New Galaxy S3/Andriod user. Couple Questions

[JOESPUD27]

Hello, I have a North American, Samsung G S3 on Verizon. 16GB

This is my first smartphone/Android device. So far I'm enjoying it. I'm not that impressed with battery life, however I'm hoping that is just because I don't know what all is running in the background needlessly.

I know to hold the home button and "close" (swipe to the side) apps when I'm done using them.

In Settings, the Application Manager, choose the Running tab, there are a lot of entries in here that I'm not sure what they do. I'd like to stop/close whatever isn't needed, but don't know what to start.

For now, I'd prefer not to Root. Maybe someday. I run WiFi when possible to save on data.

What can I do to make sure I"m only running the apps I need to run in order to save battery? I've only been checking email, social networking, few txts/calls. I haven't even played a game or watched a video and I'm barely making it though a day on a full charge.

Thoughts? Tips?

Thanks

Jay

 

[delldude405]

You're probably experiencing poor battery life due to it being new to you. It really isn't necessary to constantly close apps, end services. Although I keep bluetooth and gps off when not needed. Not running live wallpapers, and I use auto screen brightness. I would consider myself a medium user and I get about 15 hours out of my device on a daily basis.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

 

[JOESPUD27]

I also use auto brightness. GPS is also turned off.

Another question, If I use gmail/hotmail is it better to run those through the email app that came with the phone or download the specific gmail/hotmail app?

Jay

 

[EvilMonkey]

Email is up to you. You can't run hotmail through the gmail app (it's gmail only).

I only use the Email app in order to consolidate all my accounts into one app. I lose some Gmail functionality such as labels by not using the Gmail app, but I'm ok with that.

For battery life, how much are you getting? You really don't need to kill apps needlessly. But you would want to check things that might be using battery life. As a previous poster said, do you have Bluetooth on when you don't need it? Do you need to keep 4G on or can you survive on 3G?

You would also want to check things that will consume more battery, such as live wallpapers, lots of widgets that constantly update in the background, weather or location apps that might be constantly pinging for location, emails that are constantly pushing (better IMO to poll every 5 or 15 minutes than use push, unless you really need them right away).

Things like that. Honestly, I don't mess with any of it (other than Bluetooth turns on when I dock it in my car and off when I undock it) and am getting more than 24 hours. I even got 18 on Saturday despite being at my kid's swim meet and using it constantly for about 4 hours in the morning (100% screen on time).

 

[JOESPUD27]

I meant a separate app for both gmail and Hotmail. Sorry if I was confusing.

I could survive on 3G, instead of 4G. Is that an easy switch to flip? I do also have a weather app that might be updating constantly. I do not use/have a Bluetooth.

Jay

 

[EvilMonkey]

You can turn off 4G, but they don't make it overly easy. Here's probably the best way: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/07/10/how-to-turn-off-4g-on-verizons-galaxy-s3/

As for email...it's up to you. Do you want separate apps, or would you rather just have everything in one app? Doubt it will make any difference in battery life or anything, so it's really just a personal preference thing.

You said you're making it (almost) through a day on a full charge. That sounds ok to me...not great, but not really poor either. I just plug mine in when I go to bed. Guess I don't expect my phone's battery to last more than a full day....the phones today are beasts with their large screens and multitasking and stuff.

Really, what I want to be able to do with my phone is have days like Saturday...I wake up, take it off the charger at 100%, be able to go to an all-day event, use the phone for 4 or 6 hours straight reading things and surfing the net with the screen on pretty much full time, take some videos and pictures, and not have to worry my phone is going to be dead by noon. I did that on Saturday and we left at 8 in the morning, got back at 4ish, and I still was at over 25% battery....and I used the thing pretty heavily. Sure, I wasn't playing Dead Trigger or anything, but I was on it a LOT throughout the day. I was lucky if my old EVO lasted 4 or 5 hours with regular use. I can easily get 8-10 with heavy use on this phone, and around 24 with my "normal" use.

 

[JOESPUD27]

Thanks for the link.

Jay

 

[sparesr4sissies]

I know to hold the home button and "close" (swipe to the side) apps when I'm done using them.

This does not close the app. All it does is remove it from the recent apps list. If you want to close your apps, you have to open that same list then open the task manager from that screen. Though I have heard many arguments for why killing apps is not necessary (and sometimes counterproductive) such as this article: Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn't Use Them

 

[JOESPUD27]

Skype doesn't seem to work. When I try a video call the other user's screen has a bunch of pink horizontal and vertical lines. Is that a problem with Skype or my phone? Never used Skype before. The other device was an iPhone if that matters.

Jay

 

[dpham00]

I have used Skype ok on my phone, but that was with another android. You can try to restart the phone and also try another device.

Skype doesn't seem to work. When I try a video call the other user's screen has a bunch of pink horizontal and vertical lines. Is that a problem with Skype or my phone? Never used Skype before. The other device was an iPhone if that matters.

Jay

 

[RunSilent23]

Email is up to you. You can't run hotmail through the gmail app (it's gmail only).

Actually you can. I linked my msn.com (i.e. Hotmail) emails with Gmail and they all come through using the Gmail app. If you look at other posts, you will see many have had issues with Hotmail and the stock Android mail app. By linking the accounts with Gmail, you will get the email much faster and you can respond using Gmail or with your Hotmail accounts.

I use the stock email app for my corporate Exchange email (which works awesome) and Gmail for my personal/small business email. I didn't have to give up my old Hotmail accounts and everything works as well as when I was on Blackberry.

 

[JOESPUD27]

Hotmail doesn't seem to be working with the stock app. Says I never have email, but logging into Hotmail on my PC says different.

The old restart and Skype will work? Ha. So far I'm not impressed with Skype.

Jay

 

[zafran]

hi dears
is there any one would be able to solve my problem occured with my samsung galaxy s3? the problem is that i can not access my gmail account on s3.
when i reset my s3 then in the starting process it requires the gmail account for signing in, i entered my gmail id and password correctly but when i press sign in then it does not get sign in and the message appeared (this can take a few minutes) remains for some hours but it cant get sign in. although i already connected to a WiFi network.
and secondly my gmail id also not accessable on google play store.
if any one knows to set up the setting for solving this problem, i am going for his guidense in this regard. and also will be too much thankful for this.

 

[MrSmith317]

Hotmail doesn't seem to be working with the stock app. Says I never have email, but logging into Hotmail on my PC says different.

The old restart and Skype will work? Ha. So far I'm not impressed with Skype.

Jay

Skype is iffy at best on most devices. You can try Google Talk(if that exists for iOS)

hi dears
is there any one would be able to solve my problem occured with my samsung galaxy s3? the problem is that i can not access my gmail account on s3.
when i reset my s3 then in the starting process it requires the gmail account for signing in, i entered my gmail id and password correctly but when i press sign in then it does not get sign in and the message appeared (this can take a few minutes) remains for some hours but it cant get sign in. although i already connected to a WiFi network.
and secondly my gmail id also not accessable on google play store.
if any one knows to set up the setting for solving this problem, i am going for his guidense in this regard. and also will be too much thankful for this.

You should really start your own thread for this. Threadjacking doesn't help anyone. However to your problem there is either a problem on your phone or wifi network. If you can take the phone back to Verizon and try to get an exchange.

 

[walkingrock]

My Skype works fine.