Google Services - Battery

[joshsparham]

Google Services is eating up my battery like no other. I'm sure there might have been a previous post or two on this and if so can someone point me towards it.

Also can any one give me some ideas to limit the amount of battery used?

 

[SpookDroid]

The main culprit should be location reporting. Google Now relies heavily on this, and yes, since the latest update it HAS been showing up as the main battery gobbler in your list. However, some users report that uninstalling Google Services' updates, restarting the phone, and updating again made the service consume less battery (or at least not show up on top).

In my case, it did work for a few days, and then it shoots back up, and then it goes back down...

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Google services has combined a bunch of services that used to be separate. So total battery usage may well be the same, and you're just seeing it consolidated in a way that makes the total usage look bigger.

But without information, no one can do anything but guess. Post screen shots of the three standard battery screens (search, and you'll find hundreds of threads on battery life that explain which screens, and we can try to help.

 

[joshsparham]

Google services has combined a bunch of services that used to be separate. So total battery usage may well be the same, and you're just seeing it consolidated in a way that makes the total usage look bigger.

But without information, no one can do anything but guess. Post screen shots of the three standard battery screens (search, and you'll find hundreds of threads on battery life that explain which screens, and we can try to help.

I will let the phone run on battery for a bit and then post some screen shots. I did turn off "location by wifi / network" and that seems to have eliminated the Google Services battery usage so far.

 

[joshsparham]

Ok I turned back on "location services by network/wifi" and let my phone run for about 1.5 hours. I might have sent one text during that whole time and here are the screen shots I got.

So Google Services aren't leading the way at this point but Google (OS, services, etc) is eating my battery pretty well.

At this point I have been on battery power for 1:45 mins and have 85% battery left with nothing more than a text and deleting an email.

Any thoughts? I might just have to turn location services by network off for good.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Ok I turned back on "location services by network/wifi" and let my phone run for about 1.5 hours. I might have sent one text during that whole time and here are the screen shots I got.

So Google Services aren't leading the way at this point but Google (OS, services, etc) is eating my battery pretty well..

Remember that percentage is a zero sum game. The sum of all activities equals 100. As the battery used by applications and other services goes down, the percentage used by the OS must go up. That doesn't mean that the battery used by the OS is going up, just that as a fraction of the whole it's a bigger piece. Windows has (or at least used to have -- I don't pay much attention any more) something called Idle process which accounted for everything not accounted for by actual running activities, to make the total add up to 100. In Android, that pretty much falls into the OS bucket.

Also remember that even if you're not actively doing things, the phone is only really idle if you turn it off with the power switch. When it's on the cellular radio is always active, telling the network where it is, and checking to see if the network is talking to it. Same with WiFi and BT if those radios are turned on. The OS is always active, listening for any app or process that might need something done. The clock is always running, RAM is constantly being refreshed, Android is monitoring itself, etc. Many apps transfer data in the background: email, messaging, Facebook, Twitter, and hundreds more. If you have apps that check on your location, those are regularly generating traffic on one or more radios. So even if you're doing nothing, the phone is still doing lots of things.

As far as location services, I find that setting under that menu option don't have nearly as much effect as Google's various location sensitive apps. The settings in Location services determine what happens when apps ask for location data; these settings don't actually determine whether the phone tries to track your location or not, just what radios it uses to do so. Go to settings / Accounts / Google / Maps & Latitude. Make sure Report from this device and Enable location sharing are turned off, unless you really need them. Check your location based settings in apps like Facebook, Google's Field Trip, or any other apps that can act based on your location.

 

[joshsparham]

Remember that percentage is a zero sum game. The sum of all activities equals 100. As the battery used by applications and other services goes down, the percentage used by the OS must go up. That doesn't mean that the battery used by the OS is going up, just that as a fraction of the whole it's a bigger piece. Windows has (or at least used to have -- I don't pay much attention any more) something called Idle process which accounted for everything not accounted for by actual running activities, to make the total add up to 100. In Android, that pretty much falls into the OS bucket.

Ok I just turned off the option that lets google apps use my location and I turned off "location by network/wifi." I like the google location stuff but at times it makes my phone super hot and drains my battery like no other.

So you don't see anything out of the ordinary from the screen shots I posted?

Also remember that even if you're not actively doing things, the phone is only really idle if you turn it off with the power switch. When it's on the cellular radio is always active, telling the network where it is, and checking to see if the network is talking to it. Same with WiFi and BT if those radios are turned on. The OS is always active, listening for any app or process that might need something done. The clock is always running, RAM is constantly being refreshed, Android is monitoring itself, etc. Many apps transfer data in the background: email, messaging, Facebook, Twitter, and hundreds more. If you have apps that check on your location, those are regularly generating traffic on one or more radios. So even if you're doing nothing, the phone is still doing lots of things.

As far as location services, I find that setting under that menu option don't have nearly as much effect as Google's various location sensitive apps. The settings in Location services determine what happens when apps ask for location data; these settings don't actually determine whether the phone tries to track your location or not, just what radios it uses to do so. Go to settings / Accounts / Google / Maps & Latitude. Make sure Report from this device and Enable location sharing are turned off, unless you really need them. Check your location based settings in apps like Facebook, Google's Field Trip, or any other apps that can act based on your location.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

It's hard to be sure with only 12% of battery used, and very light use, but no, nothing looks really out of the ordinary. I'd suggest charging to 100% (which resets all the battery stats when you unplug), then using the phone normally until the battery drops to 50% or less. Then post screen shots taken at that point.