Google services draining battery

[rita_alac]

I got an s4 a few weeks ago, my battery was running pretty well until google services started showing up on the battery consumption with the highest of consumption of around 60% ... Now, my battery drains like crazy ... I dont use google +, google now, maps or anything like that and my location services are switched off.

Please help!

 

[tytlyf]

You should go into the Application manager and disable those google services you don't use.

 

[jeffreii]

Don't rely on that stock battery detail screen. Use this app to report your battery usage statistics:
https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ps/details?id=com.gsamlabs.bbm&token=rm5Ne6nS

Also, before making a post like this, try using the search feature of the forums to see the many other people who have already reported the same issue and hopefully found a solution to it:

For example:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...battery-issues.html?highlight=google+services
http://forums.androidcentral.com/t-...y-battery-life.html?highlight=google+services

 

[EaziG]

Hi,

I have managed to find a solution to the Google Services battery drain that may or may not help in your case too.

The usual solution is to switch off the WiFi & Mobile network location, which works fine and will remove the battery drain issue. However, i have found that it means that the phone cant find your location very fast since it can only rely on the GPS without any network assistance, so it takes ages for apps like google maps to find your location

I believe whats going on here is something to do with google services trying to sync, but since it has an error it cannot complete the sync, which causes it to keep trying over and over.

One thing to check is the Google Services Sync.
When i checked mine after it suddenly had a large battery drain from Google Services i noticed that there were many errors when Syncing.

To check this, grab your Galaxy S4 and go to settings > accounts > Google, then select your account at the top
it will open a page full of all the apps that are syncing through Google services Check if there are any errors with the sync of these.

Another thing that works well is to refresh this account:
First, go to Settings > More > Application Manager.
Look for Google Play Services and Clear its Data. Go back to the Accounts and back into the Sync section (as mentioned before) and at the bottom tap the "Remove account" button.

Then Restart the phone, (just to make sure its properly starting up afresh). Go back to the Accounts and add your Google account back in. Google services will then make sure all your Google apps are up to date. make sure the Syncs are displaying as working. and youre good to go.
This means you can turn on the wifi & mobile network location option without it destroying your battery.

Remember that its normal to have google services appear in your battery list, especially if you are using services like Google now.
With everything syncing nicely you should find that Google services will only establish a connection shortly and on only a few occasions rather than the continuous battery slaughtering that it was doing before.

This appears to have worked well on my device and so far i have gone through a week and each day the battery has been perfect (this is with the wifi & mobile network location turned on).

If this works for you too, please let me know in reply to this and i'll make sure to send this information on to other Galaxy S4 users.

Enjoy the S4 its awesome.
EaziG

 

[Old Stoneface]

Hi,
If this works for you too, please let me know in reply to this and i'll make sure to send this information on to other Galaxy S4 users.

I've been experiencing the same problem with my HTC Sensation 4G. I just tried your procedure. I'll let you know.

I'm encouraged by one thing: The mysterious "Sync Internet" would never show successful sync, before, so I disabled it. Now it succeeds. Sync tasks gave me a bit of grief, requiring a separate permission grant, for some reason.

All of this, and the numerous reports of Google (Play) Services misbehaving, lead one to suspect Google's developers have done a less-than-steller job on this suite of services, which is both disappointing and disquieting.

 

[EaziG]

Thanks for your reply.
Yeah there's definitely something strange happening with googles services. I assume the real fix will come in the next update,which should be the big KitKat update. I've seen that they have updated the OS in this area (how much apps are using battery and data) meaning that you will have more control over issues like this.
As mentioned before, even after making sure everything is syncing properly. You will still see Google Services appear in the battery list, but it should not use anywhere near the amount of battery it was before.
I have noticed the Google services appear in the list early in the morning, but over the course of the day, the amount of battery it has used is minimal.
Also services such as Google Play, which continuously checks your location and learns about you and your phone will obviously be trying to bounce info across to Google.

Also I noticed in another thread, there is an app called "SnapDragon Battery Guru", made for devices like the Galaxy S4.
I'm new to the app, but it promises good things.
Apparently it will learn from your daily routine (like how often you use your phone, when you normally charge it, and when you connect to wifi), after a few days it'll pop up and suggest ways to maximise your battery life.
Things like: making apps only sync around the times you normally use them, turning wifi off at times where you usually do not have a connection (and back on again) and an especially cool one... since it knows when your usual charge points are, it'll let you know when you may not have enough battery life until you reach your next charge point, and prompt you to give the battery a boost.
Well worth a look if you are concerned about battery life.
hope this all helps

EzG

 

[PhreakAccident]

Thanks for the post EzG! I updated to 4.3 the other day on my T-Mobile device and the battery life sucked. I just followed your advice and will see how it proceeds today. Truly sucks that my battery dies half way through my work shift just hanging off my belt. I think the other thing to disable would probably be Samsung App Store. I can periodically check for the WatchOn updates manually if I feel like it.

Cheers
PA

 

[Old Stoneface]

So it's been close to a week. Following EaziG's procedure helped, in that, for example, I was able to re-enable the mysterious "Sync Internet," but, otherwise, I've realized only a small improvement.

I suspect the main culprit is location-related. I mainly see Google (Play) Services consuming the most battery when I'm on WiFi networks (other than my own, at home, oddly enough). What I want to do is disable "Google's Location Service," but then the weather on my Sensation's home screen flip clock stops working. Wish I could find an ad-free replacement for that clock that didn't have that problem

In the meantime: I keep Google's lousy code from destroying my runtime by not using WiFi unless I need it.

Handy. Good job, Google. Not

 

[PhreakAccident]

So far I've been unplugged for just over six hours of idle, with a couple of text messages, and a quick update in Facebook. Battery is at 78% and Google Services is at 16%.

As for Google Play, maybe turn off Auto Update and Notification. Then you would manually have to go in and check for updates, but it should stop Play from it's contribution to running down the battery.

 

[PhreakAccident]

Typical performance during the entire weekend was great, thanks to EaziG's post. After 12h 43m 2s on battery, I was still at 70%. Screen had used 59% of the consumed battery, and Google Services, which was running very high, was only 12%. If Google Service flips back to being a hog and battery life goes to hell, I'll post a follow-up. Big thanks to EaziG!

 

[EaziG]

Typical performance during the entire weekend was great, thanks to EaziG's post. After 12h 43m 2s on battery, I was still at 70%. Screen had used 59% of the consumed battery, and Google Services, which was running very high, was only 12%. If Google Service flips back to being a hog and battery life goes to hell, I'll post a follow-up. Big thanks to EaziG!

That’s great news, and im glad I was able to help. Thanks for your Replies too.
Yep, your battery life looks very similar to what I am getting now. So I’d say that your phone is performing as it should.

 

[PhreakAccident]

That’s great news, and im glad I was able to help. Thanks for your Replies too.
Yep, your battery life looks very similar to what I am getting now. So I’d say that your phone is performing as it should.

I went one step beyond last Friday. I turned off "Use Wireless Networks" for Location Services. And I turned off (disabled) the following:
BlurbCheckout, ChatOn, com.google.android.talk, Google+

With miminal use (only a few phone calls) with texting, SMS, Facebook and Androind Kindle, my battery ran 1d 23h 24m 44s and still had 9% battery.
Screen had used 42% followed by Idle at 20%, OS at 12@, Cell Standby 7% and Wifi 4%. My Wifi is set to never go to sleep. I should also say that the Google Services process does not show up in the running stats.

Best Regards,
PA

 

[Old Stoneface]

Here's something that appears to work, too:

Go to settings-apps-all.
Then Contacts-force stop-ok-clear data.
Then go to Contacts Storage-force stop-ok-clear data.
Then go to Accounts-click on your gmail account
Un-check Contacts and re-check it. This will restart sync.

ETA: It may be necessary to reboot the device between stopping and restarting Contacts sync. If you get the dreaded "Sync is currently experiencing problems. It will be back shortly.", try it.

I found this procedure in a thread, somewhere. Perhaps on another site. Unfortunately, I lost the page and have not been able to relocate it.

The advantage to this procedure is that I don't lose my direct dial shortcuts.

Jim

 

[EaziG]

Hi, in case you didn't know, there is now an update to Google play services. V4.1.3 which has solved the issue completely on my s4.
The update should be rolling out already, but if you want it earlier, sites like android police have it available for download.