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Spint Hero Battery Issues known fix Fix.. charges faster lasts longer
Visionikz03
Member
This is not windows mobile people! Task killers r of little benefit on linux based os. As mentioned they r prolly doin u more harm than good. I followed the steps exactly to acheive better battery life using Handcent and my phone sleeps while charging as it doesn't need to be awake to receive a charge and awake time is hardly above 45% since i do lots of texting. One thing i read about but dont notice alot of people mentioning is the issue of letting the phone sleep on its own. Even if u implement the sms fix there is yet another issue where the phone wont fall asleep on its own. So u need to go into the settings and disable auto screen timeout. So to start out fresh, wipe ur Hero (reset to factory settings). If u have any unread texts or emails, read them before u reset so the default programs (HTC Messaging etc) will not renotify u when the phone reboots. Once the phone has rebooted completely, before a new text message comes in, quickly go into the stock messaging program click ur menu button, go to settings and uncheck "notifications" and "auto retrieve" Then go to the market and download handcent or chomp whichever u prefer and install as usual. Once installed, go to the dialer/phone screen and scroll down to ur contacts and tap and hold a contact. Several options will come up including one to send contact a text message. When u select send a text message it should pop up a window asking which messaging program u would like to use and a check box at the bottom to remember that selection permanently. Check the "remember" box first then select whichever sms program u downloaded from the market. Power off and back on. Now u should never have a reason to open the stock messaging app ever again. Just incase, go ahead and remove the shortcuts in ur menu so u dont' accidentally click it. Now if this alone doesn't improve ur battery life dont' give up quite yet. Fix the auto screen time out i mentioned earlier. Go into settings and click "sounds and display" scroll down to "screen timeout" and set it to never time out. Basically u will have to maually press the end key to put the phone into sleep which in a way is better cuz that 30 seconds it spends waiting to go to sleep is precious battery juice that could be utilized otherwise. Now turn power off and back on one more time and voila! Also make sure u have let ur battery run down to near empty several times so that it gets acustomed to running thru most of its available capacity rather than only reaching half way and getting recharged. FYI i don't use any task killers or battery monitors and i get an average of a day and a half battery life which considering all this phone can do it pretty good. Also if u don't rely on gps then i recommend turning off network location, my location, always on mobile network etc. They r all battery guzzlers. Turn off all auto updates than u dont mind maually updating urself. And as stated by other users, if after this it still doesn't improve then u have a defective phone and should promptly return for an exchange.
ItsDon
Member
Agree that there is a problem here but I don't agree with this solution. Turning off the screen timeout will leave the screen on while you are on a call (killing the battery and burning your face).
Besides the Handcent change I'm in the habit of always forcing my phone to sleep. Just before I put it down I hit the red (hangup) button, easy. Oh, I'm also in the habit of using the "back" button whenever I am done with an application instead of the "home" screen button.
My phone sleeps fine and battery last a good long time (no task killers).
ToxicToastKatz
Android Enthusiast
I also don't, and won't, use a Task Killer, knowing a little how Android (linux) handles memory, it's not necessary.
I also used to exit out of programs by hitting the "back" button. The problem with this is, it takes awhile to open certain applications back up since they are not running in the background. I have been just using the "home" button for the last 3 or 4 days and have experienced no decline in performance. The only thing I've noticed is quicker startup times for applications that had previously been used.
The biggest thing people need to realize is that the OS will, in fact, manage memory on its own. With all of the task killers and people freaking out that something is running, i believe, is doing more harm than good.
When I performed a factory reset last Wednesday and made the necessary changes to my SMS configuration and properly installed Handcent, my awake time thankfully dropped below 100% for the first time since I had the phone. However, by Friday I noticed that it was back to normal, guzzling up 100% awake time constantly.
I tried a few different fixes like taking out the battery for a couple minutes when I power the phone off, but it still never drops below 100% awake time. I checked SpareParts and the only things taking up Partial Wake Usage are Home, Android, etc...
I know that I could probably just do another factory reset to fix this, but it will probably come back again, as many users have reported. This is a horrible phone if I'm forced to factory reset it every week just to have a decent battery life. Are there any other ideas on how to fix this, and is this even something that Sprint can fix with a patch?
I tried a few different fixes like taking out the battery for a couple minutes when I power the phone off, but it still never drops below 100% awake time. I checked SpareParts and the only things taking up Partial Wake Usage are Home, Android, etc...
I know that I could probably just do another factory reset to fix this, but it will probably come back again, as many users have reported. This is a horrible phone if I'm forced to factory reset it every week just to have a decent battery life. Are there any other ideas on how to fix this, and is this even something that Sprint can fix with a patch?
maddmatt02
Member
Im fine with the idea of not using one, but please explain to me how it works. I did a factory reset and tried to go a day without installing a task manager of any kind, and the phone just kept getting slower and slower.
if I understand, you are saying that when you press home, it leaves the program running in the background, but if you press back to go to the home screen it will close the program and not let it run in the background. I dont think I always do it the same way anyways, but maybe ill try a factory reset again and try to remember and always hit back instead of home and try again.
but with people saying you dont need to use one, Im curious why my phone ran better with taskpanelx and runs better now with auto task killer than it ever has on its own.
ToxicToastKatz
Android Enthusiast
Android is a Linux based operating system. I don't take credit for finding this link (it was posted in another thread....but I'm tied up at work to reference it...sorry to whoever posted it first
), but this will help explain very briefly how Linux manages memory:The Linux Newbie: "Linux Uses Too Much Memory!" A (very) Basic Linux Memory Guide
Visionikz03
Member
maddmatt02
Member
Android is a Linux based operating system. I don't take credit for finding this link (it was posted in another thread....but I'm tied up at work to reference it...sorry to whoever posted it first
The Linux Newbie: "Linux Uses Too Much Memory!" A (very) Basic Linux Memory Guide
alright, I read it, and it makes sense, but the point where it "kicks out" some old stuff to make room for a new app, isnt "fast as lightning" on the phone like it is in that guys computer.
I guess Ill try it again and try harder to deal with things opening a little slower, and see if it nevers gets REAL bad, only problems with the task managers is ive noticed that over time, the available memory gets less and less until you reboot the phone.
D
darthrsg
Guest
I made it all day yesterday, unplugged from charger at 7am, used the auto task killer. At like 10pm I got the battery is 15% warning. I can deal with that type of performance.
So today, I removed the task killer and the phone from charger at 7am. I really want this to work. The Hero kicked mucho arse yesterday at work, several ten minute phone calls, 3 or 4 youtube vids, 4 app installs, email was a light day for me. Really smooth operation and the iSheep are hiding their envy. Who knew adding your own ringtone was such a big deal!
So today, I removed the task killer and the phone from charger at 7am. I really want this to work. The Hero kicked mucho arse yesterday at work, several ten minute phone calls, 3 or 4 youtube vids, 4 app installs, email was a light day for me. Really smooth operation and the iSheep are hiding their envy. Who knew adding your own ringtone was such a big deal!
LTZguy
Well-Known Member
man i'm gonna be honest with you, if you just delete task killer, it wont make a difference. It didnt for me, my battery was actually worse after deleting. So i had to do a factory restore...i guess when i deleted it, i think it was still there. btw, last night at about 10pm, my battery was at 43% with a decent amount of usage yesterday.
maddmatt02
Member
yesterday, tried just the auto task killer and stock messaging app because I read it would work with auto killer. but yesterday, I rebooted the phone at about 6:45 maybe, probably 1.5-3 hours later used the messaging app and when I looked at the phone, it was about 77% awake time, but it shouldnt have been, so if anyone thinks the auto killer still lets you use the stock messaging app, it doesnt. battery still made it from 9am to midnight though just fine.
D
darthrsg
Guest
So this morning, I uninstalled the auto task manager, unplugged at 7am. It's now at 5 ish, and I have more than half, but I did have less activity to day. Only about 6 texts, standard amount of email, for me anyways. if this keeps up, I may think the battery issues are phantoms
So this morning, I uninstalled the auto task manager, unplugged at 7am. It's now at 5 ish, and I have more than half, but I did have less activity to day. Only about 6 texts, standard amount of email, for me anyways. if this keeps up, I may think the battery issues are phantoms
Haha funny you say the phantom thing. I actually think with my phone that when I first got it, I was using it as much as I could the first few days and was just like, "Man this battery sucks." Now that the newness factory has worn off and I'm not trying out every feature and app that I can get my hands on, I'm like, "Oh, this battery isn't so bad after all."
D
darthrsg
Guest
Today is looking like a repeat, unplugged at 7am and going strong, no task killer. Did a lot of demo today, folks dig the Hero.
intogadget
Lurker
most of the things we are doing are to patch a situation that should not be present in a top of the line handset. I believe HTC and sprint rushed the device a little so that sprint can brag that they were the second provider to bring android to the US, also to get early adoptors who would have went to Verizon otherwise. Ill be interested to see if any of the people with verizons version of the hero (Droid Eris) are having the same issues we are having. Bottom line is, we will be waiting until december for any type of rollout, I strongly suggest that owners take their phone in to sprint with documentation of the issues and demand they give you a credit to buy a higher capacity battery for the hero or to provide you with one for free, if enough customers do this we should see them speed up the rollout of the updates.
nick325i
Android Enthusiast
I have had several SmartPhones. From Palm to Windows mobile 6.1 and 6.5
After changing my messaging app to handcent and applying a few other tweaks for battery like:
turn off push pull e-mail and set to 15 minutes.
turn off cellular positioning and gps (added gps toggle switch to hero home screen for use with google maps or other geo apps)
set screen to turn off after 30 seconds no use
turn off keyboard touch vibrate (types faster too)
My battery will last over 24 hours and no charge with average usage, surfing,texts,calls and games.
I have the Hero with no "With google" on the back cover.
Our phones are not broken, crappy or rushed.
Hardware and software have glitches even if it is written by HTC or Google.
Android is the greatest thing thats happened to the phone market since phones started coming without bags attached.
-Nic
After changing my messaging app to handcent and applying a few other tweaks for battery like:
turn off push pull e-mail and set to 15 minutes.
turn off cellular positioning and gps (added gps toggle switch to hero home screen for use with google maps or other geo apps)
set screen to turn off after 30 seconds no use
turn off keyboard touch vibrate (types faster too)
My battery will last over 24 hours and no charge with average usage, surfing,texts,calls and games.
I have the Hero with no "With google" on the back cover.
Our phones are not broken, crappy or rushed.
Hardware and software have glitches even if it is written by HTC or Google.
Android is the greatest thing thats happened to the phone market since phones started coming without bags attached.
-Nic
ItsDon
Member
Completely agree with you. I've done exactly what you have (have a "with Google" phone) except for the GPS. I left that on all the time as several Apps I have (Where etc.) use it. I know if I switched that on/off when needed I'd get even better life but for now I'm pleased with it. I also switched off the "location" feature as GPS does just fine in telling the phone (and apps) where I am.
The beauty of a smart phone is that it does a LOT of stuff, all of which will chew on the battery if left on, just turn them off for goodness sakes and only use them when needed. If you want everything on all the time it doesn't come without a price.
Mrniceguy
Well-Known Member
Just a lil tip i figured id pass on
Stratup auditor (Market) is a tight little app that will let you customize what starts on startup
seems to say me some ram/batt drain
Its a buck but well worth it
DO NOT DISABLE IM with it or maRKET /GMAIL/GOOGLE TALK WILL NOT WORK
Stratup auditor (Market) is a tight little app that will let you customize what starts on startup
seems to say me some ram/batt drain
Its a buck but well worth it
DO NOT DISABLE IM with it or maRKET /GMAIL/GOOGLE TALK WILL NOT WORK
Mrniceguy
Well-Known Member
I for one am tired of the fix working a few days and then going back to 100% awake time problem. I'm gonna uninstall handcent and go back to the stock app. I'm keeping my charger for emergencies and waiting on the fix. I'm tired of the factory resets! Hope it comes soon but if not, I'll live with it til it does.