Erratic battery the week before and now since upgrading to Nougat

[CWinkler]

In the week before the update to N hit my US Cellular phone, I had 2 nights when the phone went from 60% down to 0% overnight. Then 2 nights of good performance, and another night of full drain. Did a cache wipe, and things then seemed to be OK. Then got the N update on a Thursday. Phone OK on Friday, but on Saturday got very hot and was quickly draining the battery. Did another cache wipe. Sunday went well, and Monday was at 90% at the end of my work day. Yesterday (Tuesday), went from 100% at 7:30AM to 40% at 11AM. Charged up to 100%, and by the time I left work was already at 56% again. When it drains like this, the phone gets quite warm. Did another cache wipe last night, and overnight went from 70% down to 50%. I know people have said to give the phone a chance to adjust to Nougat, just now sure how long to give and how many cache wipes to do before caving and doing a full factory reset. And then how long to give that to see how it worked before caving and bringing the phone back to the US Cellular store to see what they'll do. Just got this phone the day after US Thanksgiving in 2016, so still under warranty (I think).

I have a bunch of screen shots, but only from the built in battery monitor. Will post some, but don't want to clog up the listing unnecessarily with all of them.

 

[LineKill]

Did you install any new apps or, by chance, notice any app updates just before this started happening?

Try this and see if it might help. Go to settings > device maintenance > storage > internal storage > cached data > CLEAR.

 

[CWinkler]

Did you install any new apps or, by chance, notice any app updates just before this started happening?

Try this and see if it might help. Go to settings > device maintenance > storage > internal storage > cached data > CLEAR.

LineKill, thanks for your reply. Since I had just updated to N, many apps have been updating as well. Not always linked to any of the battery issues (at least their updating, maybe not the new updated version). No new apps have been installed in the week prior to the N update or in the last week. No issues today, took phone off charger at 7:30AM and 100% and right now at 6:30PM it's sitting at 61% with no interim charging. No change in how the phone was used or kept at work during the day (and actually used it to take 5 pictures this morning which were uploaded once I got to my work wifi).

I did do the cached data clear you mentioned, but didn't see your note until after 12:30PM. How does that differ from a cache wipe?

Will continue to monitor the battery. Attaching current screenshot of battery details from today.

 

[LineKill]

Anytime my friend!

Wiping the cache partition clears the cache for the system. The system cache can become corrupted causing the system to misbehave and in turn causing battery drain. Wiping the cache partition, especially after a system upgrade, can help correct a lot of problems.

Clearing cached data clears the cache for apps. It is typically used to help correct a misbehaving app. Since a misbehaving app can cause battery drain, clearing its cache can help as well. You do not need to clear the cached data frequently though as doing so can cause battery drain itself.

 

[CWinkler]

Another thing I've started seeing is that my s7 takes longer to fast charge. This morning was at 18%. On charger at 445am. At 730am only at 95%. Again erratic. Some days charges quickly. Unsure why it wouldn't be consistent.

Weds battery did well. Yesterday dropped to 40% by 11am. Did another cache wipe. Many apps still updating.

 

[LineKill]

It is not normal for you to have keep wiping the cache to keep your battery drainage down. Since you are experiencing other issues you might want to consider..... Um...... Err.....A factory reset.

 

[CWinkler]

So trying to avoid that. Today's a good day. 4.5 hrs and 85%. I think I'll give it a few more days b4 doing what might be inevitable.

 

[CWinkler]

is it advisable to remove my SD card before going into doing a factory reset?

 

[LineKill]

is it advisable to remove my SD card before going into doing a factory reset?

You will have some people tell you no, because it does not do anything to your SD card, and they would be correct.

I am going to tell you yes, remove it. Sometimes there is an option to erase external data and if you accidentally have that checked, poof! Also, there is the simple fact of sh*t happens.

It is a lot more difficult to restore, sometimes impossible, that precious data you may have stored on your SD card.

BTW, I never remove my SD card when restoring, I like to live life on the edge. Plus I am too lazy. However, I do have my entire SD card backed up into the cloud for various reasonsツ

 

[CWinkler]

LineKill, thanks ... guess I'll use it as an opportunity to put in a larger card (have a 128GB to put in, replacing a 64GB in it right now). Sure hope the FDR helps!

 

[LineKill]

LineKill, thanks ... guess I'll use it as an opportunity to put in a larger card (have a 128GB to put in, replacing a 64GB in it right now). Sure hope the FDR helps!

You're quite welcome my friend!

I do too man! I will keep my fingers crossed

If at all possible, do not restore anything. Just let your Google & Samsung accounts populate everything after the reset. Install your apps from scratch and just copy over any media & documents you may have backed up. This will provide you with the best possible user experience after everything is said and done.

 

[CWinkler]

You're quite welcome my friend!

I do too man! I will keep my fingers crossed

If at all possible, do not restore anything. Just let your Google & Samsung accounts populate everything after the reset. Install your apps from scratch and just copy over any media & documents you may have backed up. This will provide you with the best possible user experience after everything is said and done.

Went through the FDR last night, and have been slowly reinstalling apps. Did put in a new 128GB card to replace the 64GB one I initially bought. It was recognized just fine. So far, seems to be doing OK (knock wood). After 10 hrs 34 min had gone from 100% to 72%. One data point is too soon to call, but is encouraging.

 

[LineKill]

Went through the FDR last night, and have been slowly reinstalling apps. Did put in a new 128GB card to replace the 64GB one I initially bought. It was recognized just fine. So far, seems to be doing OK (knock wood). After 10 hrs 34 min had gone from 100% to 72%. One data point is too soon to call, but is encouraging.

Looking good so far

There is really no hurry in installing apps. I believe installing them as needed is a good method. That way if you install an app that does not play nice it is easier to detect.

 

[CWinkler]

Looking good so far??????

There is really no hurry in installing apps. I believe installing them as needed is a good method. That way if you install an app that does not play nice it is easier to detect.

LineKill, thanks so much for your support and comments during this process. I have a long list of apps that I've not installed and may not install again. Have done those that I definitely use on a daily or weekly or monthly basis. Others can reside on my tablet and don't need to be on my phone. Or can wait until things like March Madness roll around again. Today will be an interesting day as I return to work and see how the phone does compared to last week's issues.

 

[CWinkler]

For 2 days now since the FDR things seem to be going well. Here's the report from this morning shortly after putting on the charger at 32%. Still going to monitor just in case. Want to address battery issues while the phone is still under warranty.

 

[LineKill]

I am very glad on day 2, things are still looking good. I know this has been a long drawn out process, but I hope in the end it was worth while for you. Take it easy my friend

 

[CWinkler]

All has been going well since the FDR until overnight had a battery drop while I was sleeping and the phone was idle and laying with screen down (I think it helps the AOD think it's in a bag so used to help with battery life). Hoping this isn't the start of battery issues again. I did forget to do the phone optimization prior to going to sleep, so not sure if that helped cause the problem. Lots of apps involved on the phone overnight. Android System the worst offender again. Not sure why BT was at 9%, since it's not even turned on. Any thoughts?

 

[LineKill]

Hi CWinkler,

That is a pretty severe drop. Just let it go for another day and do what you normally do and see what happens.

One thing you can do though is go into settings > connections > location > improve accuracy and turn off WiFi scanning and Bluetooth scanning.

 

[CWinkler]

Hi CWinkler,

That is a pretty severe drop. Just let it go for another day and do what you normally do and see what happens.

One thing you can do though is go into settings > connections > location > improve accuracy and turn off WiFi scanning and Bluetooth scanning.

Turned off nearby device scanning for now. Will keep watching. If needs be take phone back to US Cellular while under warranty. Weird that it should do that. Also did a cache wipe since might've gotten messed up with all the app re-installing.

 

[LineKill]

Turned off nearby device scanning for now. Will keep watching. If needs be take phone back to US Cellular while under warranty. Weird that it should do that. Also did a cache wipe since might've gotten messed up with all the app re-installing.

Wiping the cache at this point was a good idea. I am thinking there is an app that is behaving badly. If it continues I have a couple more things you can try.

Even though I do not think it is the phone itself, having it replaced under warranty might not be a bad idea, it would definitely eliminate that component of the issue.