Squeezing more battery life out of Android

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I just purchased an LG Volt, and am interested in trying to maximize battery life. This has a 3 amp hour battery and 4 core processor.

I'm coming from a single core, and would probably be satisfied with performance with 2 or 3 cores. Is that possible under Android, and if so, what sort of battery life bonus would I get by disabling a processor core?

I do know to put it in airplane mode, & make sure that wifi & bluetooth are not enabled. We will be using this as a tablet only, mainly for the kids to play casual games on long trips, so battery life is one of the most important features for us.

Thanks in advance if you have any experience wringing extra battery life from an Android tablet/phone, especially by disabling processor cores. I would be very interested in hearing about your experiences.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Don't disable cores. Underclocking sometimes helps, but the point of many cores is to save battery life by getting through the compute faster.

Install Greenify from the Play Store for best results. If possible root and install Xposed beforehand so Greenify can go into super power save the battery mode. Only do that though, any other apps and they will actually eat into battery life.

 

[dguy6789]

Keep screen brightness low. Set the location setting to battery saver mode. Disable sounds and vibrations from occurring when you press keys on the keyboard. Set Google Chrome to use the data saving setting. Don't download app updates when off wifi.

 

[soccerballtux]

Don't disable cores. Underclocking sometimes helps, but the point of many cores is to save battery life by getting through the compute faster.

Install Greenify from the Play Store for best results. If possible root and install Xposed beforehand so Greenify can go into super power save the battery mode. Only do that though, any other apps and they will actually eat into battery life.

what you say is overrated. I always get an extra 60 minutes or so of screen on time when I am only running 2 cores at 1.7ghz. it is noticeably slower however. full speed with conservative core hotplugging gets me an extra 30-40m or so screen on time.

usually the 3rd core has about 10% the runtime as the first core so it's barely getting used.

I also undervolt by 50mV. to do all this you'll need a custom kernel

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Keep screen brightness low. Set the location setting to battery saver mode. Disable sounds and vibrations from occurring when you press keys on the keyboard. Set Google Chrome to use the data saving setting. Don't download app updates when off wifi.

I find this to be a red herring. The biggest issue with location reporting is that by default nlpcollectorwakelock happens every 60 seconds with a ping to Google's servers. GPS really isn't a big battery use unless you leave Google Maps or Yelp open all day long--in any case even with Google Maps open, you probably WANT a precise location anyways.

 

[Raizinman]

I've also found that cycling your battery can help. Here is how.
1) Turn off phone
2) Charge until full
3) Turn on phone and use for 5 or 10 minutes
4) Turn off phone
5) Charge until full
6) Repeat steps 3, 4, and 5 again.
7) Phone will have a fuller charge and hold a fuller charge.

 

[shabby]

I've also found that cycling your battery can help. Here is how.
1) Turn off phone
2) Charge until full
3) Turn on phone and use for 5 or 10 minutes
4) Turn off phone
5) Charge until full
6) Repeat steps 3, 4, and 5 again.
7) Phone will have a fuller charge and hold a fuller charge.

Also blow on your cable and jiggle it, this will give you an even fuller charge!

 

[mikeymikec]

OP, we're employing similar tactics already (disabling unnecessary transmissions etc, I keep mobile data/wifi/GPS/NFC disabled until I need them on my phone, I also switch off any data reporting from any app to a remote source, as well as auto backup/sync), though one further thing I would add is to keep a handle on what apps are installed and keep an eye on battery life generally.

My wife's phone for example absolutely chews up the battery and I'm fairly sure it's either the FB or Twitter apps (both of which she heavily uses). If she switches off the wifi it doesn't chew the battery, but a key sign is how the wifi stays on in sleep mode and the battery level dropping like a stone. Of course, given that 99% of her phone use is through those two apps, it's a bit difficult to narrow it down without stopping her from using her phone in some way.

 

[Dulanic]

OP, we're employing similar tactics already (disabling unnecessary transmissions etc, I keep mobile data/wifi/GPS/NFC disabled until I need them on my phone, I also switch off any data reporting from any app to a remote source, as well as auto backup/sync), though one further thing I would add is to keep a handle on what apps are installed and keep an eye on battery life generally.

My wife's phone for example absolutely chews up the battery and I'm fairly sure it's either the FB or Twitter apps (both of which she heavily uses). If she switches off the wifi it doesn't chew the battery, but a key sign is how the wifi stays on in sleep mode and the battery level dropping like a stone. Of course, given that 99% of her phone use is through those two apps, it's a bit difficult to narrow it down without stopping her from using her phone in some way.

The number of wakeups Facebook causes is insane. I highly recommend she just puts a shortcut to their mobile page instead.

 

[Dulanic]

I find this to be a red herring. The biggest issue with location reporting is that by default nlpcollectorwakelock happens every 60 seconds with a ping to Google's servers. GPS really isn't a big battery use unless you leave Google Maps or Yelp open all day long--in any case even with Google Maps open, you probably WANT a precise location anyways.

This. Also the most recent Google play services actually get better battery life on GPS only as long as you dont keep Google maps open etc

 

[Fox5]

Android Lollipop now has a battery saver mode that seems to restrict background data/app usage. It works well.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

>usually the 3rd core has about 10% the runtime as the first core so it's barely getting used.

Are you saying that Android already is set up to only power up the 3rd and 4th cores if it really needs them? If so, then it is already more efficient than I had thought....

 

[Yuriman]

I wouldn't disable a core.

There are three things that generally kill a phone's battery life:

1. Frequent wakelocks

2. Frequent network connectivity

3. Poor signal strength


You won't always be able to help signal strength, but you can reduce network connectivity and wakelocks in a variety of ways, more if you root.

Here's a thread I made over on the Republic Wireless forums regarding the first-gen Moto X, where I attempted to see how long I could leave it awake and with the screen on:

https://community.republicwireless.com/thread/24953

(I achieved 15 hours on a phone that most get 3-5 hours with)

Here are my battery saving tips. There is certainly more you can do, and not all of my tips will be appropriate for everyone, but definitely take advantage of the ones that apply to you. As an example, Google Keep has horrible wakelocks but I use it anyway because it's incredibly useful to me. I may look for an alternative at some point though.


Don't run Skype on your phone if you can avoid it, it has horrendous wakelocks, use another messenger. If you need it on your phone, sign out when not using it.

Don't use Google Keep (even though I do).

Don't use Google Now if you can avoid it.

Use SMS instead of Hangouts if you can avoid it. If you do use hangouts, Settings -> "Improve Hangouts" disabled, and sign out when you're not using it.

Don't use the Facebook app, check it in your browser, and if you do use the app, disable as much background activity as possible (i.e. notifications, refresh).

I don't know if Google+ is bad about wakelocks too, but I disabled it in Settings->Apps because I don't use that social network regularly. If I wanted to check it, I'd use the browser.

App drawer -> Google Settings ->
Play Games -> Uncheck notifications
Location -> Location reporting off (can leave Access location and Location History on)
Search & Now -> Google Now off (if you can)
Ads -> Opt out of interest-based ads (I don't have this checked, but it might save battery?)
Verify apps -> disable (this can also be found in system Settings -> Security)
Android device manager -> Remotely location this device = disable (you can leave remote lock and erase)

Republic Wireless app -> Settings -> Uncheck Activity Recognition, Feedback, Anonymously share usage data. I'm tempted to leave Feedback and usage data enabled, but they do have a small impact on battery life. Activity recognition has a large negative impact.

Motorola Assist -> disable everything

Youtube app -> Settings ->
General -> disable "improve YouTube" and "Notifications"
Preloading -> disable "Preload subscriptions" & "Preload watch later"

Play Store -> Settings -> disable notifications, "do not auto update apps" (this is doubly good for me because I like to read the changes when my apps update. Once or twice per week I check for updates manually.)

Maps -> Settings ->
Saved offers nearby, uncheck everything
"Shake to send feedback" off

I use Beautiful Widgets for weather, but this probably applies to other weather apps/widegets. Settings -> update interval, set it to something longer than 15 minutes, I use 2h30m. Disable weather notifications.

Gmail -> Settings -> sync gmail off (manual sync), nofications off - Note that I don't have these enabled on my phone but it can save battery. Manual sync isn't a big deal if you're in a habit of checking it and don't use your gmail account for critical/time sensitive stuff.

Games (i.e. Word With Friends) -> Settings -> disable notifications

News feed (I use Pulse) -> Settings -> disable notifications, refresh only on WiFi, set refresh frequency to something longer like 6 hours+.

Settings (system settings) -> WiFi -> Advanced -> WiFi optimization enabled, network notification disabled (RW app will take care of this generally). Some thoughts about WiFi connectivity - being on a good, strong WiFi connection will probably save you more battery than disabling WiFi (even if your 3G/4G signal is good). Being on a weak WiFi connection will probably drain your battery more than using 3G. 2.4GHz networks have better penetration through walls than 5GHz and thus, all else being equal, will probably have a stronger signal and save you battery. If a 5GHz network has a stronger signal, use it instead. Strong signal = saves battery. If you aren't on a Wifi only plan, as I am, it may be a good idea to check "avoid poor connections". I leave "Keep WiFi on during sleep" set to "always" because I'm on a WiFi only plan.

On a related note, being on the WiFi only plan doesn't disable data. Background data is still used by the RW app, it's just denied to the rest of the system, but RW seemingly didn't handle this right because apps will still try to refresh (and fail, and retry, and fail, and retry) if you have Sync and Mobile data enabled.
Note that disabling mobile data can cause problems with the RW app. Disabling sync globally is safe and a good way to save battery. Apps can still be sync'd manually, and you'll still get texts. You can find this in Settings -> Data usage -> menu button, "Auto-sync data". I leave sync on most of the time.
Auto-background sync can be disabled for individual g-apps in (system)Settings -> Accounts/Google -> xxxx@gmail.com

Bluetooth -> off when not using it

GPS - I've read that disabling WiFi & mobile network location saves more battery than disabling GPS satellites, but I'm not sold on this one. To be honest, I haven't done any real testing to see which uses more battery but it's definitely true that we get a TON of wakelocks on our phones from GPS and apps accessing location in the background. I recommend completely disabling "Access to my location" in the GPS menu when you're not using it (and reenable it when you need it, like when going on a road trip or trying to find that coffee shop). Note that simply turning GPS off via the quick settings tile only turns off GPS satellites.

Settings -> More (Wireless & Networks) -> disable NFC, uncheck all emergency alerts if you're comfortable with that.

I have no idea if touchless control uses any significant amount of battery. It can't hurt to disable it if you never use it though.

Settings -> Display -> Sleep after x minutes - shorter is better. I have mine set to 1 minute, though sometimes I'll change this to 2 or 5 minutes if I'm doing a lot of reading. Note that I still got 15 hours with the screen on so this probably isn't as big a factor as most think. It seems to me that apps doing stuff in the background, running apps that use a lot of CPU/GPU time, and being in poor signal areas hurts your battery as much, if not more than leaving the screen on. Every little bit helps though.
On a related note, use a dark theme in apps if you can, and if it doesn't hurt your readability (especially in sunlight). OLED screens use less energy when displaying darker pixels, though again, I don't think it's as big a factor as most make it out to be.

Settings -> Battery -> Battery Saver "off", this restricts background mobile data when below 25% battery which I suspect may cause problems with the RW app. I haven't done any testing though.

Settings -> Apps -> uninstall apps you don't need, disable system apps you don't use. What I have disabled: Translate, Quickoffice, Motorola Skip Setup, Motorola Migrate, Motorola DriveActivator, Motorola Connect, Motorola Checkin, Motorola Assist Talk to Me, Motorola Assist, Moto Care, Google+ (it can't be uninstalled), Google Play Music (I use PowerAmp because it can read music from USB storage), Google Play Movies & TV, Google Play Magazines, Google Play Games, Google Play Books, Email, Drive, Downloads (probably not necessary but it cleans up the app drawer, I use a 3rd party file manager), Avatar

I recently switched from Swype back to Google's stock keyboard. I find Google's swiping has become good enough as to be functional (though still not as good as Swype) while not causing tons of wakelocks like Swype does. When I was using Swype, it helped to disable basically everything.

Settings -> Motorola Privacy -> disable Moto Care and Help Improve Motorola Products

Settings -> Backup & Reset -> "Back up my data" may cause wakelocks, I'm not sure, but I leave it enabled because I like the functionality.

Settings -> Motorola Device ID -> I unlinked my account. Anything with an account attached to it is likely to cause wakelocks and use background data and I don't use any of it.


Some thoughts on battery saving apps:

I tried Snapdragon Battery Guru. I found it saved some battery on my wife's phone, but I don't think she knows what a wakelock is. On my phone, the app caused more wakes than it saved because I'm already careful about things, and don't need an app to automatically take care these things.

Greenify looks to be useful, but I'm not using it presently.

I have BetterBatteryStats (free on XDA) and Wakelock Detector installed currently for tracking down misbehaving apps. Something with this functionality is ***essential*** for finding wakelocks. If you find an app misbehaving, my methods of handling it are to first check the app in question's settings to see if there are any options that might help, such as disabling notifications (which generally also disables a lot of background activity) or decreasing the frequency of updates. If that doesn't help, Greenify or uninstalling/finding an alternative are your best bets.

The idea is to go into individual app settings and reduce background activity, and to avoid using apps that don't allow you to reduce background activity.

 

[zerogear]

>usually the 3rd core has about 10% the runtime as the first core so it's barely getting used.

Are you saying that Android already is set up to only power up the 3rd and 4th cores if it really needs them? If so, then it is already more efficient than I had thought....

Not Android, but ARM architecture has power gate, which allows power only when there is demand.