Why does my phone get hot just sitting in my pocket?

[Vesbon]

Why does my phone heat up just sitting idle in my pocket? Not overly hot, but very warm to the touch. It's as if my Sprint Hero is downloading a movie or something!

I have two concerns about my phone heating up when I'm not using it. One, it drains my battery. Two, it might be unhealthy to have my phone communicating that heavily sitting in my pocket. My second concern is related to a post I made earlier (and I was mostly concerned about data transmission causing cancer, not talking on the phone): http://androidforums.com/lounge/234...y-about-always-data-keeping-phone-pocket.html

Thanks,
-v

 

[Roze]

Well my only stipulation is that there's an app that's running and not letting your phone sleep. You might want to dial into *#*#4636#*#* and go to battery history and look at 'partial wake usage' to see what's the app that's running and using CPU and keeping your phone awake the longest.

PARTIAL_WAKE_LOCK means that the CPU will continue running in sleep mode only the Screen and the Keyboard will powerd off

FROM ANDROID API-DOC:

*If you hold a partial wakelock, the CPU will continue to run, irrespective of any timers and even after the user presses the power button. In all other wakelocks, the CPU will run, but the user can still put the device to sleep using the power button.

wake-locks are needed for some apps who have timers or counters in backround etc. because without the cpu the timer will not work

PowerManager | Android Developers

So try to find out what's the app is and uninstall it if possible.

 

[Vesbon]

What do you mean "dial in"? I typed this: *#*#4636#*#* into the "phone" screen and nothing happened. Then I hit "Call" and again nothing happened. Shouldn't I access "battery history" through phone settings or something?

Good suggestion though! Thanks for the tip. I don't know why I automatically assumed it was transmitting data (it's probably just not letting the CPU sleep like you said).

Buy anyway, how do I get into battery history?

Thanks
-v

 

[Roze]

Shouldn't I access "battery history" through phone settings or something?

There is a battery usage info in setting:
menu->settings->about phone->battery use and it will give you the battery usage of each function since the phone was last unplug. I use this for a quick glace of what's being used the most. Although I don't find the information very detailed.

Good suggestion though! Thanks for the tip. I don't know why I automatically assumed it was transmitting data (it's probably just not letting the CPU sleep like you said).

Oh it COULD be transmitting data if that's what the app is coded to do even when the phone is asleep.

What do you mean "dial in"? I typed this: *#*#4636#*#* into the "phone" screen and nothing happened. Then I hit "Call" and again nothing happened.
Buy anyway, how do I get into battery history?

Yes, 'dial' in as in calling *#*#4636#*#* on your phone dialer. It should take you to the system battery history screen. This allows for detail analysis like what's been using data when the phone was unplug.

What phone do you have and running what version of Android? Not sure if this might be a feature for 2.1 and up.

 

[Frisco]

Why does my phone heat up just sitting idle in my pocket? Not overly hot, but very warm to the touch.

Any sync work being done by the device is going to add to the body warmth of it being in your pocket.

Gmail, Facebook, weather and news, etc.

You can test for how much of the warmth is from you and not apps by turning your phone off and carrying it around for a half-hour or so and then checking.

 

[Vesbon]

Ah, got it to work! I'm on a Sprint Hero with Android 2.1. However, the info wasn't very revealing. Everything looked normal. Maybe I'll take it to a Sprint store and see what they can do.

Thanks,
-v

 

[Vesbon]

Any sync work being done by the device is going to add to the body warmth of it being in your pocket.

Gmail, Facebook, weather and news, etc.

You can test for how much of the warmth is from you and not apps by turning your phone off and carrying it around for a half-hour or so and then checking.

The phone is hot. It's definitely not body heat. It only gets that hot when I talk on the phone for 20+ minutes. Again, it's crude, but I figure if it gets that hot talking on the phone, and it gets that hot just sitting in my pocket, it's using alot of energy (draining the battery and potentially dangerous).

-v

 

[Frisco]

The phone is hot. It's definitely not body heat. It only gets that hot when I talk on the phone for 20+ minutes. Again, it's crude, but I figure if it gets that hot talking on the phone, and it gets that hot just sitting in my pocket, it's using alot of energy (draining the battery and potentially dangerous).

-v

Then you're sure doing the right thing by taking it in, Vesbon.