Android phones, apps and tablets

I love the fact you don't have to be on the same time as the other person - very clever.

Built-in feature:

in Android 4.

1 Attachment

What's the best app to keep an eye on battery life?

I downloaded an app called Battery widget but It's running all the time so may be counter productive.

I can't find a menu on the S2 to view it in % rather than bars. I know you can do that when rooted but I'd rather not do that for now.

I use WPclock, nice customisable live wallpaper clock, w/ wifi indicators, and battery life percentage amongst other things.

I'm using WP Clock too, although it does use some of your battery everytime you look at any of your screens being a 'live wallpaper'. Every app you use for battery seems to drain it so just choose any one you like the look of really.

And when you get frustrated, root it and flash a more efficient rom. You know you want to.

I know, part of me already wants to root it. My desire had a new lease of life when I rooted it, love to see what the S2 would be like rooted, not just for the battery life.

Biggest uses of battery:
1) Screen being on a lot, or set to be bright

Then there's a big drop off, and all other apps that use battery have this problem:
2) Adverts

Yup... adverts cause significant drain in battery power. 30% of Angry Birds battery power goes to capturing data, transmitting to advert servers, fetching adverts, showing adverts.

Some 20% to 60% of power used by apps is solely down to advertising.

Even the F1 Live Timing app that is £20 (or free if you find it on the internet), includes Flurry advertising code that reports usage stats to a third party and is a significant part of the battery drain.

After that:
3) GPS
4) Background processes

Things you can do:
1) Turn off screen manually as soon as you are not using it
2) Dim screen or set it to autobrightness
3) Opt to pay the less than £1 for premium versions of apps (no adverts and no advert code in most cases)
4) Exit (from the foreground) and maps or location service once you're done
5) No need to care about how many apps you install, but care deeply about anything that will be a background process

Oh, and if you're interested in the F1 Live Timing app, I looked at the one via apkdownloadlinks, and it's free of any virus or malware (I read the code). So I'll vouch for that, but nothing else.

And on Wifi... very low battery use, and if you have it enabled it can find your position (from Wifi network MAC addresses) faster and with less power than GPS if you're in built-up areas.

So it's usually best to keep Wifi enabled. It's drain is negligible but it prevents higher drain from location lookup.

It will be faster, and if you choose a good rom, much smoother than the stock carrier bloated device. Relatively risk free too as you already have experience of the process. I can only imagine what horrors T Mob will add to stock ICS when/if they bother releasing it.

Velocio thanks for that.

With regards to the adverts - on google play there is a option for Google AdMob Ads - choose whether to personalize ads from Google and Admob in mobile apps on this device.

Would unticking that mean you've got generic ad's therefore It's not searching the web for ad's constantly?

One of the biggest advantages to rooting (may already have been covered) is you can get an app to block ads at the IP address level.

http://lifehacker.com/5806135/the-10-best-android-apps-that-make-rooting-your-phone-worth-the-hassle

Velocio thanks for that.

With regards to the adverts - on google play there is a option for Google AdMob Ads - choose whether to personalize ads from Google and Admob in mobile apps on this device.

Would unticking that mean you've got generic ad's therefore It's not searching the web for ad's constantly?

Makes no difference, it's the App developer who determines which ad platform they are using.

As for battery difference between personalised and generic, there is none. But there is a privacy and intrusion difference.

One of the biggest advantages to rooting (may already have been covered) is you can get an app to block ads at the IP address level.

http://lifehacker.com/5806135/the-10-best-android-apps-that-make-rooting-your-phone-worth-the-hassle

Probably one of the best things you could do.

Wouldn't spare all your battery, because the calls would still be tried... but would spare a chunk of your battery as no response would have to be processed.

One of the biggest advantages to rooting (may already have been covered) is you can get an app to block ads at the IP address level.

http://lifehacker.com/5806135/the-10-best-android-apps-that-make-rooting-your-phone-worth-the-hassle

Definitely worth doing. It seems a small thing but it makes a huge difference to the experience.

Does it? Does it actually block ad's? So therefore your free with ad's are actually ad free?

Kind of, for example in WWF when it goes to an ad page after my go, I just get a blank screen. So it takes just as long, and has just as much intrusion, but i don't have anything to read.

can anyone reccommend a portable solar charger for phones and gadgetry?

The solar charger app is getting some 'good' reviews.

Four days early for that, wvm.

^ Spoilsport...

I've got a Solio Classic charger, I've lost the cable that connects to my phone tho'... Which is a bit dumb...

There's a newer, better version out now... The Solio Bolt...

:o id like this.. how much?

Yeah!

I've got a Defy+ running Miui ICS that was working perfectly until last night when I changed the battery (I keep a spare so do this regularly) and after that it won't boot beyond the Moto 'M' and the Miui screen which gets stuck in boot loop.

I've tried pressing vol-down + power, but nothing happens.
Vol-up + power brings up the bootload menu, but I'm not sure how to take it from there.

Any idea what's going on here? Willing to get it back to factory ROM just to have my phone back. Not very good with these things, so if anyone can help me sort this out, there's a few beers in it.

Biggest uses of battery...

My HTC Desire has a battery use indicator, and wifi always comes ahead of anything else in terms of battery usage - at the moment, 26% of all battery usage. And it does seem to last a lot longer if I turn of wifi.

I know rooting works for many people, but the example from ** J08** up there ^^^^^^^^ is exactly why I won't be doing it. Bricking your phone is a strong deterrent, thanks.

To be honest GA2G bricking my phone was never a worry for me I was more worried about losing things that were on the phone.