Subway commuters - battery life tip

[diablofreak]

OK, this is really not a TIP per se as many of you know it, but as someone who commutes daily in NYC subways (40-60 minutes per trip underground without reception) I was alarmed when I first got the phone and it went from 95% to 75% in just one ride and that's without gaming (only music playing). I tried forcing the 3G mode, but still did not improve much.

So the other day I started using airplane mode in the subway, even with some triplong sessions of gaming underground my battery only drains down to 85,86% from approx 93-95 when i enter the subterranean tunnels. It's a hassle to remember to turn it back on when exiting the trains but i guess every little bit helps.

I don't have mine rooted (yet). It's the factory settings with a bunch of apps installed. i say this confirms the fact the 4G antenna eats up power like crazy when trying to search for an nonexistent signal

 

[zero neck]

Yeah this was a problem for me in nyc subways even before i had a smart phone. Phones just keep searching for a signal the whole ride. The plus side, if you let it search, is you can get signals at penn and grandcentral and a few other places, so you might get your notifications pushed thru.

Airplane mode is a good way to avoid the battery loss tho.

 

[fatboy97]

Another thing to try... put your device into Airplane mode, then reboot... after it comes back up it should still be in Airplane mode, but check anyways... then see what your batter life is after your trip... I'll bet it will be better even with the battery it takes to reboot.

 

[rcpa]

It's a hassle to remember to turn it back on when exiting the trains but i guess every little bit helps.

Get Tasker. You can set up a task that runs when you click a shortcut on the home screen that goes into airplane mode, waits for some predefined period, and then turns airplane mode back on.

You could create several shortcuts to tasks with different time periods and just choose one when you enter the subway station that matches your anticipated trip length.

You can download a 7-day trial of Tasker from their website or buy in the market for about $6.50

(I use Tasker to turn off WiFi when I'm not connected to the cell tower near my house, and to turn my media volume all the way up when my bluetooth headphones connect, and then back down when they disconnect.)

 

[lovy]

OK, this is really not a TIP per se as many of you know it, but as someone who commutes daily in NYC subways (40-60 minutes per trip underground without reception) I was alarmed when I first got the phone and it went from 95% to 75% in just one ride and that's without gaming (only music playing). I tried forcing the 3G mode, but still did not improve much.

So the other day I started using airplane mode in the subway, even with some triplong sessions of gaming underground my battery only drains down to 85,86% from approx 93-95 when i enter the subterranean tunnels. It's a hassle to remember to turn it back on when exiting the trains but i guess every little bit helps.

I don't have mine rooted (yet). It's the factory settings with a bunch of apps installed. i say this confirms the fact the 4G antenna eats up power like crazy when trying to search for an nonexistent signal

Thank you, I also noticed that problem, I am going to try airplane mode. Brooklyn New York, was going downtown Manhattan when it happened.

 

[FrankXS]

i say this confirms the fact the 4G antenna eats up power like crazy when trying to search for an nonexistent signal

Actually, 1x, 3G and 4G all "eat up power like crazy when trying to search for a nonexistent signal".

Maybe they should have called that "Subway Mode" rather than "Airplane Mode".

-Frank

 

[doibug2]

Check out the program Llama to have it auto switch to and from airplane mode.

 

[grimacetrail]

Too bad the only problem is that in airplane mode you cannot use bluetooth (I have bluetooth headphones). Though I believe they fix that in GB, at least when I had my Droid & running bugless beast GB I was able to connect BT in airplane mode.

 

[Wantec]

If you add the "Settings - Data Dashboard" widget to one of your homescreens you can turn on and off the phone antenna and the data antennas and leave the bluetooth on.

 

[zero neck]

If you add the "Settings - Data Dashboard" widget to one of your homescreens you can turn on and off the phone antenna and the data antennas and leave the bluetooth on.

Yeah dazzler power widget has these options as well

 

[diablofreak]

Thank you, I also noticed that problem, I am going to try airplane mode. Brooklyn New York, was going downtown Manhattan when it happened.

well if you travel on one of those trains that go on Manhattan/Williamsburg bridges you do get reception for about 3-4 minutes on the bridge!