this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2023
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I found https://www.androidauthority.com/maximize-battery-life-882395/ but I don't know if it applies to every device, or if I should charge my asus X00PD differently

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 11 months ago (5 children)

I found this - increases battery life while apps open faster - confirmed via AccuBattery testing for a couple of weeks:

You can force ART compiler's AOT(Ahead Of Time) compiler to force compile all the apps ahead of time instead of JIT(Just In Time) which compile apps on the fly when you open and use different parts of an app.

By default google uses a profile-based method to only compile the most used parts of an app. (You can find more info by reading the source which I've mentioned below)

Remember forcing compilation take some time depending on how many apps you have installed.

Only downside is this takes up little bit more storage space due to compiled .oat files are being larger in size compared to dex files.

For example for me, apps installed without forcing compilation takes about 30GBs of space in total and after compilation it takes about 39GB.

You can use this command to compile all the apps:

adb shell cmd package compile -m speed -f -a

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Oh wow, neat trick!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Does this need root?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Good one, you need root for this?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

No root needed, just ADB. I use shizuku and an ADB app to do it once a week on the phone, takes 30-60mins

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Wait you need to redo it constantly?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Yes - like every other time. With every App or system update these optimizations are "overwritten" by the system again...you don't need to but I'm sure if you do it every 1-4 weeks you'll see a positive impact on speed and battery.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Might be something I do on my older pixel one

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Nifty! Is there an option to selectively compile packages? So I could try it on the apps I use most often? 🤔

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Yes - absolutely - just google the adb command and you should get all the infos you need!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Important thing to add here : Turn off automatic app updates. Otherwise the effect won't last.

Also on a sidenote - when your phone randomly decides to update apps, it can wreck your battery.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago

Charge it whenever you need to, but heat is the battery's biggest enemy. A slow charger is ideal since it generates less heat.

If your phone is plugged most of the time, you can consider setting a charge limit if you don't typically use more than what limit is supported.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago

I bring a booster pack if I'm going to be in a situation where my battery could die.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Not a really good answer: I just stopped caring about it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

This is the best answer, modern Android just gets it right with no intervention.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

I use the accubattery app for setting charge alarm at 80%. My phone also has the option to pause charging at 85%. I don't charge my phone overnight. I simply charge my phone once or twice a day when the battery gets to ~40%-50%.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I have a Pixel 4a. I root with Magisk and run the Advanced Charging Controller (ACC) module to stop charging at 80%. Then for convenience I run the ACCA frontend app in the rare case I want to disable that.

Then like others I run AccuBattery for stats, and uninstall/replace apps that use a disproportionate amount of power.

I try to keep the charge level in the 20-80% ideal range. I should use a slow charger too but honestly I usually can't be bothered to swap it since I tend to use the same charger for multiple devices (a nice one that does a variety of voltage and amperage outputs).

This strategy has gotten me a lot of life out of devices, but at this point with my 4a I still generally leave Android's battery saver mode turned on too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

A note for people wanting to use ACCA (GUI frontend for ACC), ACCA isn't being maintained (the ACC guys will tell you not to use it, but still can). Make sure to install ACC manually first to get the latest version, as the app downloads a version from 2021 if you don't and this can cause issues.
After that, the app works fine for basic use.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

My phone support (and came with) a 33W charger, I tested it and it properly charges at 11V 3A, very quick, I used it 2 or 3 times only in emergency because I had to go and 20 minutes charges to 70% or something.

Else? My phone is on my desk, connected to the computer, it charges slowly (5V 500mA?), when it reaches 80-85% I unplug it.

I WFH so it is never a problem, I keep my phone between 30 and 80% most of the time. After 2 years battery life is still impressive I think.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Something I got used to from Samsung which is really disappointing with the pixel 8 is that you can not set a charge % cap nor disable fast charging

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I have the Accu​Battery Pro app. It allowes you to set a charge limit. I've set mine to 78% and then disconnect the charger.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago

It's not a charge limit. More like a charge alarm. You have to turn off the charger manually when alerted about that.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Some new phones can set charge limit naturally.

Try to keep the soc in a safe range (eg 50%-80%) and avoid fast charging.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

One thing I do is check before buying the phone that battery replacement is not too difficult. Looking on ifixit.com and web search for "battery replacement model XYZ" both find good info about this.

I've given up on looking for phones with swappable batteries (they almost don't exist any more) but a phone where you can do a battery swap with a few simple tools is far better than one where you have to perform delicate microsurgery. Then just accept that batteries are consumables that have to be replaced once in a while.

The fact that we have threads and articles about prolonging battery longevity is a sure sign that the sealed internal battery is a technological failure if the idea is that it should outlast the rest of the phone. The real idea is of course much different.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Sealed internal batteries aren't a technological failure. They're doing precisely what they're designed to do: sell more phones.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Yes, that is the real but unadvertised idea.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

If you wanna look for positives here, replacing the battery had at least gotten way less risky ever since everyone moved to glass phones. They are almost always opend from the back which means you don't have to touch the display - by far the most fragile and expensive part.

Of course user replaceable ones would still be way better, but still.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I thought glass phones were for wireless charging, which I've associated with difficult battery replacement, though maybe that is coincidence. I decided against some older Pixel phones because ifixit rated battery replacement as difficult. My old and new Android phones both have plastic backs. Old phone is fairly easy (undo a lot of tiny little screws, replace battery, replace screws). New one is more difficult (heat edge of phone and pry apart) but I think it is not as bad as some. Will see how it goes when the time comes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think Pixels may be the exception. But I myself have done Xiaomi, Huawei, LG and Samsung battery replacements amd honestly they are pretty easy. However expect to get replacement back glass as well as they break very easily.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Hmm interesting. Did those have wireless charging? That is a cool feature that I'd like to have, other stuff being equal.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

yes and no. It doesn't really matter. Removing the wireless charging coil is really easy.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

I use the slowest charger on all my phones. Slow charging is just me showing my age.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago
  • slow charging
  • wireless charging to reduce wear on the cable port, so it's fresh if I want to sell the phone
  • turn off Bluetooth when not in use
  • charge only overnight with adaptive charging
  • not use it too much, which I don't need or want to
  • reduce screen brightness to be only as bright as I need it to be to be able to see what I need to see
  • keep an eye on applications that are open that drain battery, make sure to close them if not using them

Maybe more, can't think of any at the moment.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Honestly maximizing my phones current daily battery life, so that I don't need to charge it as often.

My previous phone (Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x lasted me 4 years 2018-2022, and the reason I moved off of it, was because it's GPS was wonky and I couldn't use it as satnav, and the Micro USB port was dodgy since I got it and I grew tired of using it. It's battery life is still great and when I do use it as a temp phone, it still is great.

What I did with that phone, was root it, installed Lineage/Arrow OS without Google Play, then installed the bare minimum that is required to get Google Play to work. When I originally did this with my Note 4x the battery life went from barely 1-1.5 days to an easy 2 days depending on my usage. I think it's now at a solid 1.5 days, but it's been sitting in a drawer at 1/2 charge so... meh.

My other trick, is to reduce screen on time. Learned that lesson with an old Blu phone I had. After looking at my battery drain, it's obvious that the less I am on it, responding to messages and looking at emails, the longer it lasts. My solution there was a Pebble Time, so I can look at and respond to arrant notifications and emails. Sadly the Pebble isn't as good as it use to be, since responding to texts is bad, and Rebble isn't as active as it needs to be for me to keep using my Pebble.

My new smart watch is a Garmin Forerunner/Fenix. I had a 235 but it was missing basic watch features, my SO has a 245 which works great for their needs, and I splurged and got a Fenix 6 during a massive discount sale, the watch was over half off. Barely use it for its intended purpose, but for a notification machine that lets me see my emails and messages, all while lasting 2+ weeks, it's nice.

Current phone (Poco X3 Pro) lasts easily 3 days without a charge, and light lemmy doom scrolling or about 8-10 hours of constant screen on time.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Based on your prior posts you are down to get into the nitty gritty stuff. There I can recommend this : https://developer.android.com/topic/performance/power/setup-battery-historian

Its gives you a extremly detailed breakdown with everything related to stuff consuming power on a device. Problem is you have to jump through a few hoops to get this running (like installing docker, adb, ...).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

I don't obsess over it. Charge at 20% remove when full. Phone will last over a day still. It's 4 years old now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

P6P here had it since day one. My battery is not in the best shape, but not terrible either.

I just charge when it's needed and adaptive charging has done a pretty good job of keeping the battery healthy.

Overall though at the end of the day I'm not sure there's too much we as the user have control over.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

I invested in a Chargie device. Works fine. Recommended. It is an automatic charge limiter with some other features.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

I use https://f-droid.org/packages/mattecarra.accapp/ (with a rooted phone) to keep my charge levels within 5%-85% of the manufacturer battery range.

Most manufacturers made a decision to set the range their devices will charge to based on what is less likely to fail so quickly you'll get mad at the manufacturer, but they trade off significant battery life for slightly higher design capacity (or perhaps more likely, they see shorter battery life as a feature not a bug, as long as it doesn't catch fire, since it will mean your phone becomes e-waste faster and you give them more money).

Battery chemistry tells us that avoiding those extremes of high and low charge (shutdown earlier on low charge in the rare event that happens, stop charging at a lower level) drastically increases battery life - it is aligned with my interests, even if not the manufacturers'.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Get a chargie! (Chargie.org). I can't recommend this thing highly enough. It's a small Bluetooth device that sits between your phone and the charger. When your battery hits a set % it will shut off the power.

I've used one since I got my pixel 7 pro. Accurately says the battery health is still 98% after 14 months.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Have never really researched how exactly beneficial it is but I disable fast charging and try to keep charge between 20 - 85%. Read some time ago that is the general rule to prolong life for Lithium batteries.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I need an answer for the iPhone.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Turn background app refresh off for majority of apps unless you want it’s data updated in the background.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Thanks 😊

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago