Samsung Galaxy S4 battery life problems

[djmo121]

I had my S4 since launch and the battery life was amazing. It could last 1 day and a half with little use but now it could hardly last 14 hours. I don't know what is going in as the culprit is Android OS, Device idle, Whatsapp and Google Services. How can I change my settings in order to get back this amazing battery life? And by the way the phone gets hot when I wake up in the morning with the battery at 20-30% after charging it the night before.

 

[thegronz]

Same here..I don't think the battery is as good as I first bought it in May. Pretty much the same performance as yours. Any fixes?

Posted via Android Central App

 

[wtherrell]

App called Battery Doctor helps. Be careful with the task killer options, though.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[djmo121]

Sorry for the late reply I'm still new to the forum things. Something is making my phone work really hard as it is hot the majority of the time. I will try the app dont I have a sense that I just have to send it to my insurance as its getting ridiculous. The battery is now lasting 5 hours

 

[Eileen Quezada]

I have this problem too and it's freaking me out! What do I do to fix this problem! It says google services are using 82% of my battery life! I had to go out and buy an emergency charger today on my lunch break at work. My phone always has at least 40% left after my work day and I turn and look at my phone and I am at 2%!!! WTH I looked to see if there were any apps running and zero! I hadn't used my phone at all today! This is really frustrating! Seriously!

 

[garublador]

There's an app called "GSam Battery Monitor" that gives more detailed information about what's using the battery.

I'm on Verizon and I had BatteryGuru suck a bunch of battery after the big Samsung update. I was also missing some of the features that were supposed to be in the update. Doing a factory reset and uninstalling BatteryGuru fixed that for me.

I've also started using the AutoLocation plug in for Tasker that uses the new Google Location API. I updated Maps yesterday and today my battery life seemed significantly worse. I did a soft reboot (hold the power key and pick "Reset") and that seems to have helped a bit but it's really too soon to tell.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

To those of you having issues, did this appear just after installing the latest update that was recently released? If so, this is actually a pretty common occurrence and can almost always be fixed by doing a factory reset. I know that's not what most people want to hear, but I can't figure out why carriers still release OTAs when this happens so often..

There's an app called "GSam Battery Monitor" that gives more detailed information about what's using the battery.

I'm on Verizon and I had BatteryGuru suck a bunch of battery after the big Samsung update. I was also missing some of the features that were supposed to be in the update. Doing a factory reset and uninstalling BatteryGuru fixed that for me.

I've also started using the AutoLocation plug in for Tasker that uses the new Google Location API. I updated Maps yesterday and today my battery life seemed significantly worse. I did a soft reboot (hold the power key and pick "Reset") and that seems to have helped a bit but it's really too soon to tell.

Exactly. FYI, I've seen the posts about Battery Guru failing after the update as well, now that you've done the factory reset and removed it, you should be able to reinstall it...if you want.

 

[djmo121]

Actually the battery life went better after the update. It was only recently this all started to occur. Factory reset will definitely be the very last thing I do as it takes a lot of effort getting things back to where they were

 

[djmo121]

Ok so I found out that after I woke up the android kernel was awake for 5 out of 6 hours. Is it natural to do that? Also the Google play services was only awake for 15 minutes but it took a lot of power going up third on the list.

 

[monsieurms]

There are a variety of threads on this.

I found that my unusual overnight draining (70% or so) was largely caused by SAMSUNG LINK, which I uninstalled. I imagine it is possible other programs may behave the same way. The irony is that I was in airplane mode, and it probably kept checking, frustrated that it had no connection. Normal draining is now about 8-12% overnight. I suspect most of that is coming from Google Services also trying to sync and update, but I can live with that. Note that I'm in airplane mode, GPS off when I go to bed.

The only other alternative would be to just do a total power off of the phone.

 

[CrossClown]

Disable a bunch of the apps you don't need like most of the verizon (or w.e. carrier you have) and samsung bloatware. Update Google Play to 4.1.10 because from what i've heard 4.1.6 has had battery draining issues. Minimize the refresh intervals of the apps that you have running or just flat out disable autorefresh. Turn power saving mode on, disable some of the air gestures that you really don't use (I turned all mine off because I rarely used them). AVG looks like it's taking way too much battery life, when I had mine installed it didn't even show up on the battery list. Oh, google maps, uninstall and reinstall the updates. What's your screen time? If all else fails, backup your stuff on google and then factory reset that bad boy.

 

[Tricia Morrison]

Have you downloaded juice defender solved my battery draining

 

[djmo121]

Ok so I reset default the phone and ill keep you guys updated on my battery stats.

 

[nickgalaxys4]

Hi.. I feel that after the update to save app to SD card my battery life was bad,but now it's better than ever I get 21 hours that's with having features on and screen bright. I see you AVG is taking a lot of battery do you know why I have AVG and it never uses that much. What I do is I let it go down to 20% then charge it. They say it's not good but I have no problems and I am a heavy user of my S4.

 

[CrzyP]

How do I update to 4.1.10? I'm new to android and it's saying my apps are all up to date.

Update: Nevermind. I found a link with the update. So in the future, will I have to manually update play store with every new update?

 

[CCNasty]

How do I update to 4.1.10? I'm new to android and it's saying my apps are all up to date.

Update: Nevermind. I found a link with the update. So in the future, will I have to manually update play store with every new update?

Another newbie here, where did you find the link?

My phone is set to automatically update apps when on wifi yet it is still on 4.1.6 , why?

There are a lot of things this phone does better than my iPhone, but clearly, not everything.

 

[tytlyf]

I'm on Verizon and did the update and factory reset and had an issue or two with the battery life. Download an app that shows you what's waking your phone and keeping your phone awake when it's locked. Here is a screenshot from today after tweaking some settings and getting everything how I like it. I also use an app that allows you to set 'sleep' times which essentially disables the mobile network/wifi at night while sleeping.

.

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[dondebonde]

I have a brand-new, unrooted Sprint Samsung Galaxy S4.

Just spent 25 minutes on the phone with sprint tech support (866-518-0927) and spoke to a nice lady about these issues with the MF9 update. In particular, my issues are as follows:
Received the update around July 18

Problems
Started experiencing significant BATTERY DRAIN on July 19 or so, with a complete change in battery usage profile. Google services and android core apps began to dominate, while screen usage dropped. Today, for example, my battery life is down to 17% after LESS THAN 6 HOURS of use. Screen has been on for less than 2 hours, and I was sleeping for part of this time. I have not made any phone calls, listened to any music, played any games, or taken any pictures. I watched one youtube video and updated a couple of apps. My biggest offenders: Android Core Apps (47%), Screen (25%), and Google Services (15%). Everything else is minimal.
Phone is tremendously OVERHEATING. I know it's hot in death valley, but it's pretty hot in my pants too -- feel like I can cook an egg in there (battery temp has reached 37 C)
Gallery app takes longer to open (I have a galaxy s3 that I have not yet sold connected to my wifi network, which opens the app faster). Also, I no longer have trash icon in gallery app.
Lost the black notification bar on top of home screen - now underlying background is visible (this is not necessarily a problem).
Phone is tremendously overheating and processor is constantly running. Have I already mentioned this?
When I long-press the home button, one process ALWAYS shows up: com.sec.app.MIPErrorNotifier and does not go away.

Attempted Fixes
Found a few "fixes" in various forums (sprint, google, etc), which I have utilized with little success.
Disabled Google Play services, which, for some, has apparently been chewing through the battery due to an issue with google maps. Incidentally, this renders Google Now and Google Hangouts essentially worthless.
Uninstalled Google Maps update and reverted to factory installed version (6.14.3?)
Have disconnected and reconnected my phone with my Google account 3 times.
Have rebooted phone multiple times.
Have removed battery twice.
Disabled Sync (was previously syncing my gmail and other Google services as push without problems)
Left Power Save mode enabled. This has been on since I purchased my phone based on battery-saving tips that nearly every website recommends
Left GPS, bluetooth, and all "Smart" Samsung features OFF (occasionally used smart stay previously, but disabled with these problems)
Downloaded JuiceDefender and Battery usage app to assist with battery life, but to no avail. I also downloaded AVG Antivirus to combat any virus threats (battery problems occurred prior to downloading this app)
I did NOT mess with the DRM settings, as I was uncomfortable doing this.

Sprint conversation
The lady I spoke to grabbed a sample S4 from her office and began tinkering with it as well. I told her my battery usage stats (android core, google services, etc.). She stated that not everyone in her office with an s4 has experienced these same issues, but made it sound like some may have (didn't directly state this). I asked her if there were known issues with the MF9 update and referred her to the numerous threads in the sprint forums regarding this issue to show that this is not an isolated problem, and she said that nothing has been formally documented that she could see. Her suspicion was that there may be some faulty software integration between the MF9 update and google services, and RECOMMENDED THAT I FACTORY RESET MY PHONE. She also noted that there is NO WAY TO UNINSTALL OR ROLL BACK THE UPDATE, even after factory reset.

I will factory reset my phone later this afternoon, and if my battery problems persist, will have to to go to the sprint store to see if they can do anything. She indicated that they may know of some way to roll back the update, although why some local dude would have an answer to this problem while she does not is unlikely. As an aside, my battery life has decreased from 17% to 11% in the course of writing this post. Awesome.

Please call tech support and badger them with this issue. Perhaps with our powers combined, they will hasten to release an update.

 

[Aggie PT]

It sounds like you have a lot of the same issues that I do.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[SB1960]

Hi all! Help! Same problem. Every time my back is turned, google Play Music is fired up and chews the battery.. I've tried uninstalling it as it's not the player I use anyway but next thing I know it's automatically installing again. Sneaky and insidious!! Susie