I've been reading different threads for the past two days and this is what i've learned so far. When you turn "off" Always-on mobile, it only turns off when your phone "sleeps", then automatically turns back on when your phone "wakes" up. Therefore you won't be continuously getting notifications when the phone is asleep, saving the battery. I've heard that it takes a little while to turn back on when your phone wakes up because it is updating all the notifications from when your phone was asleep. Hope this makes sense, anyone feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

 

oh yeah, i'm pretty sure you can still recieve calls and texts with this feature off when your phone is asleep. Sorry, I don't have my eris yet, but it's on its way, and I'm just doing all my research before it gets here : )

 

please let us know what your findings are as I am curious too!

 

I'm 99% sure of this:

YES- You can make and receive calls

YES- You can send and receive texts

NO- You cannot get emails

NO- You cannot browse the web

YES- You will save a ton of battery with it off

It does not "wakeup" or turnoff. It is off if you turn it off. It turns your phone into a "dumbphone" removing the data features of it (browser, emails, maps, etc.) I personally love turning it off for extended periods when I'm not going to be using it for anything more than texts, when in a class, for example. It definitely conserves battery life hugely, also.

 

^Good to know, thanks. BUT, that's made me realize that I should leave it on. I didn't buy a dumbphone, I bought a smartphone so turning that off takes away all the functionality that I want and pay for. However, it's good to know if I won't be using it for a while that I can turn it off and save battery life. Good stuff.

 

I think we are talking about 2 different things. I've had "always-on mobile" disabled since the 2nd day i've owned the phone, and I get all my emails and can browse the web.

Turning off the "mobile network" (that you can turn on or off by holding the end key) will stop any emails and web from working without WiFi on.

I have to agree with droidfanatic

 

this is correct, if you disable the "mobile network" nothing happens. disable "always on mobile" and you still get your email and calls and texts.im not sure what it does but the first reply on this thread may be close.it may also have something to do with satillite location or something not sure.

 

I think you are confusing this with turning off the mobile network. You can do all of these things with Always on turned off. I'm not 100% sure what it does, but I get all my e-mails, surf the web, make calls and texts with no problems. I even get my facebook notifications etc etc. I can't tell what it does exactly, because I still get all of my information.

 

Yes, correct. Even when the phone is sleeping, I still get emails. Facebook, other widgets are not updated until the phone is taken out of sleep.

I think it puts the mobile network into some sort of sleep mode, but either it's still active some of the time, or it's still active for some functions.

I noticed that I hardly used the phone yesterday, yet I got about 1 hour's worth of "awake" time.

 

I have had mine UNcheck (disabled) since getting the phone and still get phone calls and txt messages, email and calender reminders when the screen is off (sleeping?)

 

first of all its "Enable always on mobile".
and all it does is keep the internet on...ALWAYS!
where as its not necessary to do that.
although, the phone is SMART in that it turns the internet on when you get a new gmail email or facebook update.
but it doesnt turn on automatically for a imap or pop3 email account.
you have to set that up to sync yourself (and it will still sync).
so it connects to the internet for various things instead of being on all day draining energy (your battery).

 

When you turn off 'always on' there is a little pop up that says some applications will still be using the network when they need to. I suspect that's the answer to why things still work. I'd guess this is the difference between ALWAYS on, and on only when needed.

 

So maybe with this is off it just takes a little longer to get the info??
Maybe?

 

This might be answer to my question - "how to turn off 3G" -- I have Eris but I do not have Data plan and so always worried, when I see those arrows on 3G toggliing.. I wanted to know, how to turn off 3G..Hopefully, this is the way to turn off 3G.

Correct ?

 

How did you get an Eris without a data plan? I thought those were mandatory. You're paying an extra $30 on top of your voice plan, right?

Or maybe you're confusing data with the text plan...? I don't have a text plan and receive texts through Google Voice, and that's data so it's free. If you're worried about getting charged for texts, you can call VZW and tell them to disable texting on your number and you won't receive any texts.

In any case, to turn off 3G, you can either add an HTC Widget with the Mobile Network to toggle it on and off...or you can go into Menu -> Settings -> Wireless Controls -> uncheck Mobile Network. No more 3G.

 

Well, I just asked this question on HTC's twitter. Lets hope I get a response but for right now I have it off.

 

I just disabled mine and will also test it out. May be that's the key to poor battery life???

 

There was a promotion during black friday for both HTC Eris and MotoDroid where you could get it w/o data plan so I am sure, I do not have data plan.

BTW, I can confirm now that "turning mobile network off" really turns off internet and huge battery save (if wifi is also turned off when not needed). I am into my 3rd day still at 15%.. With few calls, wifi use, lot of play and music listening)..