good app to tell me what's eating battery?

[Antiseen]

Not so much an app reporting on battery status, level, time left, extra. More of a process monitor that tells me what's eating battery and by how much. Any recommendations?

 

[worwig]

I don't think there really can be such a thing. The built in monitor, can only measure the amount of time a process is using. Like the display takes a lot of processor time to paint over and over again. Yet something that quickly downloads a file over the network may actually consume more power. But you can't measure current quick enough to narrow it down to a single process.

It looks like I had a problem with battery drain from Pandora running in the background even when never started by me. I just stumbled on it, unistalled it, and noticed a battery improvement.
No idea how to find things like that automatically.

 

[Antiseen]

That makes sense. I guess I'll just have to find what's gobbling up the battery on my own.

 

[markadocious]

I have found a good app called Watchdog, which monitors all of the processes running in the background. Any app that runs over a certain CPU threshold, Watchdog will send you a notification of the offending app, along with the option to kill it. It is a free app and works like a charm for me.

 

[FrankXS]

I have found a good app called Watchdog, which monitors all of the processes running in the background. Any app that runs over a certain CPU threshold, Watchdog will send you a notification of the offending app, along with the option to kill it. It is a free app and works like a charm for me.

Thanks. This looks pretty good. I just installed it. I like that it doesn't just "auto-kill" apps, but notifies you of the status, so you can make up your own mind what to do about it - like remove the offending app.

-Frank

 

[KJ78]

menu->settings->about phone->battery->battery use

 

[Helloneumann]

Watchdog works well for me also.

 

[cadzilla74]

Another vote for Watchdog! K9 Mail got stuck on my TBolt last week trying to poll. Watchdog popped up an alert based on CPU usage threshold. If it had gone unnoticed it probably would have drained the battery or caused a reboot at some point.

 

[wildman]

I perfer SystemPanelLite Task Manager myself, check it out at https://market.android.com/details?id=nextapp.systempanel&feature=search_result

 

[FrankXS]

menu->settings->about phone->battery->battery use

The built-in battery use log misses a lot. For one thing, I can spend two hours on the MHS, battery juice only, and it doesn't even register on the built-in battery usage log. Watchdog has way more details. And will send an alert to your notification bar when things go particularly screwy.

Edit: After saying this I went and checked Watchdog for my recent MHS use. Couldn't find it. Maybe I need more training I dunno.

Edit2:Looks like it's under "Internet".

Edit3: 7/30/11 - Sorry gang, but I thought I better correct this. I did in fact find "Mobile Hotpot" listed. Just wanted to correct that point. I also registed the program, Watchdog Task Manager. I like to support developers when I think they've brought a good product to market. Even if getting rid of the "ads" isn't that big of a deal.

-Frank

 

[markadocious]

Thanks. This looks pretty good. I just installed it. I like that it doesn't just "auto-kill" apps, but notifies you of the status, so you can make up your own mind what to do about it - like remove the offending app.

-Frank

No Problem bro.. I've gotten a great deal of excellent suggestions from your posts, so it's nice to be able to return the favor.

 

[FrankXS]

I perfer SystemPanelLite Task Manager myself, check it out at https://market.android.com/details?id=nextapp.systempanel&feature=search_result

System Panel Lite looks good too but includes the kitchen sink Usually I use the KISS principle. More function usually takes more power. But if I find myself wanting more details/capability, I'll try it out.

-Frank

 

[paulmike3]

System Panel Lite looks good too but includes the kitchen sink Usually I use the KISS principle. More function usually takes more power. But if I find myself wanting more details/capability, I'll try it out.

-Frank

I bought the full version of System Panel. The installer feature is awesome -- you can archive apps, and it's easier to uninstall apps than the standard uninstaller.

 

[wildman]

System Panel Lite looks good too but includes the kitchen sink Usually I use the KISS principle. More function usually takes more power. But if I find myself wanting more details/capability, I'll try it out.

-Frank

Actually I thought this also because of all it does but the monitoring process uses so little power that its not even noticeable under the stock usage app, I leave the monitoring feature on all the time and it has identified a number of stray apps on my device that was pulling power.

 

[agula001]

what about battery monitor widget: https://market.android.com/details?id=ccc71.bmw&hl=en

 

[Antiseen]

great recommendations guys. Trying out the system panel lite app.