[Guide] Battery Saving Tips

[rdroyer]

Good info, so many people complain about battery life but don't realize it takes very little effort to maintain a good battery.

 

[noomclub]

I have nearly doubled my Gclub online because of it. Thank you.

 

[languedoctor]

Thanks for writing this up!
Just returned to Android after 4 years with WP7, 7.5, 8, and 8.1, and I have a quick question - is there a middle ground between enabling background sync and going strictly manual? With non-Google apps, it seems like there is an option to specify frequency of updates. With Google apps (and unfortunately I really have no choice but to use them), it seems like it's all or nothing. In which case, I guess I just have to leave it on. The problem is that, just this afternoon, I burned through 20% of my phone's battery with it in my pocket.

Yes, I've got a (yahoo) weather widget, as well as the "today" calendar widget. But I also proactively turned off mobile data (disabled 4G when it *is* on), as well as bluetooth, NFC, location services. Is Sync really that much of a battery killer? 200mAh/hr with the above settings and display off seems insane :-/

FWIW, it's mid-level LG Volt, purchased specifically because my needs are modest with the exception of battery life. I figured I was safe with a 3000mAh battery and middling specs. And hopefully I am. Something must not be right...

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! It's probably not the Google background syncing that's eating up that much battery. In you situation, I'd focus more on things like cell signal strength, turning Location Reporting off, and checking for a corrupt SD card.

There's no way to adjust the sync interval for Google services--they're mostly instantaneous, or close to it. I leave that auto-sync on, but turn other apps to manual, like Facebook.

 

[languedoctor]

I was frustrated because I did follow the guide and did turn off location reporting. I also turned off 4G. In my area, on Sprint, it seems like 4G is solid only in the city and on interstate highways. Outside that area (where I work), 3G is much safer.

Anyway, reporting back on the issue: I reset my phone and started over. This time, I completely eliminated widgets, and I minimized the number of accounts linked to the phone. Now it's just a regular account and a google apps account (I don't sync my microsoft account or my facebook account).

The difference is night and day. Now the phone can make it almost two days on a full charge, which is just outstanding. Battery life is so good that I feel silly even complaining. That said, I still think my old Nokia hit the sweet spot. I'd take one full day, without worrying about location, and with live calendar, email, and weather on the home screen. Sure, I can make my Android do those exact things, and more. But for 8 hours, tops.

I'm getting used to just having three screens of icons, though. And I can imagine that in a few weeks I'll be wondering how I ever lived with a phone that was dead by the next morning if I forgot to charge it the previous night. I've done that twice now since resetting the phone, and each time I've woken up to almost 50% remaining charge. That's really nice. Different OS, different strengths. And with Android, I don't have to worry about ever receiving notifications like the "this is the last straw" notice from Chase, announcing their windows phone app would be pulled from the store in a week, and would cease to work in March. That's the real reason for the switch. I'm not one to tinker, and whatever suspicions I used to have about Microsoft I now have about Google, too. The difference really is app support.

I think that if Microsoft wants to survive in mobile phones, long-term, they'll probably need to unlock the capability to run android apps. I know it's a last resort, but if Microsoft is losing customers like me (my last android phone was a 1st-gen moto droid), that's a bad sign.

 

[Golfdriver97]

FWIW, it's mid-level LG Volt, purchased specifically because my needs are modest with the exception of battery life. I figured I was safe with a 3000mAh battery and middling specs. And hopefully I am. Something must not be right...

Sorry for the delay in a reply.

It is hard to say what may be happening. You might have a weak cell signal too. I leave Sync on for Google and I don't have much of a problem, but if you are in a weak cell area, that may be the problem. If you have Wifi at home, you can get into a habit of turning sync off when you leave, and then on when you get back.

You can also change the Play app updates to when you connect to wifi. That is in Play>settings.

Maybe that can help?

 

[Halligan Riley]

Battery Saving Tips by B. Diddy

Dear Ambassador Diddy,

I followed your recommendations and they had a great impact in reducing "battery hogging" of the apps mentioned in the article.
FYI, I just wanted to notify you of the following.
I live in Aruba, Dutch Caribbean.
In case of misplacement, lost or robbery of my Galaxy S5 I have the GPS setting ON.
When I turned it off, I immediately went on to verify whether "Where's my Droid" would be able to trace the device.
It could NOT.
I turned it back on and 'voila' the app located the S5 immediately.
:-\
Regards,
Halligan