New to Android, any tips?

[coder_t2]

Hey guys, I just picked up the Thunderbolt yesterday and didn't know if anyone had any tips to someone who is new to the Android OS. At first I was told to get an App Killer to keep all my apps in check so they don't kill my battery. But many other people told me you don't need it and it could do more harm than good, so I removed it.

I keep wifi and GPS off, but leave on Google Location Services. I've been playing around with different apps and just trying to familiarize myself with it and what it can do. I went through all the Settings to see what I can adjust as well, but everything seemed fine on default. I lowered the brightness a little to try and save some battery power. Thanks.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Unfortunately the ThunderBolt has issues with battery life.

The ultimate solution is an extended battery from Verizon.

BTW, welcome, I bought one this week as well. Do you live in an area with 4G?

Here's a link to one of the best resources on the net. http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=940

 

[rcpratt]

If you have WiFi available, you should definitely use it. Draws far less battery than LTE. Otherwise, turn it off.

 

[coder_t2]

If you have WiFi available, you should definitely use it. Draws far less battery than LTE. Otherwise, turn it off.

Well this is my question, I have WiFi in my house, which is pretty much the only time I would use WiFi, for the most part. If I turn on WiFi and leave my house, will the WiFi hurt my battery life as it searches for networks? That was my only thinking that WiFi might be better turned off.

 

[vshah]

also, buy a spare usb cable for use at work. keep it charged when you're at your desk and you shouldn't have too many issues w/ battery life.

and yeah, turn off wifi when you leave your house.

 

[coder_t2]

Unfortunately the ThunderBolt has issues with battery life.

The ultimate solution is an extended battery from Verizon.

BTW, welcome, I bought one this week as well. Do you live in an area with 4G?

Here's a link to one of the best resources on the net. http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=940

Yea I know. I almost didn't get the phone because I was concerned about the battery life, but I also really wanted a 4G phone . I do live in an area with 4G. It super fast, about as fast as my cable internet. I think my longest download was Angry Birds at around 16MB, took about 10 seconds or so. When I first got it, some of the smaller Apps downloaded so fast, I wasn't even sure they were downloaded.

I'm hoping maybe some custom ROMs will also come out with good ways to manage the battery, but I plan on getting the extended battery once you can find cheaper OEM ones on ebay. Hmm, I wonder if you need a new backplate and case for the extended battery.

 

[rcpratt]

Well this is my question, I have WiFi in my house, which is pretty much the only time I would use WiFi, for the most part. If I turn on WiFi and leave my house, will the WiFi hurt my battery life as it searches for networks? That was my only thinking that WiFi might be better turned off.

You'll probably be better off keeping WiFi on all the time than using LTE all the time, but it depends on how much each of WiFi and LTE time you use.

There's an easy widget that lets you turn WiFi off with one click, though...one screen left of the homescreen. Usually I'm too lazy to use it.

 

[coder_t2]

also, buy a spare usb cable for use at work. keep it charged when you're at your desk and you shouldn't have too many issues w/ battery life.

and yeah, turn off wifi when you leave your house.

Yea, it seems kind of annoying to have to turn on and off wifi though, unless I am using it a lot in my house that is. But I'll keep that in mind, because I am sure 4G eats up a decent amount of more battery.

 

[notposting]

Check what's set to sync automatically? I guess it will be polling for news, stocks, data etc all the time. I leave wifi and GPS running on my Droid but set the intervals for data checks to at least half an hour. JuiceDefender works well for me, not sure if it will with the 4G for you but could be worth a shot.

 

[vshah]

you can use apps like tasker or automateit to automatically enable wifi at the times when you are usually at home.

 

[Fingolfin269]

also, buy a spare usb cable for use at work. keep it charged when you're at your desk and you shouldn't have too many issues w/ battery life.

This is actually quite sad... but true. If I don't plug in my EVO at work I know it's not making it through the day.

 

[ChronoReverse]

If your wifi signal isn't strong don't keep it on. I know that constant searching for wifi drains the battery on my G2.

I normally can get through a day of use down to 60-70% but if I have low signal or if it's searching for wifi the entire time, it could drain almost all the battery.

 

[smartpatrol]

If your wifi signal isn't strong don't keep it on. I know that constant searching for wifi drains the battery on my G2.

I normally can get through a day of use down to 60-70% but if I have low signal or if it's searching for wifi the entire time, it could drain almost all the battery.

Similarly, I had an Evo 4G, and it seemed like the what killed the battery most was when it was constantly switching from 3G to 4G and back.

Unfortunately, since Clear's wimax signal is so spotty, this happened almost constantly. You had to know the "sweet spots" at home/work.

I'm hoping that LTE turns out to be more reliable and consistent!

 

[bucwylde23]

Definitely go through apps and disable/decrease frequency if you don't want them to auto refresh.

 

[zerocool84]

Similarly, I had an Evo 4G, and it seemed like the what killed the battery most was when it was constantly switching from 3G to 4G and back.

Unfortunately, since Clear's wimax signal is so spotty, this happened almost constantly. You had to know the "sweet spots" at home/work.

I'm hoping that LTE turns out to be more reliable and consistent!

Right now it doesn't look like it. All of Sprint's WiMAX "4G" phones don't get good battery life and this is Verizon's first LTE "4G" phone and doesn't get good battery life either. Like you said, it's probably due to the searching for a 4G signal all the time. Hopefully the more it gets built out, the less need to search for a 4G signal.

 

[mammador]

I have Eclair on my phone, and the battery life is reasonable (about 8 hours on my handset).

I think general Android use doesn't kill battery power, more often than not it's just a shitty battery in itself.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I found that with the ping times, that 4G on the EVO only really made a difference when downloading, I just keep it turned off, although 4G is pretty decent when tethering except for the whole ping time thing

 

[Mopetar]

Look into putting a custom ROM on it as soon as one becomes available. I'd get CyanogenMod as soon as they get it ported to the Thunderbolt. It's honestly nicer than Sense in my opinion and it'll get rid of all the crapware that you can't uninstall.

I just checked the forums and it seems like someone is already working on porting it. Not sure how long it will take, but considering the phone is essentially an updated Evo should help things go a little quicker.

 

[AnyMal]

Don't bother with task killers on Android, they usually kill your battery instead.
Don't use live wallpapers.
Minimize the number of widgets running only to those you consider essential. Look at their refresh intervals.
Go into Settings > Accounts. HTC enables stocks, news, weather accounts for Sense by default. Disable them unless you absolutely need them.
Leave Wi-Fi on so it'll connect automatically to known networks.
Thunderbolt has been rooted, but no custom ROM's as of yet. According to people at xda-dev's it's locked pretty tightly. Head on over to xda-developers and read the forums. Lot's of helpful people out there

 

[thescreensavers]

Don't bother with task killers on Android, they usually kill your battery instead.

this, I came in here specifically to say this.

 

[s44]

Well this is my question, I have WiFi in my house, which is pretty much the only time I would use WiFi, for the most part. If I turn on WiFi and leave my house, will the WiFi hurt my battery life as it searches for networks? That was my only thinking that WiFi might be better turned off.

Turn it off when you leave, and turn it back on when you get home. There are a couple of apps that can do this automatically.

Get a spare battery.

 

[coder_t2]

Ok, all good info. Thanks guys. I have started going to xda forums to get more info. What's a good app that knows whether to turn on my wifi or turn it off. Actually here is a second question, if I am not using the internet, just texting, does it make a difference if wifi is on or off?

 

[s44]

It's just a matter of power efficiency: if wifi is on, it will keep scanning for a recognized network even when you're not using data over it, which is a waste when you have nothing you're connecting to (though this also helps Google determine your location without GPS). But if wifi is on and connected, the phone won't bother establishing a 3G/4G data connection, which itself saves power.