Apps turning off sleep mode

Magik_Missles · #1 (**permalink**) 01-07-2010, 06:33 PM

I just got my Droid yesterday (YAY!) and I was looking through the market and noticed alot of apps that disable sleep mode. The compass is one of them. What do you all think about that? I would think it would kill the battery even more so than normal. I'm at 30% remaining after about 6.5 hours of off and on use on my day off. That is a little short, but with as much as I have been messing with it today, it almost understandable. Let me know what you guys have to say about the apps that disable/augment sleep mode.

THANKS!

Magik_Missles · #2 (**permalink**) 01-19-2010, 05:50 PM

Nada? I haven't noticed any difference in battery life after installing some of the apps that claim to "prevent sleep mode". Also, it is a little disconcerting to see apps like a bubble level want access to the GPS or full network access....what's that all about? Makes me feel like there is something hidden in the program that is doing something behind my back.

tvandyck7 · #3 (**permalink**) 01-19-2010, 05:55 PM

The screen will be what will cause the battery drain. The app running probably won't cause but a very small amount. The screen (backlight) is one of the main contributers to battery drain.

gardobus · #4 (**permalink**) 01-19-2010, 05:57 PM

A lot of the ones with internet access are for ads (same with gps, some ads are location based).

By sleep mode do you mean the screen timing out and turning off? If so there is an app called Screen On that will keep the screen/phone on/awake whenever certain apps are open.

nerdherd · #5 (**permalink**) 01-19-2010, 06:02 PM

Yea, I don't like when a simple app requires all kinds of permissions for stuff that I don't think it should need either. As far as disabling sleep mode, it shouldn't affect the battery life. I mean, if you're using the app it's going to use up the battery the same whether or not sleep mode is disabled.

crankerchick · #6 (**permalink**) 01-20-2010, 01:39 PM

Programs that keep your phone awake when you aren't using it will affect your battery life. Not sure why you all think they wouldn't. If you are done with the program, sit your phone down and the backlight turns off, your phone will want to go to sleep and if an app doesn't let it, your battery will suffer. Just ask the folks that have Droid Eris, waiting for an update because their phones won't sleep.

Test it out with Spare Parts. It has a screen that lets you see partial wake usage. You can see the apps that wake your phone from sleeping, say to go and get a weather update every hour. You can see how many minutes the app kept your phone from sleeping. If you have a program that keeps your phone from sleeping for a considerable amount of time, your battery indeed will suffer, it's simple power electronics.

Just over the weekend, my battery dropped 20% in 4 hours with it just in my pocket, i wasn't even playing on it. When not being used actively by me, my phone can easily go 8 hours and lose 10%. I checked my partial wake usage and saw that my corporate email had 46 minutes of partial wake usage, so 46 minutes out of 4 hours where it kept my phone from sleeping and had it doing something. WHen I saw this, I immediately remember that my corporate mail server was down for the whole weekend. My phone was being woke up from sleep trying reconnect to the exchange server. I disabled syncing for the acct and my phone was able to sleep again and my battery life was normal.

I ahve seen apps that truely keep the phone from sleeping and apps that keep it from turning off the screen while you are using them. There is a difference, might be worth checking.

Magik_Missles · #7 (**permalink**) 01-20-2010, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crankerchick

...I ahve seen apps that truely keep the phone from sleeping and apps that keep it from turning off the screen while you are using them. There is a difference, might be worth checking.

I agree with this. I haven't seen much of a battery drain on the supposed "disable sleep mode" culprits. I also have made it an extreme habbit of running Advanced Task Killer almost every time I get done playing around with anything. A little exessive? Maybe. I will look into the app you reccommend for wake time usage. I would love to remove some of the apps that came preloaded that keep popping up in ATK like corporate calendar and corporate mail. I have no exchange accounts to sync, so I really have no use for it.

nerdherd · #8 (**permalink**) 01-21-2010, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Programs that keep your phone awake when you aren't using it will affect your battery life. Not sure why you all think they wouldn't.

Ok, I was oversimplifying here, what I meant to say was basically that adding more apps that do more updates, etc will reduce your battery life, but just because it says "Disables Sleep Mode" doesn't mean that you should be worried about the app draining your battery life like crazy.

nerdherd · #9 (**permalink**) 01-21-2010, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magik_Missles

I would love to remove some of the apps that came preloaded that keep popping up in ATK like corporate calendar and corporate mail. I have no exchange accounts to sync, so I really have no use for it.

You can remove them if you root. The ROM mentioned here: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=106818 gives you the option to remove those things when you're installing it (pretty handy if you ask me).

crankerchick · #10 (**permalink**) 01-22-2010, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Ok, I was oversimplifying here, what I meant to say was basically that adding more apps that do more updates, etc will reduce your battery life, but just because it says "Disables Sleep Mode" doesn't mean that you should be worried about the app draining your battery life like crazy.

Yeah I agree. Especially since they aren't truly, "disabling sleep" as in never letting your phone sleep, they are just apps that have the ability to wake your phone from sleep to refresh if you want it to. Or at least, that should be the case with a properly written app. "Disabling sleep" may not be the best way for it to be worded.

That is why Spart Parts or a similar app that allows you to see your partial wake usage is key. Apps waking your phone up every hour to spend 1 or 2 seconds refreshing aren't going to noticeably affect battery life (unless maybe have a ton of them!), but a poorly written (or broken) app keeping your phone from sleeping for an extended period of time definitely will.

One day I noticed weatherbug elite dominating the partial wake usage. I'm not sure what happened with it, but in like 6 hours time it had accounted for like 2 hours of partial wake usage. I just rebooted the phone, and I haven't seen it do that since.