Battery apps like Juice Defender and DS on Moto X - For or Against

[PlayDLine]

I'd like to get some opinions please on whether people feel "battery extending" apps such as Juice Defender and DS Battery Saver make any sense on the Moto X.
I've read so much conflicting info so I'd like some sound advice. Some folks swear by these apps and some say they're absolutely worthless - so who's to be believed?

I thought I read somewhere that DS puts the phone to sleep during certain times - which could be good - not sure if JD does that same thing.

I've also read that these apps cause wake lock - I'm not sure if I'm following this correctly but according to what I read these "wakings" can negate any battery gains the apps give you.

Any thoughts? Keep them? Drop them and let the Moto X do it's own thing? Any help to a confused user would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[benhmadison]

The moto x is optimized for great battery life out of the box. I have never used these battery saving apps for the very reason you've mentioned, conflicting stories of success/failure. In my opinion running a battery saving app means another program running in the background and taking up resources.
With some devices they might be worth a try but on the x it has amazing battery life already.

Sent from my XT1058 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[tortex73]

The only battery saving app anyone should be using (on any phone) is Greenify. It does require the phone to be rooted, however.

 

[austriak]

I tried a couple different battery saving apps like JD on my HTC One and found that my battery life improved after I deleted them. I am not a fan of them.

 

[anon(847090)]

I am against these apps. the only app i am for is greenify(root needed) which truly make the app sleep.

 

[jimbarr]

Here's the thing. Juice Defender (I use the Ultimate version to manage the battery on my DROID Bionic) works by turning WiFi and Mobile data off during idle periods. While this could provide even more battery life on the Moto X, features like touchless control and voice recognition will suddenly stop working. OK, they continue to work, but there will be a delay while your phone once again establishes connectivity which could cause timeouts. I tried using Juice Defender, and when I said. "OK, Google Now" my Moto X woke up and accepted the voice input, but when it tried to recognize what I said, it failed because it had not yet connected to the Internet. It really made the feature useless.

My suggestion is to let the Moto X handle battery management. That said, as mentioned above, Greenify can be very useful, but does require root.

I leave Mobile Data and WiFi on 24x7, and I am consistently getting over 24 hours with typically 20-40% charge left.

 

[Sailindawg]

Since the largest battery users are the radios, why not automate their use with Tasker. One can also use Tasker to make rules for apps & app behaviour as well. Tasker is pretty light compared to the battery apps. Greenify is great, but one requires root. Tasker will work without root. One of the best plug-ins for Tasker is Synkr. It will allow to program how often your phone syncs all accounts including email.

 

[jimbarr]

Since the largest battery users are the radios, why not automate their use with Tasker. One can also use Tasker to make rules for apps & app behaviour as well. Tasker is pretty light compared to the battery apps. Greenify is great, but one requires root. Tasker will work without root. One of the best plug-ins for Tasker is Synkr. It will allow to program how often your phone syncs all accounts including email.

If you are trying to eek out as much battery life as you can, then using something like Tasker or Juice Defender makes really good sense. You just have to compromise some functionality to do so. But that personal choice is what makes this phone (and similar phones) so desirable.

 

[Aquila]

Personally, against. Strongly.

Nexus. Through spacetime.

 

[mm356]

I leave Mobile Data and WiFi on 24x7, and I am consistently getting over 24 hours with typically 20-40% charge left.

Wow. I get nothing even close to that. Even with WiFi and mobile data disabled and in deep sleep mode I still get a 20% drop over the course of a work day. With any reasonable use (2-4 hours screen on time) I'll have to re-charge at night. Looks like Google services is the biggest wake lock culprit, so I'm beginning to think I'll always have the choice between constantly running these services or trying to save battery by disabling them. Given that choice though I'm with you Jim - these services and features are what made me choose the X in the first place, so I'd rather just charge more often and use them rather than disable them.

However, I will say that I do have deep battery saver installed and even with it in "Slumber" mode I don't see much improvement from before I installed it, so the idea that they aren't necessary is probably true for the X.

 

[Sailindawg]

If you are trying to eek out as much battery life as you can, then using something like Tasker or Juice Defender makes really good sense. You just have to compromise some functionality to do so. But that personal choice is what makes this phone (and similar phones) so desirable.

I agree about making compromises to save battery power, but Tasker is so much more. It allows one to really control the phone. For instance, I have a routine for blue tooth. If the phone is idle, not being used, blue tooth is off. If the phone rings, blue tooth turns on, detects my blue tooth ear piece and connects to the ear piece. Call ends, blue tooth turns off. In the car, I have Car Home Ultra as the car dock. If my Tasker profile for Car Home Ultra is active, blue tooth is on and utilized for either audio out for my ear piece. That's the power of Tasker. Turn things on when needed, off when not needed with no loss of overall phone functionality.

 

[toddtee]

I having been using JuiceDefender on my Moto-X for about a week now. It shuts my "data" off when I connect to a Wi-Fi source and reverses the process when I disconnect from Wi-Fi. That alone makes it worthwhile for me.

 

[Evilnut]

I find I don't need to use a battery saving app with the moto x. I never use WiFi, I'm always on 4G LTE (Verizon). I work at job sites all day & stream music at least 2 hours per day, 20 mins of calls, IM, Text & social media plus YouTube at lunch. I also use navigation sometimes to get to job sites. I always get 14+ hours of battery. That includes about 3 hours of screen on time. That's plenty good for me.

Posted via my Nexus 10 using the totally awesome Android Central App

 

[preter_stuff]

That's hardly the point of this post. Its irrelevant whether the phone has got good or great battery life out of the box.

You're not understanding the Android system and the app development industry. The point is that 3rd party developers often push the limits of (or outright abuse) reasonable use of system resources. The more apps you install over time, the poorer the battery life.

You need to regain control over the phone in the face of all these abuses by inconsiderate/delinquent app developers who refuse to adhere to best practices, i.e. those who are too aggressive in pushing updates/ads/notifications to gain mindshare at your expense (data use or battery consumption) and for their gain.

That's why it is always pointless talking about battery saving apps that do not have or require root access. Understand what rooting your phone means - Allowing you to regain control of your phone by overriding what these 3rd party app developers wish to do.

Rooted apps are tools that allow you to control other apps. That's why only apps like Greenify truly work well in saving battery. That's why it was rated the best root utility of 2013. Understand how it works.

N.B. I have always had excellent battery life with Greenify. Tried Deep Sleep Battery Saver but after installing on top of Greenify and other tweaks etc. caused IM messaging delays and battery drain issues. After uninstalling DS, am back to excellent battery life.