Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Purdue 'HUSH' Tool Promises 16% Battery Life Gain For Wasteful Android Phones

Posted by Soulskill on from the turns-off-NSA-eavesdropper dept.

MojoKid writes: Researchers from Purdue University have developed a software tool for Android smartphones that purportedly slows down battery drain when handsets enter a sleep state. With the software tool installed, the researchers claim that smartphone battery life can be extended by nearly 16 percent. Called "HUSH," the software solution was developed in response to what the researchers say is the first large-scale study of smartphone energy drain occurring from everyday use by consumers. According to their research, apps drain 28.9 percent of battery power while the screen is turned off. HUSH dynamically identifies app background activities that it deems aren't useful to the user experience on a per-app basis and suppresses those apps when the screen is turned off.

80 comments

  1. What is "Useful"? by darkain · · Score: 0

    What is really deemed "Useful" though? For instance, my phone is a business phone and the only apps running in background are all either communication tools for other business personnel I work with, or notification services for server infrastructure issues. GREAT! Now I can install an app to disable all that important functionality! Server goes offline? No biggie, my phone battery is at least marginally more awesome, I guess?

    1. Re:What is "Useful"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You wouldn't install this on a business phone. The app seems geared towards the general consumer who is not happy with the batteries available in most devices. There is so much preinstalled and unused bloatware on many smartphones that run in the background. Most users never even use the preinstalled apps but they still sit in memory and call home with barely any options to keep them quiet.

    2. Re:What is "Useful"? by ThatAblaze · · Score: 1

      All kinds of people love to steal your phone data.. but who watches the watchers?

      Maybe it's this app.

    3. Re:What is "Useful"? by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      So don't install it. How hard is that to figure out?

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    4. Re:What is "Useful"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You wouldn't install this on a business phone.

      You fully missed the point of the OPs question: when it makes its decision, what's the chance it will "put to sleep" something that actually is usefull ?

      In short: If you have any apps on your phone you think must run you cannot install that "Hush" app on it, or you must accept the possibility that those get put to sleep because of a "false positive".

      Having said that, I assume that that dynamically-identifying-and-put-to-sleep is only one modeus operandi, with it having another one which will only identify the apps, and leave it upto the user to choose which ones to actually put to sleep.

    5. Re:What is "Useful"? by peragrin · · Score: 2

      This is exactly why Apple waited so long for multi tasking in IOS. It is because all app makers deem their app is critical to the usefulness of the phone and thus every fart app, needs root access, a copy of all communications, full phone access, and a copy of your medical and credit score.

      The simple fact is security permissions in android have been very broad. yes newer versions are starting to clamp down, but you still can't deny access to an app during install. it is either accept or deny the entire thing.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    6. Re: What is "Useful"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple and multitasking in the same sentence makes me giggle.

  2. Where's the apk? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    TFA says you can get it at their gethub page, but there's no packaged apk.

    1. Re: Where's the apk? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is an OS modification. That can't be done in an apk.

    2. Re: Where's the apk? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It doesn't say anything about that in the article, it also doesn't say it needs to be rooted. It does say you can grab it for free from github.

  3. Sounds familiar... by lga · · Score: 2

    This seems very similar to the Doze feature that is coming in Android M.

    --
    A latent existence
    1. Re:Sounds familiar... by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      That'll be great... next year when I buy a phone new enough to have been blessed by both the manufacturer and the carrier to run Marshmallow.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  4. Or maybe ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ... you know, not have a million apps and processes running in the background at all times. There are already plenty of apps out there that let the user control this. Nothing to see here, folks.

  5. Greenify does this by gavron · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Greenify has been around for a couple of years and does this wonderfully:

    http://www.howtogeek.com/19813...

    E

    1. Re:Greenify does this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someones one wish Google would clear up the whole root issue, but then there likely would be a whole lot a spear phising happening...

    2. Re:Greenify does this by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Yep. Use BetterBatteryStats to identify the rogue programs (greenify is not amazing at analysis) and then use Greenify to neutralize them. If you use Greenify with Xposed and enable its module, it can even control system apps. Xposed requires root, but so does Greenify. If you're installing Xposed, allow me to also suggest "App Settings" and "Gravitybox". There are different installers for Gravitybox for Jelllybean, KitKat, and Lollipop. Anyone running AOSP should have it, but it's useful (with care) on other distributions of Android as well.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  6. And when's it hitting Google Play Store? by billstewart · · Score: 1

    Play is the obvious way to download it to a random Android...

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  7. Who needs it by p51d007 · · Score: 0

    Stop buying "flagship" phones with ever decreasing battery size. Unless you are playing these super graphic intensive games, you don't need one, unless you love running benchmarks. I gave up on the flagships, since I'm not a gamer. My phone has a 4,000mAH battery, 6.1" screen, is very smooth, no lag, didn't cost a friggin' arm & leg either. Even with over 2-3 hours on the phone, lots of on screen time with photos, web, email, text, pandora, DAILY, it's easy to get 2 days on one charge.

    1. Re:Who needs it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's the phone?

    2. Re:Who needs it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's the phone?

      Isn't it interesting the way he/she would omit this critical piece of information?

    3. Re:Who needs it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A well tuned Nexus 5 with CM 11 can get 4+ days of normal use for me. Granted I am not on my device 24/7 but I do use it for all of my email, bus scheduling, and simple info research.

      The trick: revoke Keep Awake, Wake Lock, and other CPU burning permissions for apps that do not need them. Nearly all of my apps do not need to be running if I am not explicit running them, yet they try to do so anyway. The biggest offenders, some of Google's apps. Why does Docs or Chrome need to keep my phone awake? Why do any of the apps need to keep waking my phone just to see if I have enabled my GPS? Revoking unneeded permissions has more than doubled my battery life.

  8. Typical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "Look what we did!" Headline when tons of others have done it before without feeling the need to issue a press release about it.

  9. settings menu by raymorris · · Score: 3, Informative

    If a specific app has some function that is important to you, make sure it's unchecked on tbe settings page. That UI has implemented here:

    https://github.com/hushnymous/...

    1. Re:settings menu by txoof · · Score: 1

      This is all great, but it's not exactly news. The most recent commit to that project is over six months old and the majority of the commits are from two years ago. I doubt it will work properly with KitKat or Lollipop. An alternative is Amplify. It isn't smart, but it does give you the power to suppress wakelocks at will. You can seriously børk up your phone with it, but that's all easily fixed.

      --
      This one's tricky. You have to use imaginary numbers, like eleventeen... --Hobbes
  10. That's only for Google-Brand Nexus devices by billstewart · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Look, it's nice to know that there are cool features coming Real Soon for your phone if you've got a Google-Brand Nexus Device, just like Apple users can know there'll be something cool coming out for their Apple Brand iDevice, but if you're one of the billion or so Android users out there with some other phone or tablet (such as, just to pick entirely random examples, a Samsung or HTC or nearly-noname Coby), what you know is that your hardware vendor will probably never bother to put out more than a couple of point-release upgrades for your device, and even if they do, your phone company probably won't get around to shipping it, if your device is connected to a phone company and not WiFi-only.

    (Ok, my Samsung 4mini got upgraded from 4.2ish to 4.4.2, but it's unlikely to get 5.x, my HTC never did get the upgrade from 2.1 to 2.2 distributed to it, and I don't remember if the Coby tablet started with 4.0.1 or the 4.0.4 it has now, but Coby seems to have forgotten they ever even made that tablet. In theory I appreciate the openness in Android, but basically what that means is that you have to decide for yourself when your vendor's abandoned you and it's time to root the device and install Cyanogen.)

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
    1. Re: That's only for Google-Brand Nexus devices by the_humeister · · Score: 1

      When to install Cyanogen, for me, is right after I open up the box. I've never run the OEM skins for more than a few days on any of my Android devices (HTC Aria, Samsung Galaxy S II, HTC One M8, Barnes and Noble Nook HD+).

    2. Re: That's only for Google-Brand Nexus devices by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Congratulations. The prior post's point is still valid since the vast majority (by number of models, not number of users ... most users focus on a small subset of popular devices) of devices never get any custom ROMs made for them. And packaging a custom ROM (I'm not just going to use cyanogen as a synonym since they've done so many things lately that make me want to avoid cyanogen) is bit nearly simple enough for even highly knowledgeable power users to just also one together. And even if it were, it would still require driver support from the manufacturer which is almost unheard of from those lesser adopted vendors (part of why their products don't catch, causing the cycle to continue).

      Even fairly established makers like Lenovo are bad about being able to get custom ROMs, even just basic AOSP repackagings.

      I agree that, if a device is supported by a custom ROM, that is often the way to go. But please don't make it sound like that is so common as to be able to rely on it. Way to many devices are simply never going to get that support.

    3. Re: That's only for Google-Brand Nexus devices by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I find it funny you think your vendors are somehow required to push updates to your device. They're not.

      Next time before you buy, check the support list of a custom ROM.

      Don't buy any no-name chinese crapware, then install some other custom Android OS, and be done with it.

    4. Re:That's only for Google-Brand Nexus devices by jareth-0205 · · Score: 1

      Right yes yes it sucks, change the record already.

      It sucks to not get free upgrades, but you know what also sucks? Having your previously working phone 'upgraded' into performing so poorly it is effectively useless. I have a Nexus 7 that is an exercise in futility to use now, and I've seen countless iPhones also basically bricks due to OS upgrades that they can't handle.

      Atleast with Android you have a choice, you can get a Nexus if you want to take the risk on the latest, or you can stick with Manufacturers which are much more careful / reticent / lazy about their upgrades.

      Frankly, whining about not getting the latest features on a phone that you never were promised said features when you bought it is entirely missing the point of the one thing that we *should* be getting and cannot: *security* fixes that don't destroy the user experience. That's the middle ground that you can't have at the moment. Either have a more demanding featureful upgrade with UI changes that you might not like and security fixes, or nothing at all.

    5. Re: That's only for Google-Brand Nexus devices by txoof · · Score: 1

      I find it funny you think your vendors are somehow required to push updates to your device. They're not.

      Next time before you buy, check the support list of a custom ROM.

      Don't buy any no-name chinese crapware, then install some other custom Android OS, and be done with it.

      Vendors are definitely not required to push updates, but they probably should be. It is pretty irresponsible for vendors to continue selling phones with known vulnerabilities, or ignoring vulnerabilities and not offering patches.

      This is not unlike an automobile firm allwoing known safety related flaws in their cars to persist because it is too expensive to fix them. I'm looking at you GM. In this case the "safety" flaws are not life threatening, but are a threat to our privacy and security. The recent StageFright bug is a good example. This flaw not only compromised the usability of the device, but potentially compromised users banking and credit information. Plenty of phones will NEVER get patched and users will continue to use these shitty, vulnerable devices.

      This is partially Google's fault for making Android so mutable; it's crazy hard and expensive for manufacturers to keep up with patches and there's no incentive for them to do so. That's not an excuse for us not to hold them responsible. We certainly expect our cars to not explode in our faces throwing metal shards into our eyes and thorax. We should hold phone makers to the same standard. We should expect that known security flaws will be patched and not ignored.

      Will this increase the cost of phones? Probably. But would you rather have a slightly more expensive handset that gets security updates, or use a phone that's woefully out of date. If you are in the latter category, you're probably reading this in Internet Explorer 5 on Windows XP and in for a shock when you open your retirement account and find a balance of $0.00. Or worse -$53,000.99.

      --
      This one's tricky. You have to use imaginary numbers, like eleventeen... --Hobbes
    6. Re:That's only for Google-Brand Nexus devices by sad_ · · Score: 1

      Install a custom rom on your S4 mini now, really, it turns it into a better phone. I have one and hated the default out-of-the-box install. I'm now on Android 5 and the phone is faster, battery lasts longer, it has all the crapware removed, is more secure (you do know your android version has security issues?), i couldn't be happier. (i'm using aicp -> http://aicp-rom.com/ )

      --
      On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
  11. Marketing ... by PPH · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... named it HUSH after STFU didn't test well for user acceptance.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Marketing ... by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      I think the name was taken. Play Store has quite a few apps called "STFU".

  12. Battery doctor already does this by MrL0G1C · · Score: 2

    Battery doctor already does this, I've had it on my phone for a year or two, it simply terminates one or two dozen apps that somehow run themselves for no good reason - has a whitelist too.

    Androids flaw is allows apps more control than it allows users.

    --
    Waterfox - a Firefox fork with legacy extension support, security updates and better privacy by default.
    1. Re:Battery doctor already does this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My samsung comes with a mode called "ultra battery saver" which makes it last more than a week on a single charge. I flip over to this mode at night or if I know I won't need all the "smarts" of a smartphone.

    2. Re:Battery doctor already does this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Battery Doctor used to be good. Now, it runs ads for both their Android and iOS apps.

    3. Re:Battery doctor already does this by hankwang · · Score: 1

      "Battery doctor already does this, I've had it on my phone for a year or two, it simply terminates one or two dozen apps that somehow run themselves for no good reason - has a whitelist too."

      BD seems like snake oil to me. From the app description:

      - Disable unnecessary apps that drain your battery! Task Killer kills tasks with one click! -- The ones that drain the battery are background services and you can't really kill them without root; the OS will restart them after a while. You can disable the service manually in the Android settings if you want, although i'm not sure that it survives a reboot. Killing "tasks" (recently opened apps) won't help the battery at all since those don't run but just sit idly in memory until the memory is needed for something else. After that, the "task" just a shortcut icon in the recent-apps list. Killing an app is only useful if it's stuck in an unresponsive state. Killing a "task" generally won't kill the background service if the app has one.

      - Unique 3 Stage Charging system! -- Unique, WTF, that's how every Li-ion charger works. No way that an app can influence the charging circuitry of the phone.

      --
      Avantslash: low-bandwidth mobile slashdot.
    4. Re:Battery doctor already does this by MrL0G1C · · Score: 1

      I installed it because my phone battery was draining a lot faster than it should, and it worked, the battery went back to draining very slowly in standby.

      And the point is battery doctor does the exact same thing that this article claims is new and amazing - it isn't. And battery doctor is free.

      Stupidest battery drain cause - if you try to send a text with a (multi-media) smiley to a phone that doesn't support it then it fails to get sent and then drains your phone battery fast!!! There is no notification that the text didn't go without going back to the text and seeing it's still trying to send (forever). Battery doctor didn't solve that and I'll bet the new software doesn't either.

      --
      Waterfox - a Firefox fork with legacy extension support, security updates and better privacy by default.
    5. Re:Battery doctor already does this by del_diablo · · Score: 1

      No, but you can kill what kills the battery.
      Examples:
      -App asks for something(GPS, lookup on the nearby cell tower, stuff), Battery Doctor forces the answer to be cached, to avoid activating the needed sensor every 10 seconds
      -Kills apps who makes background calls and are inactive

  13. Battery Life on Phones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Would be much, much better if actually put a decent size battery in the things, instead of worshiping at the altar of "thin".

    The prevalence of battery cases should be a clue that people care more about battery life than "thin".

    1. Re:Battery Life on Phones by friedmud · · Score: 1

      Or the system is working properly. 80% of people are happy with their thin phones and 20% of people can add battery cases if their needs call for it (numbers pulled out of ass based on seeing people with huge cases that might be battery cases).

      Why do the rest of us need to carry around a 4 pound brick when our current thin phone gets us through the day?

  14. Re:Mostly pointless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This app works exactly how Sony's phones' Stamina Mode works, it seems.

  15. Re:Mostly pointless by infolation · · Score: 2

    Yes, and this will break everyone's shitty push notification apps like Facebook and OKCupid so they won't use it.

    Disabling Facebook extends battery life by about 75%.

  16. Simpler solution by aNonnyMouseCowered · · Score: 0

    Turn off your phone when you're not expecting a call.* Reduces at least two problems: power drain and cellphone tracking.

    *SMS and FB posts are stored so it's not as if you're going to miss your friend's cat photos or wedding invite.

    1. Re:Simpler solution by MyAlternateID · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Turn off your phone when you're not expecting a call.

      One of the reasons I have a phone in the first place is so I can be reached in case of emergencies or other unexpected events.

    2. Re:Simpler solution by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 1

      Are you sure it stops phone tracking? There are all sorts of passive things going on when your phone isn't 'on'. Wasn't this one of those things that you have to remove the battery to properly stop?

      (Honest question—I seem to recall from a while ago that a surprising number of passive things go on while the phone is off. The OS may not be running, but it's not the only thing tracking you.)

    3. Re:Simpler solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or WIFI completely off after midnight while in sleep mode.
      If you don't need emergency contacting, Airplane Mode while in sleep mode after midnight saves a ton of power.
      Or WIFI completely off when you disconnect from AP and toggle every hour to check AP until midnight etc.
      There's scheduling apps that handle all this already, ie Tasker

    4. Re:Simpler solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Turn off your phone when you're not expecting a call

      I suppose that works for social pariahs, but for the majority of people that won't ever be an option.

      Reduces at least two problems:[...] cellphone tracking

      Nope. Have to remove the battery. Once your phone is targeted by a serious actor, altered firmware or baseband module will still allow tracking even when the phone is supposedly turned off.

    5. Re:Simpler solution by hankwang · · Score: 1

      "I seem to recall from a while ago that a surprising number of passive things go on while the phone is off. The OS may not be running, but it's not the only thing tracking you."

      Back when the Snowden thing started, he mentioned things like that, which was then vehemently denied by the manufacturers. They saw no way how the radio could be powered with the phone switched off. Of course, he was in a good position to be paranoid about phones with the firmware modified by TLAs.

      There are phones that can wake up from power off to sound an alarm. Presumably, they boot some lightweight OS image that's just enough to play the alarm audio and display a snooze button. A phone like that could be modified to wake up with the screen off and the radios on (and remember the unlock code for the SIM). But that doesn't mean that phones work like that out of the box. There would be trouble with the FCC and FAA if phones did that during air travel, not to mention unexpected data roaming fees.

      --
      Avantslash: low-bandwidth mobile slashdot.
    6. Re:Simpler solution by sad_ · · Score: 1

      Maybe that is true for you, but i'm more egoistic about my phone.
      The advantage of having a mobile phone for me is that i can make a call anytime & everywhere i want, it's not an advantage i can be reached everywhere i am.
      Ofcourse, this is for my private phone, if you have a bussiness phone, it other rules apply.

      --
      On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
  17. Wouldn't it be nice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If we could choose when and where apps run and for how long? Bloody stuff today auto launches in background anticipating it to be called, apps remain open often giving no shutdown buttons specifically... Just relying on system garbage collection to close them...

    Computer hardware may be advancing but users and software are going backwards; turning these devices into one task at a time devices.. Metro, Android, so many limiting screen to 1 app(hoops to do otherwise)..

    1. Re:Wouldn't it be nice by friedmud · · Score: 2

      Use an iPhone. This is the whole reason why Apple disallowed multitasking in the first place (relying instead on external notifications)... then they brought out API's to allow apps to do very specific things in the background (finish a download, play music, etc.). For a long time Apps had huge restrictions on what they could do in the background so that they didn't soak up battery.

      Only recently were iPhone Apps allowed "free reign" in the background through a mechanism called "Background App Refresh". And you know what? The ability to do that is directly selectable _per app_ right in the Settings for the phone. No extra "Battery Saver" app needed.

      It's funny how many techy people react to this type of thing as Apple being overly restrictive... when in reality the majority of users are appreciative of these restrictions as it gives them an overall better experience.

  18. 6 inch screen? by ArchieBunker · · Score: 0

    You must look silly talking into your iPad or clipboard.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    1. Re:6 inch screen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Talking using a Nokia N-gage is silly and that had a tiny screen, it was branded the taco phone because of its shape not its screen.

  19. No, it's for any device with decent support by gweilo8888 · · Score: 2

    Mine, for example. My Sony Xperia Z2 shipped with KitKat, got updated to Lollipop, and will be getting Marshmallow as well. That's not "a couple of point-release upgrades", that's at least two major upgrades (and this on a phone which is now 18 months old.)

    And the original Xperia Z started on Jelly Bean and got KitKat *and* Lollipop, so two major releases seems to be par for the course. (In total, the Z got the 4.1.2 it shipped with, then 4.2.2, 4.3, 4.4.2, 4.4.4 and 5.0.2, and I believe it will also be getting 5.1.1. That's six updates, two of them major.) And I've seen similar from my many other Android devices over the years, around half of which weren't even flagship products.

    Oh, and you know how many carrier updates I've gotten? None. On my devices which are not Wi-Fi only, I have gotten every update straight from the manufacturer. You know why? Because I had the common-sense to buy unlocked phones, not buy them from the carrier in the false hope of somehow getting free hardware (while actually paying over the odds for it). If you're stupid enough to buy phones from your carrier and pay far more over the life of your contract than just buying unlocked, then frankly you deserve what you get.

    Yes, fragmentation is a problem for Android. No, it is not only Google Nexus devices that get major updates, your misleading title to the contrary. Every non-Nexus device I've owned from flagship phones to entry-level kids tablets has gotten at *least* one major update, and several have gotten at least two.

    And that's direct from the manufacturer. Unlike Apple fans, I can count on third-parties ensuring that even my oldest devices still get updates. My oldest devices are an Asus Transformer TF101 (early 2011) and Samsung Galaxy Ace (also early 2011). The Transformer has been brought all the way up to fro Honeycomb to Lollipop by third parties, and even the Galaxy Ace has been brought up from Froyo to KitKat.

    That's four major releases so far for the tablet, and five in total for the phone. How many iOS devices have gotten five major updates?

    Yes, Google needs to get operating system updates in check and take it away from the manufacturers and carriers' responsibility, but the situation is nowhere near as dire as you make it out to be.

    1. Re:No, it's for any device with decent support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The iPad 2 shipped in 2011 with iOS 4.x and is getting iOS 9, so it will have 5 major updates comes next week. The iPhone 4S will be on it's 4th update. I was also released in 2011.

    2. Re:No, it's for any device with decent support by dugancent · · Score: 1

      Like the above poster said, the iPad 2 is getting five major updates, from the manufacturer. There are 3rd party firmwares for older phones too, like Whited00r, which goes all the way back to the original iPhone, released in 2007.

      --
      SJWs are the new boogeyman. -Me
    3. Re:No, it's for any device with decent support by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Mine, for example. My Sony Xperia Z2 shipped with KitKat, got updated to Lollipop, and will be getting Marshmallow as well.

      My Sony Xperia play shipped with gingerbread and got updated to... gingerbread. Sony promised ICS for all Xperia devices, and delivered it for all but the Xperia play. The community has produced various ICS roms, so Sony is just fail. Fuck Sony sideways. They owe me a phone.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re:No, it's for any device with decent support by gweilo8888 · · Score: 1

      So one device. (And that one only because it's a special case, having continued to sell after both of its successors had been discontinued.) Gotcha.

    5. Re:No, it's for any device with decent support by gweilo8888 · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry your poorly-selling niche product wasn't updated.

  20. Mickey Mouse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A Mickey Mouse, partial solution to the battery problem, and in a rather unacceptable way - no app is going to decide for me what apps are useful or otherwise when my phone is in sleep state.

  21. Suspend apps when screen is off .. by nickweller · · Score: 1

    "Researchers from Purdue University have developed a software tool for Android smartphones that .. dynamically identifies app background activities .. and suppresses those apps when the screen is turned off."

    And you need university researchers to figure out that?

  22. Much needed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When I leave a Slashdot page open in my Android Browser, tap home, then lock/sleep my phone, the Browser eats most of my battery. I've lost 70%+ to the iHeart radio app before, because it was paused but not forcably quit.

    iOS doesn't have this problem.

    This solution is much-needed in Android.

  23. crapware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Android can do this by itself if you spend the time to fiddle with the settings.

  24. 4G Connection Drains Battery by Jason+Levine · · Score: 2

    Recently, we were on a cruise. Since we were going to be in international areas and didn't want to come home to a huge phone bill, we switched our phones to airplane mode (data off). We kept our phones on because they could be used to take photos or play games during the trip. I noticed that our battery life was greatly extended when the phone didn't need to maintain a 4G connection at all times. It led me to wonder if someone could make an app that would turn off the 4G connection when the phone isn't being actively used.

    Of course, this might result in data-checking apps (e.g. your e-mail app) not getting notifications that an e-mail has arrived. So perhaps it could turn on the data for 5 minutes every hour to allow background apps to pull data. I wonder just how much battery life an app like this would save.

    --
    My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    1. Re:4G Connection Drains Battery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://f-droid.org/repository...

    2. Re:4G Connection Drains Battery by hankwang · · Score: 1

      "this [4G off state] might result in data-checking apps (e.g. your e-mail app) not getting notifications that an e-mail has arrived."

      You got it. Or rather, apps stop polling for data if there is no internet connection. With the 4g radio in standby (only listening for incoming calls) it doesn't consume much power.

      "So perhaps it could turn on the data for 5 minutes every hour to allow background apps to pull data. I wonder just how much battery life an app like this would save."

      There are apps (e.g. juice defender) that can disable data sync or even mobile data (iirc) and briefly enable it at set intervals, so that all apps wake up and sync at the same time. You could also try to do that manually (it's the widget with two half-circle arrows). I tried JD in the past, but found it too much a pain that Whatsapp messages came in with a delay and that I had to wait for mobile data to become active whenever I wanted to look up something.

      --
      Avantslash: low-bandwidth mobile slashdot.
  25. You'd be surprised how long your battery can go by Solandri · · Score: 2

    The battery on my Nexus 5 began malfunctioning just shy of a year old. When new it would last me the entire workday with about 20% remaining by 10pm. But now it would drain normally to about 40% (about 2-3 pm in my workday), then drop to 0% in the next 45 minutes. I tried all sorts of battery reset and calibration apps, and various discharge/charge to full tricks to try to fix it. Finally I called Google. To make sure the problem wasn't being caused by an app, they asked me to boot the phone into safe mode and do another battery rundown test. In safe mode, only the apps which were originally installed on the phone are allowed to run.

    Holy crap! Even with the bad battery it lasted 2 days 20 hours before dying.

    1. Re:You'd be surprised how long your battery can go by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Samsung phones have had an ultra power saving feature for a couple of generations now. Same deal, app whitelist, low CPU state, and 4g disabled. End result is a phone easily lasts about a week and can still receive and place calls. If you white list the likes of Facebook and let that run the battery life is literally decimated.

  26. Fix the apps by short · · Score: 1

    If the apps needlessly drain battery then fix the apps. This is what Free software is about. That the apps are not Free? So you have opened the can of worms, try to catch them all.

  27. Or.. by audi100quattro · · Score: 1

    ..you could just turn auto sync off, unless you really need it. Auto sync should realistically only be on when charging. If I want to see new tweets or mail, I will just swipe down on the app manually for sync.

  28. Re: Mostly pointless by Threni · · Score: 1

    You're better off installing Facebook and just putting a bookmark to the web page on your launcher.

  29. Old by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So does this do anything Greenify doesn't already do?

  30. Just uninstall Facebook by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 1

    This single step has increased my wife's, my daugher's, and my workplace secretary's phone lives by a day for all of them. Facebook transmits a *ridiculous* amount of image data and other wifi or cellphone data plan traffic, and turning it off also cut their phone bills quite a lot because they stopped going *over* the very generous data plan limits they had bought. I flipped out when we looked at their phone bills and I saw roughly 300 MByte every hour on the hour of accumulated Facebook data. Leave it on all day, and it blow through 3 Gig a day easily. Make it a month, and spend significant amounts of time dinking on Facebook away from a reliable wifi access point, and you can go through a month's data plan in a couple of days, and go through a battery in la few hours.

    Then I found out they were using the big battery packs I'd bought them *as a default device to around with their phones plugged in* rather than leaving that on the charger in the house, or on their desk, so *of course* that was always drained, too.

    1. Re:Just uninstall Facebook by Overzeetop · · Score: 1

      I doubt that it's facebook, or they've got some pretty weird settings (maybe they're on it all the time and have auto video on). I leave facebook running 24/7 and my usage is in the 1.5-2GB range in a month - and I'm on youtube/dropbox quite a bit for streaming music and videos, and have three emails which automatically sync. Even if FB was half of my usage, which I sincerely doubt, it would be 1 MB an hour.

      --
      Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
    2. Re:Just uninstall Facebook by ezelkow1 · · Score: 1

      +1

      Im on ting so I get an idea of data usage each month. Most of the time Im around 300mb/month and have facebook installed. Then again I also have photo syncing, automatic video playing, and continuous contacts uploading turned off so maybe that helps. The one and only thing Ive found that was a huge battery drain was shotty cell signal. In my usual day to day of home->work->home my signal is fairly stable and I can come home with 50-60% battery left. However on other days (and in other cities) it drops much more dramatically depending on travel

      Its just always seemed to me android needs a better cell signal search algorithm than just pounding away on the radio when one isnt available or when too many towers are in range

    3. Re:Just uninstall Facebook by yabos · · Score: 1

      I can't back up the data usage part, but on my iPhone, the Facebook app was accounting for 20-30% of my battery usage per day and most of the time I wasn't even using it. Once I disabled the background activity, it dropped to 10% or so(still pretty high).

  31. Wakelocks are not the problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Congrats to Purdue to get that hot air slashdottet.

    I'm developing an app that uses a wakelock because it *needs* to run
    in the background (http://www.kisstech.ch/rowingcas/).

    I did several tests in different configurations and
    can affirm that wakelocks are not the problem. The problem is GPS,
    the 3G/4G radios, the screen, and to a lesser extent, WiFi.

    When I got my new phone, I didn't know what 95% of the pre-installed
    apps were useful for, let alone how much battery they consume. The proliferation
    of these needless apps is the real source of the problem. Plus, they consume
    *your* time when they push their annoying messages and decide to
    update themselves spontaneously.

    The fact that certain Java APIs use hundreds of kilobytes of memory
    to parse a line of ASCII numbers isn't helping either. Every bit changing state
    uses energy.

  32. Re: Mostly pointless by txoof · · Score: 1

    You're better off installing Facebook and just putting a bookmark to the web page on your launcher.

    +1 For you sir! https://m.facebook.com/ is far superior to the shitey app. You can post pictures, message, and read all the wedding announcements and funny baby pictures without FailBook stealing your contact list, monitoring your location and generally being a douche. And to really put a cherry on top: it stops running when you're not using it! If you live and die by your FB messenger, this won't work for you, but if you actually want your phone to be a phone with some juice in the battery, this is the way forward!

    --
    This one's tricky. You have to use imaginary numbers, like eleventeen... --Hobbes