Galena_uk Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 Hi there, Sorry if this has already been discussed, or if it is in the wrong place, but I was wondering whether anyone else has had this problem: I recently bought an HTC Wildfire and was getting 5-6 days between charges with my battery. I then installed the official Groundspeak Android app and suddenly I'm getting just over 2 days between charges. When I check out the battery use, it was saying that system standby and so on were using most of the battery, now it says Geocaching is using 96% of the battery! I have only opened it once so far to see what the app was like, but it seems that it uses the battery even if I'm not using the application. Is there a setting I haven't found which will stop this happening (I have tried to look and found nothing), is everyone else having the same problem, or am I just lucky(!)? Many thanks, Galena_uk Quote
+bwilliamson Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 This is being discussed and GS is looking into it on the Feedback forums. I have the original Motorola Droid and I've already gone from fully charged to fully dead in two hours flat. Battery hog. Quote
Galena_uk Posted February 21, 2011 Author Posted February 21, 2011 Thanks for that reply. Glad to know I'm not alone (although 2 hours seems rather extreme!). Do you mind if I ask where I might find the feedback forum? I think I found it once, but can't remember where it is. Thanks. Quote
+LukeTrocity Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 Link http://feedback.geocaching.com/forums/75279-geocaching-for-android Its only been a problem for several months...no big deal. Quote
+borrie869 Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 as with most things on the android based phones use a task killer and kill all background running apps, drastically helps battery life Quote
+Walts Hunting Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 I use Advanced Task Killer set for 30 minutes. I just ran a test. Opened the app, looked for a cache, had it start navigation and then backed out. It still showed active in the background. Waited until the task killer has cycled and it was gone from the applications folder under settings. I haven't had any battery problems since I go the Task Killer. Quote
+LukeTrocity Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 Task killers actually do more harm than good. Sorry to say but its a fact. Android is set up differently than windows and as such task killers aren't needed. Its a total myth. Also "killing" the gc app does not work for me...only a reboot will. Quote
+Skunk Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 Task killers actually do more harm than good. Sorry to say but its a fact. Android is set up differently than windows and as such task killers aren't needed. Its a total myth. Also "killing" the gc app does not work for me...only a reboot will. This is all true right here. I don't know what's taking them so long to address this problem, I had the same issue with c:geo about six months ago and contacted the developer about it. He had it fixed in a couple days. Quote
+keehotee Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 Task killers actually do more harm than good. Sorry to say but its a fact. Android is set up differently than windows and as such task killers aren't needed. Its a total myth. Also "killing" the gc app does not work for me...only a reboot will. Just curious - in what way do they do more harm than good? I got used to using one when I had an iPaq, so it was one of the first apps I loaded when I got an Android phone, but didn't realise they did any harm - can you elaborate.... Quote
+Walts Hunting Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 How cab killing an app do harm Quote
+baloo&bd Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 (edited) Just curious - in what way do they do more harm than good? I got used to using one when I had an iPaq, so it was one of the first apps I loaded when I got an Android phone, but didn't realise they did any harm - can you elaborate.... They don't do any harm, in fact, it is a sound practice when talking about battery conservation. There seems to be a small faction of users who have bought into this myth that they are somehow harmful. Practical use will shown you otherwise. However be mindful, one of the complaints that have been mentioned in the forums is that simply killing the app does not work for all. GS is working it out. Edited February 22, 2011 by baloo&bd Quote
+splashy Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 You should have a widget on your Android called Program Monitor. Closing open app's with this widget does no harm because it's part of Android, not closing open (gps) app's makes a huge difference. Quote
+baloo&bd Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 (edited) Another EXCELLENT program to help monitor power hogs like GPS, Bluetooth, Wifi etc is Free Power Widget (There is also a Pro version) which allows you to turn things off from main screen on the fly without using several separate widgets like those that come stock. Slightly OT however still useful. Edited February 22, 2011 by baloo&bd Quote
+LukeTrocity Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 Task killers actually do more harm than good. Sorry to say but its a fact. Android is set up differently than windows and as such task killers aren't needed. Its a total myth. Also "killing" the gc app does not work for me...only a reboot will. Just curious - in what way do they do more harm than good? I got used to using one when I had an iPaq, so it was one of the first apps I loaded when I got an Android phone, but didn't realise they did any harm - can you elaborate.... Without getting to technical, android manages memory without the need for them. If your not using an app android will automatically stop it from running. so freeing up memory isn't usually needed since as long as the app is in the background it's not using any. As far as how this effects battery life, think about it in terms of a light bulb. You use more energy turning them on than you do letting them run. When you kill the app you waste that energy reopen... And if by small faction of people don't use them you mean the ones that understand android your right. reboot your phone once a day and don't worry about app killers. Quote
John E Cache Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 Without getting to technical, android manages memory without the need for them. If your not using an app android will automatically stop it from running. so freeing up memory isn't usually needed since as long as the app is in the background it's not using any. Android/Linux does multi-tasking. Tasks running in the background use CPU cycles and CPU cycles burn dynamic power. Memory usage has nothing to do with it, in my opinion. Hold the "home" key to switch to running background apps. Quote
+Walts Hunting Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 Task killers actually do more harm than good. Sorry to say but its a fact. Android is set up differently than windows and as such task killers aren't needed. Its a total myth. Also "killing" the gc app does not work for me...only a reboot will. Just curious - in what way do they do more harm than good? I got used to using one when I had an iPaq, so it was one of the first apps I loaded when I got an Android phone, but didn't realise they did any harm - can you elaborate.... Without getting to technical, android manages memory without the need for them. If your not using an app android will automatically stop it from running. so freeing up memory isn't usually needed since as long as the app is in the background it's not using any. As far as how this effects battery life, think about it in terms of a light bulb. You use more energy turning them on than you do letting them run. When you kill the app you waste that energy reopen... And if by small faction of people don't use them you mean the ones that understand android your right. reboot your phone once a day and don't worry about app killers. As to the amount of energy to turn on a light vs leaving it running Mythbusters blew that sky high with a set of extensive testing some time ago. Put that down as old wives tale that has been proven false. Quote
+baloo&bd Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 Without getting to technical, android manages memory without the need for them. If your not using an app android will automatically stop it from running. so freeing up memory isn't usually needed since as long as the app is in the background it's not using any. As far as how this effects battery life, think about it in terms of a light bulb. You use more energy turning them on than you do letting them run. When you kill the app you waste that energy reopen... And if by small faction of people don't use them you mean the ones that understand android your right. reboot your phone once a day and don't worry about app killers. Your mileage may vary, however back to the original point, those of us that work with this daily (i.e. "understand Android") will tell you the app killers properly written and used will have no adverse affect. Quote
+LukeTrocity Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 Task killers actually do more harm than good. Sorry to say but its a fact. Android is set up differently than windows and as such task killers aren't needed. Its a total myth. Also "killing" the gc app does not work for me...only a reboot will. Just curious - in what way do they do more harm than good? I got used to using one when I had an iPaq, so it was one of the first apps I loaded when I got an Android phone, but didn't realise they did any harm - can you elaborate.... Without getting to technical, android manages memory without the need for them. If your not using an app android will automatically stop it from running. so freeing up memory isn't usually needed since as long as the app is in the background it's not using any. As far as how this effects battery life, think about it in terms of a light bulb. You use more energy turning them on than you do letting them run. When you kill the app you waste that energy reopen... And if by small faction of people don't use them you mean the ones that understand android your right. reboot your phone once a day and don't worry about app killers. As to the amount of energy to turn on a light vs leaving it running Mythbusters blew that sky high with a set of extensive testing some time ago. Put that down as old wives tale that has been proven false. Sorry I'm not up on my mythbusters... Anywho back on point, app killers dont kill the gc app. Quote
+splashy Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 "Anywho back on point, app killers dont kill the gc app. " If that's a fact, then don't run that app, because it will use battery power. Quote
John E Cache Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 The "home" key doesn't stop the app, but puts the app in the background(still running without display focus).To stop an app you should use the back key or menu->quit/exit. The app should free up resources and exit. What happens when you exit the app? Does the power consumption go down? Quote
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