just have it getting juice continuously?

 

[Bswartz95]

You think it may be an app that just opens up? Do you use a task killer? See if you can see what it is that's opened in the background.

Also, look at "Battery Use." If that shows nothing out of the ordinary, then I dunno.

You're a teacher, right? Is there a computer you can just plug the phone into using USB, or maybe even in the wall outlet and just have it getting juice continuously?

I've checked running services and also used spare parts. The Android system is #1 in battery usage. If I pull up detailed battery information, Helix is listed first. It doesn't make sense to only accrue awake time in airplane mode though. Puzzling. No other apps are running.

oh. and i can plug it in, but it's not a big deal to shut it off.

 

[hattrick]

Have you unchecked Auto Sync to see if your battery life improves.

 

[smacky]

Do you really need Helix? I know what it is, but can you live without it for a few days to test and see if that is it? You never know, some apps are screwy.

 

[Bswartz95]

Have you unchecked Auto Sync to see if your battery life improves.

Tried that. No dice.

Do you really need Helix? I know what it is, but can you live without it for a few days to test and see if that is it? You never know, some apps are screwy.

If it comes to it, I will get rid of it. Right now, I am fine with either plugging my phone in at school or just shutting it off. I'm really curious to see if this is happening to others as well.

 

[hattrick]

I have Helix and Beautiful Widgets and don't have any problems with battery.

 

[Bswartz95]

I have Helix and Beautiful Widgets and don't have any problems with battery.

It only happens in airplane mode. The awake time piles up.

 

[hattrick]

Maybe Beautiful Widgets is trying to update weather or find your geolocation (if you use that feature) and gets stuck in a loop trying to update?