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Free Apps Eat Your Smartphone Battery
judgecorp writes "Here's a reason to pay for smartphone apps: the free versions can spend three times as much energy finding and serving ads as they do serving their actual purpose. Research from a Purdue University scientist found that as much as 75 percent of the energy used by free apps (PDF) goes on accessing location services, finding suitable advertisements and displaying them."
The custom firmware I use on my Android smartphone redirects all ad domains to 127.0.0.1, so no ads for me.
Ads Eat Your Smartphone Battery
Android + AdAway (free, in the market) on a rooted device == no ads. It also mitigates the security risks associated with third party ads.
Can You Say Linux? I Knew That You Could.
As an app developer and heartless cynic, I'd say if the ads make up 3/4 of the power budget, that sounds like a really stupid and useless app. If it's not busy presenting content, calculating something, or entertaining the user, then it's a total waste of CPU not even worth the ad pennies.
There are so many moronic apps out there, designed with the sole purpose of duping the user and profiting the developer. Humanity is wasting countless man-millenia defrauding each other via these gadgets, thanks to undiscerning advertisers and the plague that is in-app purchasing. If you want to save energy, start by raising the standards for mobile apps a little higher than "paid the developer signup fee".
-Billco, Fnarg.com
Apps that download ads use 100% more energy downlaoding ads than apps that don't download ads... Who knew?
Next up, parked cars consume 100% less gas than cars being driven down the road.
And there is a study underway in Europe that hopes to confirm my suspicion that empty boxes weigh less than full boxes.
Ken
There are free apps without ads and there are paid for apps with ads. Title should be that ads eat up battery life, which is kind of a no brainer.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Since you obviously read Slashdot, I'd say you see at least a couple every day. They're just disguised as stories.
I rarely shill for a product but if you have an Android phone with a less-than-optimal battery (like me), JuiceDefender does wonders. It turns off your phone's wi-fi and data connections (except for situations you configure like a streaming radio app is open) when your screen is off, turning them back on every X minutes so apps like email an sync on a reasonable schedule while not killing your battery. This by itself can save a huge amount of battery life (though it can do a lot more).
By its own calculations (which I of course take with a grain of salt) it has more than doubled my effective battery life, and I would guess from practical use that it's nearly correct.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
Of course, just like writing Slashdot posts on a "free" operating system with a "free" desktop environment and a "free" browser is just drowning me in ads.
PlusFive Slashdot reader for Android. Can post comments.
make money off the adds
I can't tell if that's a typo for ads or you mean attention deficit disorder sufferers - it seems to work either way...
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
You can get angry birds easily on any platform.
1) Place phone on birdfeeder.
2) Fill birdfeeder with catfood.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Jailbroken and custom hosts file makes them not serve any ads. I did not agree to pay for airtime for the ad's, so Until they pay for my data plan, I'm doing what I can to block ad's on my phone.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
You know, come to think of it.. I don't think I've ever dreamed (of) an ad.
Off-topic as this might be, I'm going to pose this as a serious question: have any of you ever dreamed an ad?
I've had a great many number of dreams that range wildly in topics and vividness. I once woke up remember several lines of text from a book I was reading in my dream - I googled the lines of text but as far as it was concerned, those lines were not written anywhere for it to find.
But I don't recall having ever seen an ad. Or even related. I.e. walking down a city, I remember stores, I remember cars, traffic, people, the rain, a gust of wind... I don't, however, remember any H&M ads in the bus stalls, or Heineken sign outside a bar.
( Of course now that I've written this, I'll bet I'll be dreaming of ads come tonight. Damn. )
And they are not Free: merely gratis.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
As a developer of entirely free Android applications (free as in "beer" and in "free of ads"), I take offense at the overgeneralization of the article to "Free Applications". If you are not a careful reader, this may lead you to think that ALL free apps are full of ads AND power eaters.
A lot of "free" apps don't have ads and don't use more power than any other app. Many behave actually way better than paid ones.
Stupid article is stupid.
First of all, not all free apps are adware. That's because some app developers (myself included) write apps for the fun of it. Also another factor: commercial apps tend to display lots of glitzy colors, graphics and animation. Turned-off (black) pixels don't drain the battery. Don't get me wrong, I've seen free apps that light up the entire display too. Free or not, what matters is whether the developer is conscious of saving the battery when designing the app. As an example, I use an app called Easy Battery Saver on my Galaxy Nexus to monitor batter usage...It reports that my display accounts for about 30% of my total battery consumption.
Only Apple do. The Android Market isn't locked down in this way - and even if it were, you can install apps from "non-market sources" on any android phone, just by clicking the checkbox (no need to root it).