Help The Sync Option and What Happens When Disabled - Battery Life

[Vitiator]

I recently upgraded from a Motorola Atrix 2 to the Samsung S3. I have a question which I had difficulty locating answer.

My question is about the Sync option that can be disabled: I am experiencing much shorter battery life as my Atrix 2 doing the exact same daily tasks. In fact, my daily pattern is extremely consistent, and my Atrix 2 could make it all day, whereas the Galaxy 3 was less than 10% by 2:00 PM. My question is if I disable Sync, will my Apps still update when I open them? For example, right now I have Sync enabled and have a Corporate Exchange account added. So I get notified of any new email. If I turn off Sync, I know I will not receive notification of new email, but will I receive new email when I open the App itself, or will nothing ever come down to the phone when Sync is off, even when I physically open the App? The same applies to my Gmail accounts.

I may have other questions in the future as well, and I appreciate having this forum to post these questions!

 

[DROID_SCOTSMAN]

I recently upgraded from a Motorola Atrix 2 to the Samsung S3. I have a question which I had difficulty locating answer.

My question is about the Sync option that can be disabled: I am experiencing much shorter battery life as my Atrix 2 doing the exact same daily tasks. In fact, my daily pattern is extremely consistent, and my Atrix 2 could make it all day, whereas the Galaxy 3 was less than 10% by 2:00 PM. My question is if I disable Sync, will my Apps still update when I open them? For example, right now I have Sync enabled and have a Corporate Exchange account added. So I get notified of any new email. If I turn off Sync, I know I will not receive notification of new email, but will I receive new email when I open the App itself, or will nothing ever come down to the phone when Sync is off, even when I physically open the App? The same applies to my Gmail accounts.

I may have other questions in the future as well, and I appreciate having this forum to post these questions!

Yes your apps will update when you open them and most have a refresh button. You likely have a rogue app that is constantly refreshing causing your battery drain, in most apps, you can check the settings and tone down how often they refresh. Even with sync turned off, if your app is set to a certain refresh rate it will still do that. Additionally, 4g wears your battery down more than 3g, so if you are in a low 4g signal area, this could be affecting your phone too.

 

[Vitiator]

Thank you for the prompt reply. *I am now clear about the sync option, and will check the phone for rouge applications running in the background. *

 

[question729]

I turned off the sync option in the notification bar but still get e-mails. What's the point of this setting if apps still follow the refresh rate they are set for? On my Incredible I just turned off wifi and mobile data and things would not update until I turned any of the connections back on. I turn off mobile and sync on the SIII and all I get are annoying "no server available" messages. All the wifi connect type options are deselected too.

 

[Funnyusername]

I am the kind of user who keeps everything off and I only look at or sync things on a as needed basis. I can see the advantage of notifications. If I worked in a office where my phone could be plugged in all day I would probably be more open to leaving that stuff on. I don't like my phone auto syncing everything just for the chance of apps killing the battery life. If I only control my apps I know what is draining my battery and I can monitor it or stop it.

 

[AndroidxGuy]

Have you gone into settings and checked what services sync actually affects? Its mainly for Google services and a few others. Independent apps with their own settings will not be affected by sync being on or off.