7 Points to save the smart phone battery : My experience

I use a Samsung Galaxy S4 mini Duos for last 8 months or so . From the initial days itself i found that my battery does not lasts not more than half a day . I tried the various battery saver apps , switched the GPS off , mobile data off and minimal wifi usage . But still no success . I found out that my phone is losing about 4 % charge every hour , even in the sleep hours . That was perplexing . I searched the various forums and discussed my dilemma with the experts , but the tips they gave me was not evoking any response in my phone .  In fact the tips given by them were trivial and i had already applied with no success . Then i got the Kitkat update for my phone . After the updation , the issue seem settled . But after a few days my phone went back to dismal battery life . Even in flight mode, the phone was using more than 35 % battery in 5 hours !!

Then i decided to root the phone. I knew that rooting will make the warranty void. Hell with the warranty . After rooting also , the battery issue was prominent . Then i got the little app called Greenify . What it does is hibernating the apps running in the background . Along with an Xposed module and a donation version of Greenify , we can even hibernate the system apps. You can run Greenify even in non rooted phones , but functionalities are obviously limited , even with a donation version. Well actually if you are very patient , you don't even need this app. All you have to do is to got the task manager and manually stop / force stop each and every app running in the background .
Anyhow , Greenify yielded me a 10-20 % boost in battery life . But i was not satisfied .

 Somebody recommended me an app called WakeLock Detector. As the name suggests , this app will monitor our phone silently and gives us an insight on which apps are waking up the phone . Just the list of apps . No hibernation / fressing is done by WLD . Since i already had this feature partially addressed by Greenify itself , i didn't find it useful . Then i discovered the apps - Deep Sleep Battery saver and the Battery Stats Plus . Deep Sleep Saver puts the device into deep sleep mode as and when the screen is off . You can choose the frequency and duration of sleep using the profiles .

Battery Stats Plus analyses our phone continuously , detects and notify the battery draining apps . Moreover , you can compare your stats with that of other users through cloud service .

Together with these apps , my phone gained noticeable battery life . But there were some issues like my phone was draining more during the night than in the day time. I charged my phone completely in the morning at 9 . By evening 5 , after moderate internet and phone usage , the battery stands 71 % at 5 in the evening . At night 11 , it was 60%  . Next day morning 7 , the stats read 19 % . The battery stats says that installed apps used less than 11 % . Android system , Device Idle, Google Services and System Stand By used more than 70 % together and the rest by display and media server .
I realized that , even though Greenify hibernates system apps , some of the bloat wares that came preloaded are explicitly waking the phone up and that was causing the draining . In the mornings , i sued to click the auto hibernate button every now and then . Whereas in the night the phone is completely depending upon the greenify to auto hibernate those apps , which never happened effectively . This explains the night draining issue .

Then came the ROM Toolbox Lite / Pro  . This app is  a swiss army knife. Multiple apps bundled into an interface .  I used the Appmanager to find which apps are running . I found a dozen bloatwares(samsung services and apps)  and some apps and froze them . It is essentially the same what you can achieve by disabling the apps in the default Android task manager . But this app just simplifies the process . Anothe feature i found helpful is the ability to modify the permissions of the apps . If you feel suspicious about an app/ game asking for your phone contact details / device status etc , you can disable that particular permission without affecting the normal functionality of the app .

So with all these done , my phone is somewhat normal , i guess . It can run a day and a half in single charge with moderate WiFi and game usage . 

So to wrap up the post , here are my tips to save the battery .( includes the cliches) 

1 . Keep the display brightness in minimum . 

Even with auto brightness set , you can reduce it further by moving the slider to minimum position (-5 in Samsung ). Set the display off  time limit to minimum.

2 . Turn Location / GPS off  when not in use . 

By default , the location mode is set to High accuracy , where in the app uses the WiFi , GPS and Mobile network to triangulate your position . This is a huge battery drainer . So either you can turn the location off or  change the accuracy to low . Also keep WiFi and mobile data off , when not in use. 

3. If Power Saver Mode is available , turn it on . 

Not a real saver , in my case . But who knows , give it a try 

4. There is no point in downloading the battery saver apps , unless your device is rooted , because those apps in turn will eat up a portion of your battery life . 

5. Root your device 

Gain control over the bloatwares . 

6. Use these 3 Apps  - Greenify (Donate) , Deep Sleep Battery Saver and ROM Toolbox Pro .

Greenify the apps and enable hibernating system apps . You can safely hibernate almost all apps , but do not hibernate the alarm and clock apps. Use the AppManager and find the running apps and services. Do a google search for any of the service and find whether disabling it will cause any issues . 

7. And finally , you can save further by disabling Google Play Services and Play Store . 

But this will affect some apps that need Play services . Also you couldnot download from Play Store. So not recommended to disable . But you can safely force stop Google Play Services and Playstore , when not in use . Definitely saves a lot . 

Create android apps on mobile without coding

Last week I told you how to create applications for android phones without any coding . Today I am going one step further , telling you how to create your own apps within the mobile itself , without coding of-course .  You can distribute it for free or earn profit from it by selling through google play or appstores .

So what all things i need to start ?

The first thing i need is an app called Tasker.  It is a paid app and can be downloaded from Google Play store . Takser lets you automate tasks in the phone. It turns your smart phone into a super-smart-phone .Build your own reminders or change your wallpaper in regular intervals , Tasker does it seamlessly. You can do simple to complex things in Tasker. Taking photos with gestures, locking the gallery or an app, reading out the text messages , calling out the caller name etc etc . Imagine you building your own anti-theft app ! Yes it is possible in Tasker. You can make stand alone apps , yes *.apk files , using a free plugin Tasker App Factory , which you can download from Play  store.

So how to make an app ? I will show you how to make a simple app , which i named as Flip2 . What Flip2 does is , it will put the phone into silent / sleep mode when you place the phone face down. Please note that your phone need to be rooted for all the features to work. To know how to root your phone , click here.

First create a new project in Tasker . Before that you have to disable the Beginner mode in Preferences

Ok. Gave a name for the project, that will be the name for your app . Here i gave the name Flip2

Now we have to create a new profile for this app. Since we are going to create an app based on the state of the phone , choose State. In the State , choose Sensor . Now all the sensors available will be listed out in black .  Here for my app , i choose Orientation .

         

Once the orientation is selected , now you can choose the conditions . The app will work when the condition is satisfied. So i choose Face Down , so that the app will run when i keep the phone face down.

So you have successfully completed the profile. Now we have to choose the tasks to be carried out once the condition is met . I need my app to put the phone into silent mode , turn the wifi/ bluetooth/ mobile data off . So i choose New Task  and name it as Sleep .ChooseAudio>Silent Mode >On  - This will put the phone into silent mode on face down . Similarly i set the modes for Wifi, bluetooth, mobile data and media control ( eg :stopping the music player ) .Once you are done with the tasks , go back to Profiles

    

Now the phone knows what to do once i keep the phone face down. But we don’t want to keep our phone always down . So we have to assign exit tasks for the phone to revert back to the original settings, once we take our phone from the face-down condition . For this , press an hold the task name (Sleep) till a menu appears as shown above . Choose Add Exit Task. i want my phone out of silent mode and also turn the wifi on , if the battery level is more than 30 % . Also i can set a notification beep and also lock the phone for unauthorized users . I can also make the wifi on or off depending upon the location. But for now i am just reverting back to the original setting . Once you are done with exit task , go back to profile

      

Now your app is ready . Press the Project name till a new menu appears

Click Select Icon . You can choose from the inbuilt icons or download or choose your own ( You have to create an icon and download it to phone) .

Now the app is ready for building . If you are intending to publish the app into play store , you  have to create signatures . For this go to More >Developer Options>Create Certificate  .

Now Choose Export > As an App

Fill out the details about the app . Done . Your app will be created

Now you have successfully created an app. You can run it in your phone and distribute it through Play store .

Do you find this helpful ? Please share this and give your valuable comments .If anyone needed the Flip2 app , please post it in comments or my Facebook page.   Happy to help 

Greenify : A must have app for Android

Last week i told you about the battery problem my phone is encountering . The battery was draining at the rate of 6 % per hour , that too during the night time when i was not using it . The problem was persistent from the very beginning itself. Oh , by the way , did i tell you that my phone is a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini duos . I tried almost all the so called battery saver apps . Some are helpful , but most of them are just craps that further drains my battery . To my dismay , i found the phone a little bit irresponsive when i installed the most downloaded and popular app on the play store . And another app evoked knox , the security app preloaded on galaxy phones , which warns me about a suspicious activity by that app . Most of the battery saver apps gives you a fair idea about the apps that are draining your battery , the condition of battery , time remaining and some gives you the option to force stop the apps running in background . Anyways , i was lost in the battle . But then i came across an app called Greenify . This app will hibernate those apps that are running in the background and there by saves the battery for you. This is nothing new , as you can do this yourself without any app. Just go to settings>application manager>running apps. Select the app , then Force stop. But you have to repeat this for each and every app that is running in the background.
Greenify saves your time and effort in this . With a single touch , most of the apps are hibernated.


 

 I have rooted the phone and hence more options like hibernating the system app is also possible. To know how to root your phone click here.

 Let me tell you , from my experience , most of the apps that were eating my battery away were the stock apps or the system apps like google play magazines , movies , music , search , flipboard ( yes it is a pre loaded app on s4 mini) , location manager etc. I was quite impressed by the free app that i purchased the donation version that gives me the option to hibernate system apps and also enables some experimental features along (xpose installer need to be installed) . 

So on a scale of 10 , i will rate Greenify free 8/10 and Greenify Donation 10/10

Get Greenify from Play Store. Give a try and let me know whether that worked for you or not. 

Happy to help :)  

Rooting android phone

If you haven't heard of rooting , i'll explain it to you in my way . Rooting is essentially unlocking the phone from the restrictions imposed on the hardware and software by the network operator or the manufacturer itself. Every phone that comes into the market are unrooted by default. But by rooting it , we can have more controls and tweaks over the phone. But rooting makes the phone's warranty void. But we have means to unroot the phone. So you don't have to worry much about that.

So why should i root the phone ?

I will give you one good reason to go for rooting. I use a samsung galaxy s4 mini for my personal use. Tell you what , that phone just sucks . I mean i had to charge it every morning and evening to keep it on. The charge was not lasting for not more than 18 hours , with out any wifi , bluetooth or 3g . Reason ? The apps . My phone had some battery hogging apps , some preloaded . I used some battery saver apps , but they are just useless, unless you have the super user authority . For super user access you have to root the phone. Most of the apps that we use very commonly , if given root access can be more fun . Take for an example the app called Greenify. Greenify lets you hibernate the apps that runs in the background and eats your battery. But without root access , Greenify can't work properly . With root access you can remove those useless apps that comes preloaded with the phone.Also if you are a guy who loves customizing your phone , then you must root it . There are huge collections of customized ROMs and themes available for rooted android phones.

Is it safe to root the phone ?

Rooting a phone doesnot harm it , of course the warranty is now void. But i would recommend you to have a back up of your important data . Also please be aware that installing some of the custom ROMs can indeed impair your phone. Please go through the android forums and follow the comments properly before attempting to flash the ROM .

What all things i need to root a phone ?

Rooting a phone doesnot require any additional hardware , all you need is your phone , data cable and the computer .

How can i root my phone ?

Do the following things before you start

• Drivers for your phone need to be downloaded , if not present , into the computer
• Make sure your phone battery is charged atleast 60%
• Download the Odin for your phone from the internet. Just do a google search.
• Download the root file for your phone . Again google it . I would recommend xda forum . You will get almost all the informations there .
• Follow the instructions
• enable USB debugging in your phone. Usually you can find this in settings>developer options>usb debugging

Once every thing is ready , you can start rooting

• Connect the phone to the computer through data cable
• Switch off your mobile phone .
• Press the volume down key , Power key and the center key together till the phone boots
• Now you are in the download mode of the phone , which you can make out from the warning yellow triangle on the screen. Press volume up key to continue
• Now open the odin application on the computer.
• Once the phone is added , click the PDA button on the application . Choose the root file (*.tar) . Click start on the odin
• You will see the progression on the phone screen. Rooting usually takes 30 -50 seconds. Once completed the phone restarts by itself
• After reboot , you should see the superuser / SuperSu app on the apps menu in the phone. Now you can exit the odin in the computer. You phone is now rooted. Enjoy .

How to unroot ?

Not happy with a rooted phone . Don't worry , unrooting is a kids play .

Download the official firmware of your phone from samfirmware website ( samsung only) . Follow the instructions. Locate the files into odin . Flash it into your phone .Restart it . TADA you phone is unrooted .

Know a better way ? Have some suggestions. Please feel free to correct me. All your comments are valuable to me . Happy to Help :)