New to android - looking for tips

[holzlondon]

Well, my employer just arrived in the 21st century and switched from old school Blackberries to Android. We got S4 minis.(already kind of outdated I know...) I'm used to the battery performance of Windows Phone and can't get over how quickly the battery drains on my new device. Does anyone have any good tips on saving battery usage? Thanks in advance!

 

[wizzrah]

Hey, welcome to Android! Check this guide out for the basics: http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=399060

Close all apps that run in the background. Just hold your menu button until you see all your recent applications. Slide them away so they don't chug in the back when the phone is idle. Turn off WiFi, Bluetooth, and Data when possible. Those drain a lot of battery. Lower your screen brightness. Screens tend to take up a lot of battery power. If you have anymore questions, let us know.

 

[holzlondon]

Thanks for the tips. I've managed most of that already. Still draining quite a bit. Will read through the link though.

 

[wizzrah]

Thanks for the tips. I've managed most of that already. Still draining quite a bit. Will read through the link though.

Can you post a screenshot of your battery stats in the settings of your device? I just wanted an understanding of how fast your battery is draining.

 

[Rukbat]

Run Greenify and hibernate all the apps that don't have to run by themselves (timer, email, etc.)

Run Wakelock Detector (see Wakelock with non-rooted KitKat first) to see what's keeping the phone awake. When it's just sitting on your desk it should be sleeping - being awake drains battery.

Turn off all radios you're not using - wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, Mobile Data - whichever ones you don't need at the moment.

Keep the screen brightness as low as you're comfortable with (the screen is the single largest battery consumer, and the brighter it is, the more it consumes).

Swiping apps off the "most recently used" app list just removes them from the list - it doesn't stop them from running if they're running. Don't remove apps from RAM - it actually wastes battery, because if they're needed, the Android Memory Manager will just reload them. (And if you run a "cleaning" app, they'll just keep fighting each other.)

 

[Lschinaia]

Could be the battery itself. My Bionic was getting 2 hrs of battery life on its original battery. I bought an aftermarket battery, lasts 18hrs -1 day on it now. Try JuiceDefender too, are you leaving wifi on? or the signal, bluetooth? Juice Defender shuts off wifi and other drainers when the phone is asleep and it detects no user. It works on my Gingerbread device really well.

Samsung are notorious for bad battery life, because of their oversized screens. Turn the screen brightness down also. Google "battery tips for S4 Mini" and "battery tips for android" they will walk you through steps to optimize battery performance. Most tips are really simple to get the most out of the battery. Don't drain it completely either, this can damage the battery. Use the charge at 20% rule.

Just found video on yt but cannot post links yet.