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What app is draining my battery

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old_codger

Well-Known Member
First, I THINK this is an app problem. And I've searched here and found MANY posts about battery drain, but none like the question I have.
Samsung Alpha SM-G850A / version 5.0.2
For months, my phone has been draining battery quite fast - 20-25%/hr with the screen off. 50-60%/hr while in use (no video/limited graphics). Charges my battery 4/5 times a day. I've tried apps that identify battery hogs but found none.

Recently I went out of the US for a few days. During those days, battery use improved dramatically - 5%/hr. A battery change lasted almost all day. Returned to the US and battery drain was again abysmal. Only thing I know I changed was I turned off wifi while out of country. FWIW, didn't use internet AT ALL while out of US. I've turned off wifi now that I'm back in the US, but battery drain continues. One last observation. Battery drain in the US varies. Early morning can use 50/60%/hr. Afternoon it's 20-25%/hr.

I have a wifi switch widget on my phone. Turning it off makes no difference. Can't find the widget by scrolling Long-Press/Widgets so I can't delete it. How do I find the battery hog?
 
Firstly, if Internet usage is responsible for the drain then WiFi uses less power than mobile Internet, so unless you turn data off as well I wouldn't expect turning WiFi off to help. Apologies if it is already off, but you didn't say.

If you think it's a specific app one thing you can do is look at the system power settings and see whether they will tell you which app. If you need more detail an app like GSam Battery Monitor can provide more detail on power usage.
 
I suggest doing a Wipe Cache Partition deleting all temporary data and leaving permanent data, settings, and installed apps.

If there is still a problem try running in Safe Mode disabling all apps you added without uninstalling them. If the problem goes away it was caused by an app that you added. Figure out which one.

... Thom
 
Hadron said:
Firstly, if Internet usage is responsible for the drain then WiFi uses less power than mobile Internet, so unless you turn data off as well I wouldn't expect turning WiFi off to help. Apologies if it is already off, but you didn't say.

If you think it's a specific app one thing you can do is look at the system power settings and see whether they will tell you which app. If you need more detail an app like GSam Battery Monitor can provide more detail on power usage.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my bad. Disabled wifi and data. Tried GSam. Battery consumption - Kernel 27.5%, System 26.2%, My Data Manager 8.1. Nothing else above 3.0.
I have no idea if the problem is an app or not - just a guess. Since battery drain changed outside the US, I don't think it's a bad battery or phone. Only thing I know that's left is an app. And since the only change I made was disable WiFi/Data, I concluded it was associated with one of those apps. I have no evidence.
As for Thom, I'll have to search for "Wipe Cache Partition" and how to enable "Safe Mode." I'm guessing again, but it sounds like Cache Partition is a browser (FireFox) setting.
Tangentially, I use a network switch widget that claims to reduce battery drain somehow. Still have the widget on my screen but can't find it in installed apps/widgets to delete it. Could that be a culprit and how do I find it?
 
I would try a Wipe Cache Partition first. If there was still a problem try Safe Mode. If a problem while in Safe Mode then do a Factory Data Reset.

... Thom
 
old_codger said:
As for Thom, I'll have to search for "Wipe Cache Partition" and how to enable "Safe Mode." I'm guessing again, but it sounds like Cache Partition is a browser (FireFox) setting.
Click to expand...

Wipe Cache Partition is invoked through the recoverm menue and Safe Mode is usually invoked with a long press of the Power button when powred on. These methods vary form one device to another.

Try googlinh "samsung galaxy alpha wipe cache partition"

... Thom
 
lvt said:
Personally I would think about a factory reset to Make the phone great again [emoji39]
Click to expand...

IIRC, I've done a factory reset a couple of times - most recently 3-4 years ago. I may do it again, but only if forced to at gunpoint. Takes 3-4 days to reload apps and data, and the inconvenience is unequaled.

With that opinion given, I may be nearing that point. OT, but for months, on reboot, I no longer get the Samsung startup chime. I get 4 telephone rings. Most people I've talked to have recommended factory reset.
 
A Factory Data Reset has a few stages it runs through when it is performed. One of them is a Wipe Cache Partition. This is true for all but one release of Android.

FDR is a very big deal and requires a lot of reimplementation of things you had setup in the past.
WCP is not a big deal and only affects temporary data.

The issue is that over time the Cache Partition can become corrupted and cause all manner of problems. Chief among them is speed degradation.

In older systems a FDR was the only way to correct them and you would hear over and over to do a FDR.

Then WCP was made available in Android as an option.

Every Android user needs to know how to do a WCP and how to enter Safe Mode for their device.

FWIW I do a WCP on my Turbo 2 every Saturday as part of weekly maintenance.

... Thom
 
Go to Playstore D/L GSam. This should fix you question of battery usage.
Then try goggle fix after you see the other apps giving you problems.
 
viperdink said:
Go to Playstore D/L GSam. This should fix you question of battery usage.
Then try goggle fix after you see the other apps giving you problems.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the slow answer but I've been out of town. After some experimentation, here is what I've found.
Phone power on, screen off, phone in pocket, Wifi on, Data off. When I'm out of the house, the phone uses ~4%/hr.
Phone power on, screen off, phone in pocket, Wifi on, Data off. When I'm IN the house, the phone uses 12-15%/hr.
When using wifi in the house, phone uses 25-40%/hr, and that's using EverNote, aCalendar, FireFox (androidforums, amazon, netgear forums).
GSam shows Screen 10%, WiFi active 9%, apps 71% (Kernel 22%, Android System 15%, Firefox 14.5%, nothing else aboe 4%.
I still wonder if this has something to do with a wifi/data switch widget. Still can't find it as "installed" in Google Play or Long-Press-on-Screen>Widgets.
Does this help any?
 
Just a followup. Last night I put my phone on the couch and walked away. Picked up the phone about 1hr 15min later. It was warm. GSam showed a battery temp of 108. In that 75 minutes, the battery used 60% of change - while turned off. This AM, temp is 87 and phone using 5%/hr.
 
You need to check what packages and services are running then disable it. You can try to use this tool "BK Package Disabler Samsung" on Google Play
 
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