Nexus 4 will not charge when turned off?!?!

[vbozzo1]

Hi, this has to be the STRANGEST issue I have ever encountered from a Smartphone. I recently purchase a Nexus 4. If the phone has the battery life run down throughout the day, and I take it home to charge I naturally do what? I turn it off! Well at least twice (possibly more times) I have turned off my phone and looked at the percentage it was at before doing so. I then powered it off for the evening and threw it on the charger. In both cases when I woke up the next day the charge percentage was less (significantly less, for example started out at 77% and when powered up the next day it was at 36%?!?!) than before I powered it off. Has anyone seen this and does anyone have any idea what might cause this? Now here's the weird thing, it will charge to 100% when it is turned on?!?! Truly STRANGE and I hope someone has seen this or can provide me a possible cause. I have made a point to double check all my connections but it made no difference. This is REALLY frustrating as I had a Note II and that had BULLETPROOF battery life and no charging issues. I returned it because I wanted to get off the 2yr contract merry go round and reduce my phone bill each month. Now I am having second thoughts about this. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[N4Newbie]

Stock charger or a third-party unit? It is always good to know these things up front in these situations.

What apps have you installed? Come on, list them all...

 

[DirkBelig]

Very odd. What happens with a different charger?

Earlier today, I was charging my phone and it was at 97% when I shut it down because I wanted to see if a reboot fixed the phone sucking power issue I have an unanswered thread about. When I started it back up about 10-15 minutes later, it said "Charged" and was at 100%.

 

[MANdroidd]

Anyone else experiencing this?? Is this a real issue??

- - - Updated - - -

Anyone else experiencing this?? Is this a real issue??

 

[N4Newbie]

Anyone else experiencing this?? Is this a real issue??

- - - Updated - - -

Anyone else experiencing this?? Is this a real issue??

If it were a "real issue" don't you think there would be a lot more threads on this and other boards about it?

Wrong charger.

Bad charger.

Rogue or corrupt app.

etc.

 

[vbozzo1]

N4Newbie, this is TOTALLY a real issue for me. It charges the phone just fine when the phone is on. The moment I turn the phone off it fails to charge the phone. I have a stock charger. I guess the charger could be bad but that doesn't explain why the phone will charge to 100% with the phone turned on. The apps I have installed are Light Flow (improves the notification light), Facebook, ESPN Sportscenter, and Swype Beta which seems to work better than the stock Android Keyboard and Slide IT Keyboard. That is it. If anything I am thinking bad phone since the charger works fine when the phone is on but not when the phone is off.

 

[andr0idralphie]

I usually keep my phones on when charging because I haven't had a landline in years but when my NEXUS 4 happened to be off when I plugged it in a white, charging battery icon animation appeared in the middle of the screen shortly before the screen turned off, but it charged anyway. Do you see a charging battery icon when you power it off and its plugged in? Do you attempt reattaching it to the plug?

 

[vbozzo1]

Ok so an update on this thread. I just checked the charging status while the phone was on. Previously it appeared to be charging flawlessly. However, this time the status of the battery was flipping back and forth like crazy to charging then not charging. I tried a different wall outlet and it went to AC charging. I still think it is something flaky with the phone or charger though since both outlets have produced similar results when the phone was off. Basically failing to charge the phone.

 

[andr0idralphie]

By the way... what were the results of using the MicroUSB chargers from any other devices?

 

[N4Newbie]

If anything I am thinking bad phone since the charger works fine when the phone is on but not when the phone is off.

You can't think "bad phone" until you have returned the phone to its original factory condition plus OS updates and tested it that way.

I would be especially wary of any app which can run in the background / as a service. Certainly Lightflow (which has already been widely reported here to have issues on the N4).

Also, if you haven't done so already, try powering your phone off and restarting it. That means, turn it on, hold the power button down until the menu pops up with the "Power off" option, tap it. After fully shutdown, hold the power button again for several seconds until the phone vibrates, then release to initiate power on.

 

[cornkracker]

Since day 1 of owning the phone I have let the battery drain completely and then I turn it off and charge to full. I have not faced any issue.It consistently shows the charging status correctly when it's off and charges surprisingly quickly.

 

[gtg465x]

The real question is why do you guys turn your phones off to charge. It only takes a couple hours even when the phone is on.

 

[MissInterpritation]

My nexus GT-19250T would not charge it's battery until it was turned off, this first occured 3 days ago. After searching threads etc i stumbled across a reference to a corrupt app and suddenly realised that a widget named '3D flip clock' was displaying the incorrect current location also incorrect weather info, all of which i could not change or delete, the only option was to unistall app. With the app removed i can now plug the phone into a charger (with phone on or off), phone has reverted back to it's normal charging processes.

 

[agreen1990]

I think since he said it didn't work when it was turned off but would when he turned it on, that he knows how to put the phone on and off.

 

[agreen1990]

Not to be an alarmist, but this is how my intermittent problems started. Now I have a dead Nexus 4. I usually charge with the LG charger near my bed and I get a blinking red light and no white charging battery when I plug it in. I tried to unplug and plug in the jack several time, tried another wall charger and a USB charger. Same result from all three. I had the same issue a few weeks ago but several plugging in and out of the jack seemed to fix it. Not this time, warranty return. sigh.

 

[chubb]

Ok so an update on this thread. I just checked the charging status while the phone was on. Previously it appeared to be charging flawlessly. However, this time the status of the battery was flipping back and forth like crazy to charging then not charging. I tried a different wall outlet and it went to AC charging. I still think it is something flaky with the phone or charger though since both outlets have produced similar results when the phone was off. Basically failing to charge the phone.

Try using a different cable and the stock wall charger. On my N4 the cable that came with it died the second time I used it. Does not charge or work on my laptop but the wall adapter works fine. So maybe try a different cable with the stock wall adapter. If that don't work try a different wall adapter with a different cable. Hopefully your problem is not with the phone, but with the cables.