Sneaky Apps

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Kingrow

40 posts

Geek

#105689 8-Jul-2012 02:52

Hello.

I was just wondering if anyone could help me with an annoying feature on my Android phone. Long story short, I have specific apps that have a habit of loading themselves in the background without me telling them to. When I got a smartphone (Vodafone 858) for the first time, it amazed me how quickly the battery (and data) got used up. Now, I'm thinking that this is one of the main culprits behind it!

At the moment I have my background settings turned off to save battery and data, including bluetooth and WiFi.

The apps in question that have a habit of sneaking past the radar on occasion are:

Facebook
Gmail
News & Weather

Some apps load on startup, and will (most of the time) stay away if I force close them (e.g. GeoNet, CashTank, Email, Dictionary.com).

Basically, all I'm asking is how do I make these apps stay closed until I specifically ask for it to load when needed? They're getting annoying somewhat.

I'm currently using Android version 2.2.1 if this helps.

Thanks.

CdTDroiD

869 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#652458 8-Jul-2012 09:35

Those apps stay open to retrieve sync data, all you can do is use a task killer but its a waste of time. You wouldn't notice any of those in regards to battery and very minimal to data. Your battery leak will be due to something else. If you really want to find out run a ADB Logcat for a while and see if you see something repeating itself.

But if you are persistent in wanting them gone, like i said just use a task killer and set Gmail to sync manually, Same with news and weather.

[Moderator edit (MF): removed the whole quote. It's the first reply, no need to quote the whole thing again, folks]

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Wade

2225 posts

Uber Geek

#652465 8-Jul-2012 10:16

Facebook was always a bit of a battery who're with its notifications, it may have changed now but the way around it was to have your notifications on but frequency to never

Reon

69 posts

Master Geek

#652466 8-Jul-2012 10:34

Another option is to use something like titanium backup and freeze the app and defrost it when you want to use it.

You'll need the pro version to freeze but I think other free apps can do it also.

Forgot to add that you'll need to be rooted for titanium backup.

uglyb0b

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#652467 8-Jul-2012 10:47

CdTDroiD: Those apps stay open to retrieve sync data, all you can do is use a task killer but its a waste of time. You wouldn't notice any of those in regards to battery and very minimal to data. Your battery leak will be due to something else. If you really want to find out run a ADB Logcat for a while and see if you see something repeating itself.

But if you are persistent in wanting them gone, like i said just use a task killer and set Gmail to sync manually, Same with news and weather.

Using a task killer for these apps is pretty pointless. If they are set to start automatically then all a task killer will do is drain the battery as it will be killing the app and then when it restarts it will kill it again. Just an endless loop draining resources.

The best thing to do would be to change the settings on the apps themselves (as per CdTDroiDs last sentence), or uninstall the app entirely (root may be required for uninstalling some apps)

toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#652589 8-Jul-2012 18:26

all the apps you list can change how often they check for updates, just set them to once every 4 or 6 hours and should be all good, or turn sync off like has been mentioned previously

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

CdTDroiD

869 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#652615 8-Jul-2012 19:50

paulmilbank: all the apps you list can change how often they check for updates, just set them to once every 4 or 6 hours and should be all good, or turn sync off like has been mentioned previously

Thats what i meant when i said "Its a waste of time" ;) Android doesn't need task killers. they are useless apps

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eXDee

4032 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#652829 9-Jul-2012 11:25

Disable automatic sync and notifications for them. Or remove the Facebook app and use the identical mobile site if you don't need contact sync.

If rooted BetterBatteryStats is an excellent program . I can't remember it it partially works without root.

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oxnsox

1923 posts

Uber Geek

#652842 9-Jul-2012 11:44

Also battery usage isn't all about apps. The screen on these devices use the most power. You'll probably not notice the difference between brightness at 100% and 90% but the lower setting will make a big change to battery life.
(Also turn off GPS if you're not using it )

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#653089 9-Jul-2012 17:45

The Facebook app is better than it was, but it still eats RAM & CPU. I'd recommend removing it and using Friendcaster instead.

If you install "WheresMyDroidPower" from the market, it might help diagnose what's using the power. As mentioned, the screen is by far the biggest drain.

Also, turn WiFi off if you're not using it, that can use a fair bit of juice.

@KnightNZ