Help What does 'Awake' mean?

[VincentAnoid]

On the battery status graph there is; Mobile Network Signal, Wi-Fi, Awake, Screen ON, and Charging.

Awake does not correlate with the Screen ON time, so what is the phone actually doing when it's 'Awake'? Because I thought it was when just the screen was on before :/

 

[El Presidente]

It's when the phones chip is active or doing something. It normally correlates with screen on time because it's normally working whilst the screen is on.

It could be an app that's syncing, receiving emails etc. If there's a huge difference between screen on time and awake, it could point to a misbehaving app running in the background.

 

[Tim K]

Its usually some type of background process. It could be anything from streaming music, GPS location services, app syncing, updates, to a weak cell signal making the phone search for a better connection.

There are a couple of apps that can help you determine what is keeping your phone awake. GSam Battery monitor and Better Battery Stats. You can also get some idea from the stock battery graphs. Ideally, awake time should correspond to screen on time as much as possible. If there are huge swaths of time where the processor is awake and the screen is off, then something is running in the background and probably eating battery and/or data. That's not to say its always a bad thing. If you are streaming music for example, you'd see a lot of awake time with the screen off. If your phone is supposedly idle and you see an hour of awake time then it may be a rogue app or a 'stuck sync process'.

 

[VincentAnoid]

Thanks for the help guys. I understand what it is now. Seems to just be my auto-sync set to on.

On another note, do any of you guys receive emails pushed through from the stock gmail app? I have to manually refresh despite having auto-sync on and the inbox folder to sync on (with notification). I've read a few reviews on the Google Play Store with people having difficulty getting pushed emails too

 

[Tim K]

No, I've never had a problem with gmail. In fact, if I have the browser version open on my PC I still get notifications on my phone a second or two sooner than the browser.

Make sure you are only syncing services that you actually NEED. Things like Facebook and Google+ are known sync hogs and will chew through your battery rapidly. Another known hog is photo sync (instant upload). To maximize battery life, I only sync gmail, browser, calendar and contacts and have my pop mail from work checked at 30 minute intervals. Anything else can wait until I open the app to update....I don't need to know every time one of my idiot friends posts something on twitter.

 

[VincentAnoid]

Hmm I'm the same though. I only have like 4 services that I have on sync. I do have the Instant Upload ticked though, but in the Google+ app I have instant upload to only work when a charger is connected, so it really shouldn't be doing anything. My 4 synced apps are: Google Photos, Instant Upload, Gmail, Google Music. I don't think thats very sync intensive, the emails don't come at all I've checked the Google Play Store that I have the latest version also.