[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Biofall:
This thread that I've revamped from my Evo 4G/3D days, hoping to share some of the love with newer users. Over the time I've been on android, I've learned a few simple things that can greatly assist in the battery life of our wonderful smartphones.

If you get anything out of the thread, please don't hesitate to rate it and drop me a thanks!

If you read the thread and like the tips, have a new one to suggest, or have a revision, please post it.

On a similar note, moderators, thanks for the sticky! ;)

General Lithium Ion Battery Information

^^This link includes stuff about charging, including trickle charging aka SBC (Why NOT to use it, or at your own peril)

My tips for good battery life:

Tips for Non-Rooted users

1.	Turn off all radios when not in use.

(Bluetooth, wifi, data, 4G/Wimax/LTE, NFC, etc) Use a widget like the default power widgets, Switchpro, or a similar app from the market. Newer android versions generally allows users to access these radios and other settings from the notification pulldown menu, , under the "Quick Settings" tab or a row at the top of the pulldown. The radios of the phone draw power if on even if the user isn't actually utilizing the radio's functions. A radio searching for signal (if you are in a low-signal area) drains more than a radio with good signal, so again, turn 'em off when you aren't using 'em.

To manually turn off radios without a toggle, go to menu>settings>wireless & networks.

Wifi uses less battery than 3G, so use wifi when you can.

Unlike the others, GPS radios only draw power when you actually need them, so you can leave it on all the time.

2. Juice Defender is one of my favorite apps. Basically it controls your data for you to maximize life.

More explanations are on their page, search it on the market for free, or upgrade for more features.

Here are my settings for it: Click me

Note that for me at least, juice defender likes to deny apps data privileges whether you allow them or not, so screen on = data on works best for me.

3. I love live wallpapers, and I’ve always been a fan of pixel zombies, but they are really only good for showing off due to their battery drain.

4. Sadly, the "always on mobile data" setting is gone. This tip is invalid.

Go to menu>settings>wireless & networks>mobile networks>disable always on mobile data.

5. Set your screen timeout to something that fits you.

The screen is the highest drain of battery power on any smartphone. BY setting the timeout, you can prevent your phone from staying on when you don’t manually turn off the screen. Also, manually turn off your screen when you’re done with your phone.

Menu>Settings>Display>Screen Timeout

I use 30 seconds.

6. Task killers used to be the shiz, but no longer.

Here is the ultimate, in depth, graphically assisted, explanation by the famous Fresh ROM's chef, Flipz. Shortly, in light of recent testing, really don’t do anything but force apps that the android OS needed to be open, and thus didn’t close, to re-open. So try not using them, unless for stuff like trying to figure out why your phone isn’t sleeping with system panel. You really won’t notice a performance difference, and the adverse effects you aren’t seeing will stop :P

+=+ A good alternative is the application SystemPanel Pro. It has a free version, but I highly reccomend purchasing the paid app. It basically monitors everything going on with your phone's usage both in real time an in terms of usage history. If your battery is draiging fast, it tells you what app was doing it, how much it was doing it, and allows you to stop it.

7. I'm sure you have all heard around that your phone isn't "sleeping".

This is referring to the phone's "awake" time, hence the name. When you go to Menu>Settings>About Phone>Battery>click on the small battery graphical, you can compare the two lines, time on and awake. Generally, up time refers to the amount of time since the last reboot. The "awake time" is how long the screen has been active. The problem is, a lot of the time, due to the endless possibilities of inconsistencies between apps/ROMs/kernels/phones, the phone will not go to "sleep", drawing power proportionate to the screen being in use when it reality the phone is sitting idle.

If you compare these numbers, and they are the same, or if you note the difference, turn off the screen for a minute, then re-check and they are the same, then your phone is not sleeping.

One solution is to reboot.

I recommend two apps to help monitor:System Panel and Better Battery Stats. These two apps (explained in their FAQ's and descriptions greatly aid in finding those rogues.

Usually, SystemPanel will show an app that has gone "rogue" and is keeping your phone awake.

-This is done by hitting menu>settings>monitoring enabled. Then after some time has passed, ht menu>monitoring>history>change tab to top apps, and see if anything is above, say, 2-4%.

Uninstall applications/reinstalling them slowly, checking after every install to see what is causing it is one tedious but surefire solution.

Lastly,

Follow these steps that I have discovered almost always work.

1. Reboot phone.

2. Instantly upon reboot, as soon as you gain control, open up some type of monitor/taskkiller

3. "kill all" tasks on startup; about 5 times in quick succession should do the trick.

4. Turn off the screen and leave it for about five minutes.

5. Check the up time v. awake time and see if they are the same.

6. If they are, repeat steps 1-5. If they are different, you are good.

8. Apps and Combinations to watch out for!

-Facebook- Tries to sync live feed all the time, HIGHLY recommend unchecking this box, as it creates a massive draw on data

-Skype- This app reportedly (I've seen it myself) likes to sync random data and open up the network for fun. Sign out of app when not in use to fix

A rogue process called "gsiff_daemon", associated with the gyroscope. Changing its name seems to be the only semi-permanent solution. It's located in system/bin.

Lightflow is a pretty damn cool notification/led manager, but it eats up ridiculous system resources using its alarm wakeups. Use at your own risk.

9. Manage your syncing.

This is a big one, and it differs from person to person. Go to Menu>Settings>Accounts and Sync, and take a look at what's going on there. The green or checked or activated box to the right of the option means that there is an account syncing data. I for example have four email addresses, facebook, dropbox, box, weather, etc. That is bad. You should go through and turn off syncing for nasty apps you didn't even know where accessing the internet, or limit the access of apps and services that you do want to allow.

The problem lies in the way this syncing is handled. Each app/service runs on its own schedule, making it particularly likely that your phone could almost always be establishing a data connection and trying to download data for your various apps. See step 2 regarding the app Juice Defender to handle this problem.

10. Vibrate Settings

Vibration and haptic feedback eat up a surprising amount of battery. If you have the haptic feedback enabled, then every time you press anything your phone puts out some juice to make itself dance.

At least on the GSIII, the settings are in menu>settings>sound

Some apps have their own haptic feedback settings, and notifications are their own set entirely.

Root Tips LIVE :)

Tips for Rooted users:

1. Try out custom kernels.

By going to the Galaxy S III Android Development section of the forums, you can see all of the different kernels being developed. These allow for all kinds of modifications like underclocking the CPU and undervolting, both of which save battery. To see how to use them, read the FAQ's in each thread's OPs.

Here is a great guide to custom kernel's by mroneeyedboh.

2. Use SetCPU in compliance with whatever your custom kernel allows.

This site will explain the basics of SetCPU: http://www.setcpu.com/

-Profiles from SetCPU should usually involve these for battery life optimization:

-Screen off at the minimum clock speed for both, with the max raised on level if sluggishness is apparent

-A temperature greater than “X”

-General power related profiles that lower cpu speed at lower battery levels

-Here are my SetCPU profiles: 1 ,	2 ,	3

-My profiles change a lot as time goes by, because different kernel creators recommend different settings. I suggest reading up on whatever kernel you are using to gather settings.

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NOTES:

*Some apps or processes begin to run at startup and keep the phone awake. These apps are not detected by things like spare parts or system panel, unless sometimes represented in the "system" process, in which case its usage will be unusually high.

This shouldn't take more than three repeats, and if it does, you need to factory reset, and slowly add apps back to see what's causing the problem.

___--- When it comes to actually "calibrating" one's battery, there are a couple of methods floating around. The method I first learned is to charge the phone all the way, boot into recovery immediately, and "wipe battery stats". Then reboot quickly, and run your phone all the way to death without charging it, then charge it all the way without interrupting it, and you should be good to go. Do this when changing ROMs/kernels for best results.

----When it comes to people claiming 20 plus hours of moderate/heavy use out of their current setup or other ridiculous absurdities, consider my position: No matter what you do, the Evo battery is the Evo battery. You can tweak it and customize it with kernels, ROMs, and settings, but none of that will turn it into a car battery. The main problem (besides a false sense of pride) that leads to these reports is the misunderstanding of what the usage levels are, so here’s my best summary:

* *Light usage – Phone screen actually on for maybe 0-2 hours. Things like a few texts, some emails, 20 minutes web browsing, etc.

* *Moderate usage – You watched a few youtube videos or similar apps, sustained web browsing, hundreds of texts, some games. Hours range from about 2-5 of screen on

* *Heavy usage – LOTS of video watching and games, 3D pics or video, or some high def gaming/movie watching for at least an hour to an hour and a half in total, with lots of emails and texts, browsing, and other app shenanigans. 5+ hours

*I’m sure everyone doesn’t agree with all these numbers, but this is most likely a good average of what powerusers think. All specific hourage may vary due to differences in phones, batteries, ROMs, and kernels… Which also means that most battery comparisons are pointless; it’s only what you can improve on that counts!

I’ll update this whenever I see good stuff, people remind me, or I remember/come across things I do.

Hope it helps everybody!

Hit the "THANKS" button if I help you!

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