Question about sync and Google now.

[RavenSword]

I'm curious whether or not I should have all Google syncing off to save battery, or if I can get by with just timing the boxes of only the stuff I use (Gmail, calendar, etc). Really, I'm not 100 percent sure if I need sync for anything, is there advantages?

Also, whats the proper way to set up Google now so I can take advantage of it and not kill my battery.

Really, I'm rather paranoid about battery life. Maybe unjustly so.

 

[Prash7]

I got the "BatteryGuru" app and it analyses how you use your phone; which apps you use the most etc and sets the sync settings based around that.

Doesn't really do anything for me, because I'm super-paranoid and set that stuff manually, but it's great for things like wifi. Turns it on/off based on my location, which is pretty cool. Remembers where my wifi spots are.

 

[gone down south]

I just sync the services I use regularly.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[zkSharks]

I tried turning off Google Now's sync/tracking/etc. features in order to save battery a couple weeks ago. I ended up losing more value in Google Now than it was worth in any battery life improvements I gained.

Just my $0.02.

 

[RavenSword]

I tried turning off Google Now's sync/tracking/etc. features in order to save battery a couple weeks ago. I ended up losing more value in Google Now than it was worth in any battery life improvements I gained.

Just my $0.02.

Did you keep all Google sync on? Like Gmail, calendars, etc?

 

[wunderbar]

Just keep everything on if they are things you use. don't be afraid to actually, you know, use your phone.

 

[minnemike]

Just keep everything on if they are things you use. don't be afraid to actually, you know, use your phone.

Exactly - I have everything sync'd and enabled and get great battery life (since 4.2.2). Just use your phone and then cross the bridge when needed with tweaks. There are countless threads on here you'll read where people tweak out there phone and then have all sorts of issues related to said tweaking. This is problem because of past experience with lesser devices. The N4 is much better!

Just trust Google for a second and see what you get. They have already put the most testing and research into this phone than you could ever accomplish, so I imagine they have some things working as they have planned for the best.

I also installed the battery Guru thing shortly after the 4.2.2 update, but haven't even enabled it yet because the phone works so great as-is!

 

[Citizen Coyote]

Battery Guru turned off a lot of my syncing features on my phone. I ended up turning them back on because I missed the functionality, and it didn't really impact the battery life to do so. Google Now is one of the coolest features of Android, why turn it off?

 

[RavenSword]

if I accidentally messed anything up with vital services, they'll reset after I power the phone on and off right. When I was force stopping apps, I don't think I stopped anything vital that would cause damage if I did cancel it.

I don't recall forces topping anything that told me it will effect my phone negatively if I did.

 

[minnemike]

if I accidentally messed anything up with vital services, they'll reset after I power the phone on and off right. When I was force stopping apps, I don't think I stopped anything vital that would cause damage if I did cancel it.

I don't recall forces topping anything that told me it will effect my phone negatively if I did.

Yeah - not so much stopping the service itself as opposed to some apps wanting those services and going haywire looking for them.

You can set services permanently over a boot as well using the "google settings" app in your app drawer.

 

[gone down south]

It's like turning off lights when you leave the room or not having the heat run all night.
You don't have to go crazy shutting everything on your phone off, just judiciously enable and disable things according to your usage patterns.

 

[RavenSword]

Yeah - not so much stopping the service itself as opposed to some apps wanting those services and going haywire looking for them.

You can set services permanently over a boot as well using the "google settings" app in your app drawer.

So is that why it says shutting them down Mir effect the phone? Because if you turn it off other apps might freak when they can't find it. You can't even turn off or stop vital operating system stuff anyway, right?

Also, I notice google maps is constantly running, even though I never use it. it's not showing up in my battery chart, but I dot understand why it keeps starting up and running.

Do apps in the "running" catagory even use battery life?

 

[minnemike]

yeah - house of cards stuff when experimenting with disabling key features. can't imagine why you would want to disable anything before seeing how it all works for you - also, it's best to let your battery settle in before knowing exactly how well it works - takes a couple weeks.

google now taps into map usage when it wants to calculate stuff like eta to home, etc etc.

 

[RavenSword]

yeah - house of cards stuff when experimenting with disabling key features. can't imagine why you would want to disable anything before seeing how it all works for you - also, it's best to let your battery settle in before knowing exactly how well it works - takes a couple weeks.

google now taps into map usage when it wants to calculate stuff like eta to home, etc etc.

Like I said, don't think I did disable anything important. I'm noticing my phone acting a bit weird on touch screen responsiveness. Like recognizing all much scrolling side to side on the home screen or recognizing all my key presses when I type