Help Does Launcher Pro use that much more battery life or am I running too many widgets??

[jbhumph]

Ok, so I just installed Launcher Pro and I LOVE the look of it. So much easier to access and customize. But my battery life isn't as long as it used to be. I'm not sure if it's Launcher Pro draining it more or maybe some of the widgets I have running

Here's my widget list...

Standard Bluetooth, Plane, GPS, and Wi-Fi toggles
Pure Calendar Widget (I hear this can drain power but I've had it for a while)
Sticky Note Widget
Pandora Widget link
3 Photo Widgets
Smooth Calendar Widget
Beautiful Widgets Clock/Weather
ESPN Score Center Widget (I'm wondering if this is a cause but have seen lots of members here using it)
Audio Manager Widget
The Weather Channel Wide Widget
Cubed '3' Widget

I do realize that's a number of widgets. Maybe that's my problem? Battery life is still reasonable but now about what my iPhone used to be, not the powerhouse that my Droid X was before installing Launcher Pro and all my widgets...but it's sooo puuuurty

Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance

 

[bostoniansurvivor]

I have used LPP for awhile and never noticed an additional drain. I have heard that both ESPN and the Weather Channel widgets are both known for drain

 

[vtroid5]

live wallpaper or weather?

 

[mwpeck]

I am at 3 hours since unplugged and still at 100% charge.....granted I haven't used it much, just read/deleted a couple emails and texts so far today, the battery life seemed to hit an incredible level after I uninstalled Lock 2.0, it went above and beyond my battery life I had before I even installed Lock 2.0 for some reason.

Anyway, the above is with running LauncherPro with WeatherBug widget, the Power Settings Widget (the one that comes with the phone), a time/date widget and BatteryIndicator (which runs in the notification bar).

WeatherBug is set to update every hour, 3 hours and still at 100%.

EDIT: Try removing them 1 by 1 and see which increases battery life the most. May be a pain, but you will thank yourself when you run all day and don't drop below 50%.

 

[jbhumph]

Maybe I'll try deleting those two and see what happens. I've been doing some flying lately for vacation and did notice that even in plane mode, the ESPN widget was STILL trying to connect to the internet because it didn't have a connection. I was afraid that may be a culprit in this

 

[JubbaTheHutt]

Any widget that received constant updates (weather for instance) will drain the battery.

I usually try to set as many widgets as possible to retrieve information 1-3 hours (depending on the widget).

 

[jbhumph]

No live wallpapers for me....I know they're always a problem

 

[Kevmueller]

I have been using LaunchPro for about a week and seem to be getting better battery life. However I also had ScoreCenter and Weather Channel widgets running before. So removing them and adding LaunchPro really helped my battery life.

 

[mwpeck]

Also, along with my above post, my email is configured to push emails, which if I understand correctly involves keeping a connection alive with my email provider (in this case, gmail) yet its still at 100% after 3 hours. The only other data I have going to my phone is weather which, as mentioned, is a 1 hour sync.

Data sync is enabled 24/7, but GPS, Wifi, Bluetooth are all disabled (after today, Wifi will probably be enabled constantly though, due to getting better internet....currently, 3G is faster than the internet I have here, but Comcast is coming out today so ).

 

[jbhumph]

I don't have data push on my e-mail. It's set to every hour

I can't find a way to make the Score Center update at different times. I really love this widget but if it's part of the problem, I may need to find another score keeper widget that its 1x4

And the Beautiful Widget is set to update every 3 hours

I had Weather Channel running before I installed Launcher Pro but it seemed to do ok then. Maybe coupled with score center, it's making more of an impact now. I just like that it's a 1x4 widget that quickly shows several days in advance

 

[Airmaxx23]

If you haven't already done so go back to the stock launcher and remove everything from the screens also.

 

[deekum1627]

the espn widget kills my phone. after 3 hrs being unplugs and not using the phone its down to 50% i took that widget off

 

[yohankenobi]

I got done charging my phone last night at about 8 and it's at 80% right now at noon. I have had some use on it too, like gmail, texts, and calling clients. I use the Beautiful widgets, and a photo frame widget, and the weather bug elite widget and power widget. With LPP of course.

 

[jbhumph]

I fully charged mine last night before bed and unplugged it before (again fully charged). I had done some light texting this morning but it was already at 60% after only being unplugged for 11 hours.

I removed the ESPN Score Center and now have sports tap as this one, I have read, is better on battery life. Score Center updates when it wants to...Sports Tap I have set to update every 3 hours. Guess we'll see what happens

 

[kapstone]

Two related questions - how can you tell if your phone ever sleeps? The HTCs had an awake timer but I cant find a simliar function on the X (looked at spare parts, etc but I just cant tell if the phone is actually sleeping). Also, how are your batteries not draining due to cell phone standby. Even when my phone is not in use it drains about 5 - 7% every hour just due to cell phone standby - thanks

 

[mwpeck]

Okay, from 100% to 90% in 4.5 hours.....very light usage, only a few emails and a text or two but still, much better than it was even a few days ago, and the only difference is I installed then uninstalled an app shortly after...still have my email set to push, with WeatherBug updating every hour.

Two related questions - how can you tell if your phone ever sleeps? The HTCs had an awake timer but I cant find a simliar function on the X (looked at spare parts, etc but I just cant tell if the phone is actually sleeping). Also, how are your batteries not draining due to cell phone standby. Even when my phone is not in use it drains about 5 - 7% every hour just due to cell phone standby - thanks

Spare parts -> Battery History -> Running (x.x%)

It will tell you how long your phone has NOT slept, if that time is very close to the Screen On time or how long you have had your phone unplugged, then your phone is not sleeping.

My phone just now dropped 10% in 4.5 hours, Cell Standby is 50% of my battery usage so far. The other is the short time I have actually been using my phone.

 

[jbhumph]

Just wanted to post back my findings if anyone was following this.

I deleted ESPN Score Center and replaced it with Sports Tap. Left everything else as is

My current life is MUCH better, more like it was before. There may be a few things to keep tweaking but it looks like ESPN Score Center is a battery zapper. A shame too cause I love the look of it. Oh well....rather have a longer lasting phone, especially when Sports Tap does the same thing...just not quite as nice looking

 

[john0821]

Maybe I'll try deleting those two and see what happens. I've been doing some flying lately for vacation and did notice that even in plane mode, the ESPN widget was STILL trying to connect to the internet because it didn't have a connection. I was afraid that may be a culprit in this

Two related questions - how can you tell if your phone ever sleeps? The HTCs had an awake timer but I cant find a simliar function on the X (looked at spare parts, etc but I just cant tell if the phone is actually sleeping). Also, how are your batteries not draining due to cell phone standby. Even when my phone is not in use it drains about 5 - 7% every hour just due to cell phone standby - thanks

My battery life is awesome now. I went to the main Settings > Battery Manager > Battery Profile > Smart Mode. After setting it to Smart Mode, I opened every app and adjusted its settings/preferences. I set everything to manual refresh/update. The only apps set to hourly updates are e-mail, weather, and sports ticker. I also have my screen set to about 30% brightness.

 

[pcsperson]

I noticed the same thing a bigger battery drain after install Launcher pro. I tried to add one weather widget and a calender one. So going to uninstall it until I see what it making the battery drain faster. Stillusing a static wallapper with GPS on always as it was prior to my install of launcher pro

 

[JRX]

While widgets and live wallpapers and such make a difference, I think people also do tend to neglect how much all that extra screen on time costs when you do install something new to play with. Think about it, you just installed Launcher Pro right? Well can you honestly say you haven't been messing with the phone a whole lot more lately than before when nothing was new? Playing with settings, customizing the look, etc.... that screen is the biggest drain on the phone and now it's on more. I'd wait a week or two and see what happens. I wonder if for this reason people always say "I've noticed better battery life now after a few days". It makes sense that it's not so new anymore and/or you're not messing with settings, so of course the battery lasts longer since you're not playing with the phone as much. Just a thought...

 

[JRX]

I too just installed Launcher Pro and love the look and feel, but noticed that it's not appearing in my battery usage profile, not listed. I played Angry Birds while on the toilet and it's showing at 3%, but Launcher Pro is not. My friend had Launcher Pro on his Vibrant for a few days, just messing with it, and told me it would be listed in his battery usage profile, typically at 2 or 3% drain for a days use. What is more likely, that my Droid Incredible doesn't drain for Launcher Pro, or that the Incredible's battery usage profile screen simply ignores home launcher programs?? Thanks for any feedback on this.