This collection of apps will not only extend the life of your handset, but could also improve its overall performance.
Have you ever found yourself wishing that your Android's battery would last longer? Don't answer that -- I already know. Be it an app that's too greedy on resources, ever-larger display sizes that use up power faster, or our constant desire to play mobile games that keep our screens lit up for hours at a time, we're eating up battery life faster than we'd like .
It isn't all bad news. As a platform, Android keeps getting more efficient at task management, and multitasking is smarter than ever. Still, battery life never seems to live up to our hopes or expectations.
RELATED LINKS
How to customize your Android's battery indicator (screenshots)
The Fix: Optimize your smartphone
Smartphones with long battery life (roundup)
StoreDot wants to charge your smartphone in 30 seconds
Thankfully, several high-end handsets now have custom touches built in that will adjust settings based on remaining battery life in an effort to squeeze out just a few more minutes. HTC recently introduced a new "extreme power mode" for the One M8 and Samsung has an "ultra power saving" feature in the Galaxy S5. Unfortunately, you have to curtail your usual usage to make the most of these, so they aren't the most convenient for relying on every day
I have spent time exploring a number of battery-saving apps over the years, and I have become quite fond of a few in particular. Here's a list of five of my favorite apps for prolonging the life of your Android's battery. Note that there are a few common settings that overlap across the apps, but in this piece, I've tried to highlight some of the features that help separate each app from the pack.
Juice Defender
Packed with seemingly endless options, Juice Defender is perhaps my favorite app on this list. The free client lets you manage common connections, such as mobile data as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Multiple preset modes, like "aggressive" and "balanced," allow for toggling and scheduling, background synchronization, and choosing which apps can keep your screen on.
Juice Defender is available in three versions with various features to suit your needs.
Latedroid
Aside from the free app, Juice Defender also comes in Plus ($1.99) and Ultimate ($4.99) versions. Depending on what level of control you are looking for, one might be better suited for your needs. The Plus version, for instance, adds "extreme" and "customized" profiles as well as location-aware Wi-Fi, not to mention scheduling for night hours. The Ultimate app also boasts peak hours and weekend settings, autosync, and deeper GPS controls.
Indeed, I definitely recommend the free client as a starting point but have no qualms about endorsing the paid apps.
Standout features: Multiple versions to suit needs, user profiles, scheduling, and location-aware features.
Battery Defender
One of the more feature-rich free clients I've encountered, Battery Defender offers plenty of options at no cost. It might sound trivial, but I like having the exact battery percentage listed in my notification bar. Far more accurate than what the stock experience usually gives you, it's a simple pleasure.
Battery Defender provides quick access to a number of options.
InfoLife LLC
Battery Defender provides quick and painless access to toggling your common connections such as GPS, Wi-Fi, mobile data, and Bluetooth. I like being able to hop in and turn off the stuff I'm not using -- every little bit helps. While this sort of thing is built into many of today's top Android phones, older or less popular models aren't so fortunate.
Another feature that users will appreciate is Genius Scan, which allows sync to occur every 15 minutes. The adjustable "quiet sleeping" option disables Wi-Fi and data connections at night, a helpful feature for those who do not sleep next to their phones.
Standout features: Easy connections toggling, sleeping mode, staggered sync, and battery percentage in notification bar.
Go Battery Saver & Power Widget
Designed by the Go Dev Team, this one is as gorgeous as it is flexible. A simple tap of the screen lets you toggle preset modes, making it easy to go from reading and relaxing to online gaming. For those who don't like the standard modes, there are two other slots available for creating custom experiences.
Go Battery Saver & Power Widget keeps an eye on your apps to determine which are eating up battery more than others. By assigning a score to your battery, the app is able to determine which features you can enable or disable to extend its life. Tapping the optimize button, in essence, cleans everything up and tacks on some extra expected life. Doing this alone can provide an extra hour or more.
GO Battery Saver & Power Widget recently received a fresh coat of paint.
GO Launcher EX
While the free app is stocked with options and settings, the premium pack brings about another dozen features. Available through in-app purchase for $4.99, this upgraded bundle removes ads and tosses in scheduled settings, more control over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and CPU, and a third "extreme" mode.
The app provides quick access to a number of settings with two home screen widgets. Should you go with the premium option, there are three more widgets to choose from. A number of skins or themes are available for Go Dev's own widgets, and you can also adjust how items appear in the notification bar.
Standout features: Handy widgets, multiple user modes, very clean interface, a steady stream of development updates.
Autorun Manager
Perhaps the most "risky" app on this list, Autorun Manager lets you determine which apps start running when your phone boots up. Like the aforementioned apps, this one comes in two modes: basic and advanced. Apps selected in basic mode are terminated immediately when the phone boots, though some will pop back up and start running. My advice here is to leave those alone and let system settings take over. As for the advanced mode, you will find more control over things such as widgets and receivers, and system-wide actions.
Autorun Manager lets users decide which apps start upon bootup of the Android handset.
MobiWIA - AndRS Studio
The free version of Autorun Manager is supported by ads, but you can purchase a Pro key for $3.99. Doing so will also keep apps from auto-restarting in basic mode, as well as block more than 10 receivers in advanced mode. Just for good measure, you also get "Chuck Norris mode," which lets you kill apps in a more aggressive manner. Please note that if you are on the fence over this app, we suggest you err on the side of caution and pass. For those of you who demand more control and a have firm grasp on Android's core functions, however, this might be right up your alley.
Standout features: Stops pesky apps from starting up, two user modes, clear insight into what runs immediately at bootup, awesome Chuck Norris reference.
Tasker
Of all the apps listed here, Tasker is the one that provides more than just battery extension and task-killing. In fact, I would recommend this one to anyone who wants to help automate the Android experience.
In the area of battery life, I like Tasker; it allows me to set times for sleeping and disabling of connections. While I generally tend to plug my phone in overnight, Tasker has proven handy in cases where I do not. Besides time of day, other triggers include day and location; both are useful for people with set work schedules.
Tasker provides users with a myriad of automation options.
Crafty Apps
I also appreciate the way Tasker lets me set my phone to handle media, texting, phone calls, and other Android functions. It might take a while to fully grasp the capabilities, but at $2.99, this one is a true set-it-and-forget-it app.
Those of you with a Chromecast may enjoy some of the extensions and apps that tie into Tasker. One recently making headlines in the Android space, AutoCast, brings about numerous configurations and settings for Google's HDMI dongle.
Standout features: Automated settings based on time, day, and location; automatic settings for text and calls; clean and clutter-free interface.
Other tips and best practices
Chances are good that you can extend battery life by adjusting a few settings on your device or by following a couple of steps. Switching to airplane mode or turning off features like Bluetooth, NFC, and GPS can eke out a few more minutes of life in a pinch.
Is your phone set to automatically adjust brightness? Are your social media apps constantly pinging for updates? You may surprised at how much control you have over the apps and services on your smartphone.
It's not uncommon for an app developer to introduce a new feature or make an adjustment that impacts the battery. Along those lines, I always recommend updating apps to the latest versions. Sometimes these little "bug fixes" can pay off in big ways.
Your favorites?
Which Android applications do you use to extend the battery life of your Android device? Is it one of the five highlighted here, or do you prefer a different client? I would love to hear your feedback in the comments below.
Related
How to maximize battery life without affecting functionality? I think the answer for this question is different for most of you. It depends on how you plan to use your device, even when it’s not turned on. Keynote is that you have to get the right tools and be creative. To give you a head start, I will dump my configuration in this thread. I am able to get up to 48 hours on one charge using this configuration. If used more intensive, your results may differ from mine though.
My configuration
HTC Desire
DeFroST 2.4d
DeFroST 2.4d"]DeFroST 2.4 SVS 1267Mhz kernel
SetCPU
Setting Profiles
DeFroST 2.4d
I will stick to this ROM for this guide but I’m sure the following applies to your custom ROM as well. DeFroST is my personal favorite and I would like to use this opportunity to thank RichardTrip for all the time he puts into this ROM.
DeFroST 2.4 SVS 1267Mhz kernel
DeFroST 2.4 HAVS max 998MHz 800mV (max 998MHz) might be better at saving more energy. But my decision to pick the SVS 1267Mhz has couple of causes.
I don’t have a CPU that can run at 800mV
I’m not patient, I love to go to max speed when it’s available
I found that with my current settings, battery life is good even with the SVS kernel
As I said, it’s totally up to personal preference. If you feel you need it, flash it! There’s a 925mV kernel out there as well if you have the same issue I do with 800mV (running unstable).
SetCPU
Freely available to any XDA user. A lightweight tool that offers all the functionality we need. Other then setting the default speed, it allows us to use profiles based on things like battery charge and temperature.
Main
Profiles
In my configuration, the phone runs at full speed when the battery capacity >= 75% or if it’s charging. Then when the phone discharges, it gradually scales down the max CPU speed. More important though, I found that I don’t need to have the device running at max speed, seeping energy, when I’m not actively using it. When my display turns of, my max CPU speed will be set to 245Mhz. This is perhaps the most important setting in this configuration.
Setting Profiles
No, not Juice Defender. I don’t know why so many seem to prefer Juice Defender. It cannot be customised the way I like it and the UI gives me a headache. But then again, that’s my opinion, maybe I’m wrong
Setting profiles is once again a lightweight tool that lets you define rules by means of logic. It works like this (example):
Create a profile that enables WiFi
Create a rule Activate WiFi when the condition battery is plugged to any charger is met
I figured that I do not want to receive mail, connect to bluetooth or WiFi when I’m asleep. Also, I don’t need a constant e-mail sync at daytime. 50% sync activity is enough for me. For now, that’ll do.
Profiles
Rules
I have a lot of ideas that can still be implemented. The devs at probeez.com are working hard to implement new functionality into their app. One idea I had was to revert to 2G when the display is turned off. However, the condition display off and the action revert to 2G are not available yet.
If you agree, please let the devs know what functionality needs to be added to make their software even better. Vote on this site.
The 2G functionality has already been planned. My other suggestion, the display state, doesn’t have enough votes yet. You can find it here.
The good thing about this tool is that it will be highly customisable when more and more options are added. This fits the idea of choosing your own energy efficient settings I’m trying to promote with this topic.
Conclusion
I could elaborate my choices, but my point is to give you tips about how to address energy saving. Read this manual and be creative. Copy some of the ideas, change others. Maybe come up with new ideas so brilliant that I should add them to this post .
I’ll try to keep updating this topic with the input from you and the newly available functions in the apps.
Other Recommendations
Manual control of brightness
How could I forget? My own brightness setting is always at the lowest. Unless I'm in a very bright environment (like in the sun) and I cannot see anything on my screen. Auto brightness tends to be to bright in general. The Power Control widget can assist you in quickly switching brightness.
-prove
Use a plain black wallpaper
Although this goes further them some of you want to go, using a plain black wallpaper can save battery usage.
AMOLED: Black wallpaper = Battery saving (experiment result)
-b3ndik
great guide, will try this after I get some sleep!
I would recomend using manual control of display brightness!
prove said:
I would recomend using manual control of display brightness!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Added. Thank you.
Although there is not a huge improvement, I'd recommend you to have a plain black wallpaper. It actually saves a few percentages, if you do a quick search around the forum you will find the thread.
b3ndik said:
Although there is not a huge improvement, I'd recommend you to have a plain black wallpaper. It actually saves a few percentages, if you do a quick search around the forum you will find the thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Added to recommendations, thank you.
Personally I think this goes a bit to far for me. I like active backgrounds, like the one that reflects weather and daytime. However, it's a good idea. If someone can find the link to the detailed topic, I'll add it.
here is the link to the topic. The thread includes tests and results.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=660853
is it safe to assume that the profiles that let you enable or disable wifi are in the full paid version ?
*edit*
scratch that, just found 'setting profiles' on the market.
i did lose 2% battery life with just 5 minutes surfing ealier on ..
I have never used any additional program to control power apart from the default Android power widget. I would normally do this to preserve energy no matter which ROM or even which phone I have. It's all common sense:
- turn "2G only mode" and switch on 3G hen I actually need it (e.g. browsing heavy webpages). If you turn off the images in websites even GPRS usually does the job well.
- NEVER use 3G for regular voicecalls. It's a completely senseless way of draining battery fast.
- completely switch off any automatic syncronizations (Gmail, Facebook, Weather, etc.) and syncronize individual accounts only when I actually need it. Simply untick the "automatic synchronization" in the accounts and sync settings.
- of course wi-fi, gps are permanently off and I turn them on manually only when I need them.
- keep the display as dark as possible and no brighter than needed.
- use a solid black wallpaper which saves energy on AMOLED screens (won't make difference on regular TFT LCD). A bright wallpaper may significantly increase energy consumptions.
- forget any "Live" wallpapers.
I have read that killing tasks does not make much difference on Android 2.1 onwards. I still keep killing tasks just as a habit.
This way it adds up a bit of extra manual job but I think it's better than any of those "power control" programs that do the same thing just not as accurately as one can do manually.
well i left my phone on charge overnight and unplugged it at 8am this morning on 100% battery.
6 hours later and it's on 96% - although to be fair that's with near zero usage.
thanks for this topic, very helpfull
on this screenshot, what contains the first line with priority of 100?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=365973&stc=1&d=1279958467
thanks !
I have just implemented everything you recommended, so lets see how tomorrow goes (I can't be bothered to go drive out of my local cell towers ranges right now to see if my WiFi turns off ).
With regards to Disabling Sync, if I set it for 4 minutes out of 5 minutes (4/5) then Sync is only enabled for 1 minute out of every 5 minutes, right?
Having previously used JuiceDefender, I thought I'd give Setting Profiles a bash. First stumbling block is lack of toggling for mobile data - is that right, or have I missed something?
t989 and other large screen devices getting heated up draining battery life is a common sight for the stock rom users. Many blame the bloatware on it, be it samsung, htc, verizon, t-mob etc etc.
However, we install a lot of apps and maybe these are overwhelming in terms of performance but the price we pay is the battery life most of the times. These third party apps can be anything from launchers to widgets to texting apps.
A lot of these apps run in the background and can be categorized as service process, background process, and empty process. This category does not seem to follow a rule in terms of memory consumption.
Why am i saying this?
I observed that installing third party apps which consume a lot of memory(monitoring using task managers/android assistant etc), really drains the battery out of your phone.
I agree there are other several reasons why the battery life could be short.
Major Physical limitations
- Larger display (brighter it is the faster it drains)
- Staying in low network coverage area for longer times
Usage
- Watching videos ( screen is always on)
- Streaming music (always trying to connect to the internet through data)
Software
- rich UI like lot of color rich widgets
- frequent auto updates
- more than once launchers running in parallel
- apps running in background.
But my question is how can i draw a line for an application to use a certain amount of memory. For example a texting app should not take more than X MB of memory, or a launcher is a good launcher if it takes less than Y MB memory.
How do i judge this x and y? What are the best tools you have used?
Please advice
On these notes a BIG thank you to the devs who try to minimize these limitations as much as possible by building kernels(memory mgmt, overclocking), modems(better handling of low coverage areas),radios and of course wonderful ROMS(for better looking, saving user operations, bloat free).
I'm new here & making this thread in order to share my own experience plus what I've learned from others since there're a lot of concerns regarding battery life.
Followings are what identified as the most power consumption sources and we'll fix them 1 by 1:
1. HD screen: I usually set the display brightness manually to about 15-20%. It is quite acceptable as I almost stay indoor at day time (surely this will make your screen nearly blind at this level if you try it outdoor under sunset)
2. Duo core 1.5GHz CPU: Having your CPU at this speed makes your phone soooo hot for heavy tasks. I use SetCPU to set the speed to 1188Mhz max and 192MHz min and also use SetCPU to enable the Screen Off profile where the max & min speed both set to 192MHz (there're no reasons to run it at high speed when the screen is off, right?).
3. The stock home launcher: I found the stock launcher (called LG Home) always takes a high portion of battery so I replace it with Go Launcher. This app also has a nice feature where you can see and close all running programs so you won't have to install another task killer.
4. Bloatware: Firstly, install Titanium Backup and "Freeze" whatever bloatware you found in this list (thanks youngv408) including the LG Home but only after you install & use Go Launcher. Secondly, install Gemini App Manager, at its home screen you will see running apps, for each of them that you don't want them to autorun (no more running in background & no more auto restart if you kill it), tap on the app name > choose More Operation > Config "Autorun" (root) > disable all of its autorun options (don't ever disable or freeze the Go Launcher if you are using it!)
Above tips keep my boy easily survive 1 day with 50% battery left (with 5,6 phone calls, some SMS, some 3G for web & downloading and little gaming). Hope they help.
All good tips, thanks!
Some good suggestions except for maybe #2. Personally, I found SetCPU had a dramatic negative effect on my battery life. Uninstalling it netted me several more hours with average usage immediately. Also, don't use task killers other than the built-in features of Gingerbread to kill a misbehaving app. The OS already does a good job managing running apps. Turn off GPS because some apps like to ping your current location occasionally and GPS uses a lot of juice. Finally, make sure apps like Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Google Currents, Gmail, etc. aren't set to sync too frequently.
Malnilion said:
Some good suggestions except for maybe #2. Personally, I found SetCPU had a dramatic negative effect on my battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
According to battery use info smaller cpu clock resulted in more cpu total time usage
This battery gets better everyday... never had this experience with another phone.
Weird is, that after i no-bloated and did some tweaking in the beginning, the batterylife was still very disappointing. It seems that it is growing with the user...
we can turn off wifi or 3g if we don't use them,so we can extend the time
Get the most out of the T989 T-Mobile Stock ICS/Unrooted without rooting
I thought this should be a separate thread as this should serve as a good way to fix a good number of issues as well as improve your overall device function quality, as well as having all of this in one post.
(Note: I know not many of us use stock unrooted, my personal T989 stays stock unrooted, my dev T989 is currently in the Dark . This thread is intended soley for those of you that do not wish to void your warranty).
Problems After Upgrade from GB > ICS
If you have issues after upgrading from stock/unrooted GB to stock/unrooted ICS, A factory reset is confirmed to fix these issues (tested by me because I had them):
- Near zero stutter/stagger now
- Huge improvement on battery life (using the same battery saving techniques, settings, and apps).
- Mobile Life contacts no longer hangs after reboot
- Task killer now appropriately determines which apps shouldn't be in the kill all list (Apex, Nova, Juice Defender, Avast!, Lookout, Badass Battery Monitor, etc).
- Voicemail working properly now (icon wouldn't show before no matter what I did).
- Apps no longer hanging and freezing entire device for 20-30 seconds.
- Wifi Calling now working
- Facebook For Android app no longer sets itself to sync all my contacts regardless how I had the option set.
- Wifi stabilized. No disconnects in an hour and a half.
- UI artifacting no longer showing when switching between apps.
- Swype no longer stutters and freezes.
My advice with stock unrooted ICS, if you upgrade from GB and have issues, go ahead and factory reset. Worth it.
Screenshot
You can take a screenshot of your T989's screen by pressing Home softkey+power button at the same time and holding for about a second.
Keep From Being Monitored
If you scan the T989 on stock unrooted ICS, yes, it does in fact have CarrierIQ installed. However, you don't need to worry about this because you can disable it. If you don't know what CarrierIQ is, it's a company all of the major carriers went through to anonymously collect diagnostic data from our devices. They call it "data needed for device diagnostics and troubleshooting". The problem, which is pretty much why they got/are getting sued, is that it collects well... pretty much anything it can get it's hands on. I compare it to killing a quota of 3200 whales per year for "tissue samples". It's completely unnecessary. Don't trust it or the reasoning behind it.
To disable this, go to Settings > Back up and Reset. Click Collect diagnostics. Uncheck the box. Save and close. You will now no longer send, or even agree to send, T-Mobile any "diagnostic" data.
Apps OK To Disable
In ICS you can disable nearly any unnecessary application or service permanently. This will hide it from the app drawer, keep the app/service stopped, and disable it from being checked for update via Google Play. Disabling bloatware apps and unneeded apps will save you RAM, Data, a tiny bit of battery, and a lot of headache.
To disable an app simply go to Settings, go to Applications, and go to the All tab. Click the app. Click Disable. (Some items listed below may have an Uninstall Updates option instead of Disable. Simply uninstall the updates, go back into the item, and click Disable.
Here is a list of apps/services that are OK to disable (tested by me).
Note: This is just a list deemed safe. You do not need to disable every single item listed. Disabling these makes them functionless. Please do so only if you do not/do not intend to ever use them.
- 411 & More
- AccuWeather Weather Daemon
- AccuWeather.com
- AP mobile news (Use Pulse News instead)
- Asphalt 6
- Blio eBooks T-Mobile
- Buddies now
- Days
- Digital clock
- Dual clock
- Face Unlock
- IM
- Talk
- Media Hub
- Memo
- Messaging (You shouldn't be using the default anyways, disabling this will not disable SMS, you can use Go SMS or Handcent just fine without it)
- Mini diary
- Mini paper
- More for Me
- News & Weather (Use Pulse News instead)
- Samsung keypad (Use your favorite keyboard instead (i.e. Swype, Go Keyboard, Swiftkey X, etc)
- Slacker
- Social Hub x3 (There are 3 of them, it's safe to disable all of them.)
- Swype (Use your favorite keyboard instead (i.e. Samsung Keypad, Go Keyboard, Swiftkey X, etc).
- TalkBack (Note: disables TalkBack feature needed for accessibility options)
- TelNav GPS Navigator (Use Google Maps/Navigator instead)
- T-Mobile Mall
- T-Mobile TV
- Tags
- Task
- Yahoo! Finance
Battery Savings
Note: Everyone's device use is different and these items are based on my own personal testing on the T989 based on my use (which I can assure you is pretty heavy as I have kids and basically use my T989 to do all the things I don't have time to sit at a computer and do).
Also please note: With these settings and apps, you are not going to notice an instant increase in battery life, however if you use Badass Battery Monitor [Play Link] you will be able to see the improvements on the bottom right (Average Battery Life time).
1.) General good battery saving advice
Note: These are just general advice, if you use these features constantly, you don't have to disable them, and besides the screen brightness and GPS, the amount of battery life you will save by disabling most of these is very small, but this list is intended for maximum power savings, not superuse.
- Disable GPS unless you are using it
- Keep screen just bright enough for you to see clearly (Settings > Display > Screen Brightness) unless you are editing something
- Stick to either Mobile Data, or Wifi. Never leave both on at the same time. When you're using Wifi, only enable Mobile Data when you are sending an MMS (SMS's still work on Wifi only)
- Disable Wifi Calling unless you need to use it
- Disable Bluetooth unless you are using it
- Disable Motion Controls (Settings > Motion) unless you need them. (Note: The Gryoscope and Accelerometer will always remain on).
- Disable Animations - Disable both animation options (Settings > Developer options) - This will improve the speed at which you can do things, as well as improve battery life.
- Disable unneeded syncing - Settings > Accounts & Sync - Disable all items that you do not need to have sync'd 24/7, if you can change the sync interval set once every hour, two hours, or once per day depending on the item and how important it is for you)
- Disable or decrease App notification settings. Unless necessary, disable automatic update notifications on your applications individually. Keeping automatic updates enabled keeps a service for that app running in the background 24/7.
- Limit background process count. Set the maximum number of background processes to 4 or lower (Settings > Developer options > Limit background processes. This will allow only 4 or less apps to be running at once. Note that this will pretty much destroy your multitasking capabilities, but if you're a lower needs user, this can increase both battery and performance.
2.) Battery Saving Apps
The following are apps I use (all installed together) to make the most out of my battery on the T989. They have improved my battery life so much I can't begin to describe to you what I would do without them. All of these apps are free of charge, some features disabled:
- Apex Launcher [Play Link]. I am probably going to catch a lot of flack for this one. First and foremost, the default TouchWiz homescreen is a battery hungry and nearly useless piece of crap (the first part of that is fact, the latter observation is of course my opinion). There are two really good ICS-only homescreen replacements. The first is Nova Launcher, the second is Apex Launcher. Both do about the same thing, each has their own feature sets, but more or less they are pretty much equals. Why do I list Apex Launcher instead of Nova? Well this is the Battery Saving section of this post, and well, Apex uses less battery over time. Use Badass Batter Monitor if you do not believe me. And no, I don't have a grudge against Nova. I actually like both equally but again, battery saving section.
- Power Controls [Play Link] is a widget that lets you quickly change items that can eat up your battery and it is much better and more configurable than the default T989 power widget. I highly suggest using it.
- 2x Battery Saver [Play Link] will turn off 3G/4G connectivity when your phone is idle (screen off or locked while you're not using it). This does not keep you from getting calls and texts, only data is disabled, not the entire radio. This will save you boatloads of battery as well as data since we're all on caps with T-Mobile) by killing data when you are not using your device.
- GO Power Master [Play Link] is an application that optimizes your device by using a variety of different things. The first is a widget that allows you to manually kill tasks and clear services and apps you are not using. I recommend doing this pretty much every time you go to lock your device as it will save you additional battery. The second is an option you have to manually enable that, like the app above, disables connectivity when the device is idle (locked/screen off) except this app only disables Wifi. The third and best feature is that based on a profile, Go Power Master can automatically disable features at certain battery percents as your phone battery gets lower and lower. All of these profiles are customizable.
- Alternatively, you can use Juice Defender [Play Link] which disables both Mobile Data and Wifi when your device is idle, however from my experience with it on the unrooted T989 it is very unstable as to when it decides to disable things. Sometimes it does nothing, other times it does. It just doesn't seem to work well with the unrooted T989 at least for me. This is one of those apps that really does need root permissions to function properly.
Increase Performance
These are things I do to increase performance of my T989. As above, note that everyone's use is different so these may or may not help you.
- Class 6+ MicroSD card. I can not express to you how much of a difference this makes in speed of saving pictures, opening the gallery, apps that read/write data from the SD card. I currently use a Class 10 16gb MicroSD card and before it, I used a 8gb Class 4. I was able to notice the difference almost instantly.
- Keep your device and SD card clean! Norton Utilities [Play Link] can remove unused .apk files from your SDcard, And SDMaid [Play Link] can clear duplicate and temporary files from your SD card. (Note: SDMaid advanced features require purchase of the full app)
- Disable Animations - Disable both animation options (Settings > Developer options) - This will improve the speed at which you can do things, as well as improve battery life. Note that your devices Gyroscope and Accellerometer will always remain active.
- Some users tell me forcing GPU Rendering (Settings > Developer options) can improve performance, however I have read that this will break some things like the Gallery displaying pictures incorrectly. The opinion is still out on this, so enable this only if you want to try it for yourself. Note: Apps that can take advantage of GPU Rendering already use GPU Rendering, this option checked or not. This option simply forces it on every app.
- Kill tasks before gaming or high performance app use. Use Go Power Master (listed above) or the built in Task Killer to clear apps and free RAM before you launch a high-performance app (i.e. Shadowrun or N.O.V.A. 3) to increase gaming/2D/3D performance.
- Set the maximum number of background processes to 4 or lower. (Settings > Developer options > Limit background processes). This will allow only 4 or less apps to be running at once. Note that this will pretty much destroy your multitasking capabilities, but if you're a lower needs user, this can increase both battery and performance.
Best Replacement Apps for T989 (in my opinion)
Note: List includes paid apps
- Music - Poweramp [Play Link] - The reasons you should use this instead of the default music player is a list longer than I have the will to type out, but include fixing your album art, equalizer, a great ICS theme (separate download), and lyric support. Try it for 30 days for free. You won't regret it.
- Home Screen/Launcher - Apex Launcher [Play Link] - A great ICS style launcher that has a great featureset and saves battery compared to stock TouchWiz.
- SMS/MMS/FB Chat/Chat - Go SMS Pro [Play Link] - Do I need to explain this one? It's free. It's awesome. Use it.
More items/help/tutorials will be added as I get time to add them.
Coming soon: Apps/Bloat OK to disable and how to do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking forward to this.
factory resets keeps ICS right? it doesn't revert back to GB?
I think I may do this. I'm not experiencing anything major - just some slight lag here and there.
You keep ICS yes. Minor lag will happen though but if you think it's worth giving it a try...
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Nice, A thread for stock unrooted users. I also decided to do a Factory Reset and haven't had major issues aside from a few apps lagging when I turned on the Force GPU Rendering.
Minor Issues/Annoyances:
Ringtone and notification volumes can't be linked. (Anyone got any suggestions?)
Loud chirp when starting and stopping video recording.
Wallpaper scrolling missing.
Light Swype Keyboard lag here and there.
06/15 - Updated OP.
HUGE list of things you can do to make the most out of your stock/unrooted T989.
Again this thread is for those that don't want to break their warranty, not for those that are looking to actually make the absolute most out of their T989 in which case you will actually need to root/rom.
Question - is using superwipe the same or better than doing a factory reset?
budjb said:
Question - is using superwipe the same or better than doing a factory reset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Better. Superwipe wipes the entire partition and cache.
Justananomaly said:
Better. Superwipe wipes the entire partition and cache.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man, i did a factory reset and all clear cache and stuff but not a format SD and still ICS so laggy for my test i see my CPU is underclock to 1.2ghz. what gives? Im use to 1.5 steady or 1.7mhz
I must chime in and say that I decided to do a factory reset and now the rom is way more responsive. Definitely smoother and havent had any lockups like i was having before... Yet
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA
how do I get usb hosting to work on stock unrooted ics? i have a dslr camera and want to get chainfire's dlsr app
How you take a screenshot has changed, it is now volume down and the power button.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
mth785 said:
How you take a screenshot has changed, it is now volume down and the power button.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, much easier this way, it also works with home/power, but much more of a pain to get it to work that way.
how does one go about doing a factory reset and/or wipe the phone completely? My phone has been buggy since day one, I think its time to wipe it clean and install from fresh.
From Kies? Mines a completely stock, unrooted phone with ICS
mth785 said:
How you take a screenshot has changed, it is now volume down and the power button.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do it either way. I prefer home+power but thats just because I have a really strong case and the volume rocker is hard to press.
jonnythrice said:
how does one go about doing a factory reset and/or wipe the phone completely? My phone has been buggy since day one, I think its time to wipe it clean and install from fresh.
From Kies? Mines a completely stock, unrooted phone with ICS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In stock ICS, Settings > Back up and reset > Factory data reset
You may be required to delete your Samsung account first via Settings > Accounts & Sync > Samsung Account, press it and click Remove Account at the bottom.
Is it possible to install the google apps from ICS?
firechicken24 said:
how do I get usb hosting to work on stock unrooted ics? i have a dslr camera and want to get chainfire's dlsr app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any know about this topic?
I have up and rooted it. Then tried all the kernels that supported ORG and yet still can't get button to work. I need help
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
firechicken24 said:
Any know about this topic?
I have up and rooted it. Then tried all the kernels that supported ORG and yet still can't get button to work. I need help
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No idea.
Most of this info was already available, but it's nice to see it all in one place for noobs. Good job!
There is no doubt that HTC One X is the most powerful phone on the market yet, despite it's stock of amazing hardware features it also has a few lacks. And on of the biggest perhaps is the short battery life, but with a few tricks and modifications it is possible to overcome that and so increase the battery life of the best phone yet.
Well I found 6 tricks and extras that can really increase your battery life up to 20%:
1. KILL APPS USING TASK MANAGER
Notice or not but there are a lot of apps and services running in the background of your phone that suck a lot of battery and most of them are apps that you wouldn't need so killing those processes can increase your battery life.
To kill apps you have to access the task manager:
Press home icon>all apps>search for task manager and launch it.
Now you have the option of killing separate apps (press X on the process you want to end) or just ending the all by touching the stop all button.
2. Closing open Apps
A great feature in htc one x is also that you switch between open apps but it can also take a lot of battery depending on how many Apps you =have open.
How to close open Apps:
Touch the recent app button (in right to the home button)> now swipe the open Apps (the ones you want to close) to the top.
3.Disable Transition Animation
Transition Animation also take a lot of batter since the require more ram and disabling them can also increase your ram therewith your overall system performance.
How to Disable Transition Animation:
Go Settings>Display & gestures> uncheck the Animation bar
4. External Battery
Well there is always an option of getting an external portable battery which is quit inexpensive and can double your battery life.
5.System directory Modification
Just a few weeks ago a member (mike1986) posted about a file or directory displacement made by HTC that caused the short battery life. And now you can correct it and you could boost you battery life by up to 20%.
LINK TO mike1986 POST
6.Battery Save App
A battery save app could also be a life save as you can monitor exactly how much on what you're spending and then configure power save modes using apps such as Easy Battery Saver.
You can also turn off services such as 3g/WiFi/GPS to save battery consumption advanced users can also scale the CPU and more system operation with such brilliant app as JuiceDefender - battery saver.
RECOMMENDED BATTERY SAVER APPS:
*JuiceDefender - battery saver* Free
JuiceDefender Ultimate Cost Money
Easy Battery Saver Free
Conclusion:
Following those six step should improve your battery life a lot and should therewith resolve the major issue with the HTC One X.
:goodlease Comment and Thank if you think that this post was helpful.:laugh:
Hi
HRandev said:
There is no doubt that HTC One X is the most powerful phone on the market yet, despite it's stock of amazing hardware features it also has a few lacks. And on of the biggest perhaps is the short battery life, but with a few tricks and modifications it is possible to overcome that and so increase the battery life of the best phone yet.
Well I found 5 tricks and extras that can really increase your battery life up to 20%:
1. KILL APPS USING TASK MANAGER
Notice or not but there are a lot of apps and services running in the background of your phone that suck a lot of battery and most of them are apps that you wouldn't need so killing those processes can increase your battery life.
To kill apps you have to access the task manager:
Press home icon>all apps>search for task manager and launch it.
Now you have the option of killing separate apps (press X on the process you want to end) or just ending the all by touching the stop all button.
2. Closing open Apps
A great feature in htc one x is also that you switch between open apps but it can also take a lot of battery depending on how many Apps you =have open.
How to close open Apps:
Touch the recent app button (in right to the home button)> now swipe the open Apps (the ones you want to close) to the top.
3.Disable Transition Animation
Transition Animation also take a lot of batter since the require more ram and disabling them can also increase your ram therewith your overall system performance.
How to Disable Transition Animation:
Go Settings>Display & gestures> uncheck the Animation bar
4. External Battery
Well there is always an option of getting an external portable battery which is quit inexpensive and can double your battery life.
5.System directory Modification
Just a few weeks ago a member (mike1986) posted about a file or directory displacement made by HTC that caused the short battery life. And now you can correct it and you could boost you battery life by up to 20%.
LINK TO mike1986 POST
Conclusion:
Following those five step should improve your battery life a lot and should therewith resolve the major issue with the HTC One X.
:goodlease Comment and Thank if you think that this post was helpful.:laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The biggest drain is the screen, so turn down the brightness.
Those other tips are probably more a placebo, and killing tasks is a bad idea on Android. Most of the apps are just loaded into memory but not actively running so not using power, and when your phone screen is off, nothing is running (unless you have a badly behaved application that is). Even if you have most of your memory empty of applications, those memory chips are still drawing the same power regardless, so it makes sense to keep applications in memory. Why? Because when you want to use the app again, the phone doesn't have to waste CPU cycles and power loading the application from the flash memory, then loading the applications saved state, so power is saved. If you never use the app again, and memory is short, it gets unloaded.
There is also the school of thought that if you shut down all background applications and so you lose functionality (background status updates, location services, push mail services, animations, weather displays etc), you then haven't got much of a smart phone!
The system directory modification related to an old version of the firmware, I doubt anyone is effect by that issue now.
Regards
Phil
It wouldn't effect your internal system apps
PhilipL said:
Hi
The biggest drain is the screen, so turn down the brightness.
Those other tips are probably more a placebo, and killing tasks is a bad idea on Android. Most of the apps are just loaded into memory but not actively running so not using power, and when your phone screen is off, nothing is running (unless you have a badly behaved application that is). Even if you have most of your memory empty of applications, those memory chips are still drawing the same power regardless, so it makes sense to keep applications in memory. Why? Because when you want to use the app again, the phone doesn't have to waste CPU cycles and power loading the application from the flash memory, then loading the applications saved state, so power is saved. If you never use the app again, and memory is short, it gets unloaded.
There is also the school of thought that if you shut down all background applications and so you lose functionality (background status updates, location services, push mail services, animations, weather displays etc), you then haven't got much of a smart phone!
The system directory modification related to an old version of the firmware, I doubt anyone is effect by that issue now.
Regards
Phil
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do appreciate your replay but it only shows you those task that are running separately (not internal system apps) and if you kill them it does make a difference in the overall performance. And some operations like navigation running in the background continuously uses GPS and even Data constantly, so if you end it, it does make a difference.
You are right with the screen brightness, I thought about it and came to a conclusion to just leave it at auto because no one would like a dim display.
So it wouldn't completely turn off your data or calls or corrupt your system since you wouldn't terminate any internal system apps
regards,
HRanDev
PhilipL said:
Hi
The biggest drain is the screen, so turn down the brightness.
Those other tips are probably more a placebo, and killing tasks is a bad idea on Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
And also control 3G/WiFi/BT radios as and when needed , there are battery saver apps like Juice defender that intelligently turn off 3G and data connections.
Advanced users can also play around with custom kernels, CPU speed settings and Kernel governors, etc.. (can help with custom ROMs)
Thanks for the tip, I added it to it.
Actually agree with PhilipL.
Killing or managing tasks in Android is a placebo - and is likely to do more harm (in terms of battery life) than good. Plenty of articles if you google saying task managers are a bad idea.
However, managing screen brightness and background services will help enormously.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app