[T-Mobile Galaxy Note 4 Android Development] iunlock:
My Personal Setup and how I am achieving ~9 Hours of ON SCREEN TIME.

Constantly being updated. There's so much more that I will add...stay tuned...

Disclaimer: This is just my personal set up. Some will agree with the things I do, some won't. That's okay :) It's what makes us unique. Also, I'm not perfect and my set up isn't perfect, but with all that aside what I do know for sure is that I've been able to peak at ~9 Hours of On Screen Time with REAL WORLD USE. Therefore, for what it's worth, cheers to your journey on achieving the best possible battery life you can. I give all credit to Mega and this amazing master piece along with him helping me through this life changing experience. (LOL... well it actually almost is, because now I don't have to keep looking for a "" charger. ROFL) So thanks a million Mega :good: I'm also a data junkie and I love pushing things to the limit so I'm a little off the wall when it comes to this stuff. I also have major OCD (like for real), which means that if the best is available, then I want that and not second best. (Just ask Mega LOL) This is why until now I have tested every ROM available for the Note 4 on (5) different Note 4's that I have around me everyday. Again, I'm OCD in a good way. All in all, I just want to re-emphasize that this is just what I do and it's obviously working even though it's not perfect. :highfive: Yeea, I have my own little theories in my own head in my own world, but that's just me. Whether it's true or not, oh well... I'll come to fixing it overtime to make it closer to perfect as possible. The bottom line = ~9 Hours of ON SCREEN TIME. This just may be the most extensive write up I've done yet LOL. + To those who have PM'ed me asking about this and the ones who've posted asking as well.....here it is fellow FireKat ROM users. Cheers...

In addition to following everything in OP2....

1. Battery Health: I'm a firm believer that although we're past the days of having major memory issues with certain types of batteries, that the health and condition of your battery is still something that deserves attention and not left ignored.

Do I use Fast Charger? - NO. Because when I do charge it's when I sleep anyway so why bother? I just don't like the idea of all that power being forced/rushed into the battery and once full just sitting there at full throttle. Update: Okay so scratch what I've said about Fast Charger. This is what I've learned. If you charge with Fast Charge on, for some reason I get way better On Screen Time. I guess my theory wasn't 100% correct, but here's what I think is happening. I think with Fast Charge on, since it is pushing all that power at that rate, it's almost like full throttling it in your car on the highway where it's cleaning out your engine LOL. There may be a trade off here of getting better On Screen Time to shortened (physical) battery life. Do you get the drift? Your cars engine will be cleaner from running it, but obviously due to simple laws of nature, your engines overall life will shorten. I think the same thing is going on here. That Fast Charge is doing something....so whatever it's doing, I get more On Screen Time with Fast Charger ON. Also, no matter what I'm doing, I never let my battery go below 10%. Why? I don't know, I just don't LOL.

Do I use any charger? - NO. Call me crazy, whatever, but I ONLY use Samsung OEM. Period. I stay away from those cheap made in china piece of rubbish chargers. That goes for car chargers, wall chargers, USB cables etc... The only cord that my N4 ever sees is the one that it came with in the box. I don't use car chargers, because I don't need to LOL. In the event that I did need to use a car charger, I make darn sure that it's of the best quality. I have an OEM Samsung Car Charger (Made in S.Korea & NOT china) AND actually am very impressed with the Amazon car charger that is of high quality that pumps out 2.1Amps on both USB inputs! (I'll be testing this soon with my multimeter...stay tuned...)

Do I ever charge during the day? - NO. For one I haven't had the need to with this ROM.

Do I use an aftermarket battery? - HECKS FREAKIN' NO! I absolutely hate aftermarket batteries and believe me during the Note 2 and 3 days, I've tried them ALL. Yes ALL. (This is my OCD) I've ordered every worthy battery on Amazon that had over 3 stars and even tried all the "over promising," ebay ones for giggles. The reason I don't like aftermarket batteries is due to my multiple weird experiences on several of my devices. One instance in particular was on my Note 2, where it made my screen look really washed out. It was strange....then I had a nightmare of my external SD card un-mounting and mounting. This same exact problem happened on my Note 3. Voltage haunted? I don't know, but it was weird and I simply did not like how it made my screen look. Once I put back my OEM battery in the phone, sure enough everything went back to normal. Being a photographer and a designer, I notice these things immediately. My whole philosophy on batteries is this. Stick with OEM since it's perfect for our phones and don't introduce any possibility of voltage fluctuation by getting a cheap and/or name brand after market batteries. Heck, the ones I've tested that claimed it had a few hundred more mAh were almost equal to my OEM LOL. Not worth it in my opinion. Now some of you may have had awesome experiences with aftermarket batteries. Cheers to you, that's all good. But for me....No Thanks.

[Update 12/28/14: Here's my personal best so far on V5. Simply AMAZING! I'm still in AWE....]

2 Days & 7+ Hours of On Screen Time!!! FIREKAT ROM = #1. Inarguable. Try me....

* Read above on my take on using the Fast Charger.... *

2. Apps/Widgets: I keep my set up super neat as in I only download Apps that I really use. Sometimes (including me) I've downloaded apps in the past where it would never see the light of day again after its first launch. To me that's just dead weight. I like my house neat, tight and clean.

Do I use CPU apps? - No. I don't use SetCPU or CPU Performance Control. Why? I don't know...I just don't because I don't feel that I need to LOL. This phone with this ROM is fast enough for me and

I have yet to play any games that required more power.

Those apps have their purpose, but even with my heavy use....I'm totally content with the power that it provides stock.

Do I use an aftermarket launcher? - No. I was using Nova, which I love, but man I tell ya....I really really really love TouchWiz. On V5 it's pretty much instant. Unreal...

Do I use Wanam/Xpose? - YES! I absolutely love it. I don't have a ton of modules that I use, but the main ones that I do use include, Wanam of course, XPrivacy, YouTube AdAway, AdAway etc.... I stay away from all those little mods where it tweaks this and that....too minor and needless.

Do I use Chat Clients? - YES. They are on all the time 24/7. These are not Greenified.

Do I use Google Apps? - Unfortunately, ONLY Gmail (which I've converted to an user app via TB and Greenified that B#$@! LOL), Google Voice and the Playstore. Everything else Google I've deleted completely as they are not worthy to take up any valuable real estate on my phone than it needs to. I DISLIKE GOOGLE. VERY MUCH.

Widgets? - Yes, I use the stock AccuWeather widget, Calendar, Network Signal Info. where it shows the strength of the signal on both my LTE and WiFi, along with my Bible app. Not a ton, but a few....I personally try to stay away from having a cluster mess of a screen. = Battery Drain.

3. Other Stuff:

Screen Brightness on Auto? - No. I manually adjust my screen brightness. It's set at 100% for about an hour in the morning and 50-75% for the rest of the day.

Do I keep GPS on? - No. I only turn it on when I need to use it.

Do I keep Bluetooth on? - No. I only turn it on when I need to use it.

Sync and Notifications? - I have most of it off, except a few things like email etc...

GMAIL? - I have 10+ accounts synced to my phone. When setting it up, I uncheck everything except "mail." Picasa, Data, etc...all that is left unchecked.

Gestures? - I don't use any gestures as I've found them to be a battery hog.

What kind of background do I use? - I must say, my favorite is the LIVE Aurora background, but recently I've switched it up with something static on the darker side in the box in OP2. I've always used dark backgrounds as it helps with battery life due to the nature of our AMOLED screens. After all, the screen is the main consumer of juice is it not? (HInt: It is haha...)

Do I use Titanium Backup? - Yes and No. Unfortunately, I have purchased the PRO Key back in the day so I've just kept it. However, I DO NOT do any back ups with it and definitely DO NOT restore anything after a clean flash LOL. On occasion, I'd freeze some stuff for trial and error purposes when configuring my set up. Somethings I do keep frozen, but freeze with caution! If you're not sure, ask before you freeze.

Do I use Aftermarket Keyboards? - NO! I love the stock one and feel most secure with it. Plus, it's the FASTEST! Just my personal take.....

Stock Kernel? - YES. YES. YES and YES! WHY WOULD YOU NEED A CUSTOM KERNEL FOR THIS ROM?! REALLY THERE IS NO POINT! THIS ROM IS FAST & EFFICIENT ENOUGH! I JUST DON'T GET IT....Please enlighten me.... (ONLY EXCEPTION in my books are for the fellow Canadian variants....other than that....NONE.)

Tips and Tricks:

For a day or two, try to use a complete black background to see if you get any more On Screen Time.....just for fun....try it. [Update 12/28/14: After all my data collecting, trial and trial and trial, if I had to put a figure on how much a darker theme would benefit your battery life, it'd be....ready?....25-30% conservatively.]

Delete any crap that you don't use, but be careful that these are not system apps. However, things like Google+, Chrome etc....get rid of that crap if you don't use it. The stock browser is the fastest of them all. The truth is the stock browser is amazing and it can back it up!

[Update 12/28/14: I've found a new browser that is super light, less resource intensive,

super light

, fast,

super light

, efficient and based on Firefox's architecture. It's called Pale Moon. Try it...you'll love it....amazing...]

Peacekeeper (higher is better)

stock: 1310

chrome: 900

chrome Samsung support: 957

firefox: 648

Octane JS ( higher is better )

stock: 5712

chrome: 5470

chrome Samsung support: 5306

firefox: 3429

Sunspider JS ( lower is better )

firefox: 1094ms

chrome: 884ms

chrome Samsung support: 834ms

stock: 432ms

Kraken JS

stock: 5348 ms

chrome: 5841 ms

chrome Samsung support: 5466ms

firefox: 11658 ms

SO DELETE CHROME ONCE AND FOR ALL! LOL....BURN IT!

I keep my internal storage clean and freed up as possible. All my Music Syncs, Downloads, Pictures all go to my External SD card.

Well what about the pictures that save to my phone like for burst mode? - I just use File Browser or whatever and MOVE it to my external SD card under its respected folder. [Update 12/28/14: I've found a file manager that IMO is the best amongst them all. The layout, functionality, and productivity is unmatched. You can bounce from one screen to another as it features a split screen for better productivity without having to exit the file manager to complete a simple copy and paste. It's called: Ghost Commander. Let me know what you think....Mega? :fingers-crossed:

What version of the ROM am I currently using and what's my take on V5 vs V7? - [Update 12/28/14: I have 5 Note 4's around me all the time between immediately family and friends. At the moment I have 2 Note 4's on V7 and the rest on V5. As for my phone, I was on V7 for a little while, but I'm now back on V5. If you're a security nut like me, stay on V5. If not, heck...upgrade to V7!]

Battery:

V6 seems to have a slightly slower battery drain rate (On Stand By) as it retains its charge pretty well when on standby. I've averaged ~5.5 hours of On Screen Time on V6 at 50%-75% Brightness, consistently with heavy use. V5, however still holds the crown for my best averages of On Screen Time and Stand By. V6 just feels like there is a little extra going on in the background when in use compared to V5. Kind of hard to explain, but.... it just feels like the engine belt is turning other things as well in the background.

[Update 12/28/14: I'm currently in the mist of gathering data on V7 so hang tight. So far, it seems to be on par with V6. Since my recent discovery on using Fast Charger, this changes a lot of things and may indeed bring about more unforeseen potential of V7's battery life that we haven't seen yet.]

Speed:

Ever so slightly....but, V6 does feel a little snappier overall. Not enough to notice though. Apples to Apples. V5 feels a lot lighter with its overall operation vs V6 though. Man I don't know haha....it's so close.... For example it's as if V5 has more horsepower and a little less torque and V6 has a little less horsepower and a little more torque. Does that make sense?

(This is the best way I could summarize comparing twins that are twins.)

They both feel identical in almost every way. Having been so used to V5, which was my most refined set up yet, V5 was a lot friendlier with all my security stuff. (Which is pretty much irrelevant to 99.9% of FK users) V6 seems a little sticky, but IT'S NOT THE ROM, but merely my set up. I'm thinking of reflashing back to V5 and importing all my settings as it ran flawlessly on V5.

For anyone that uses the phone like a normal person and not like a crazy person like me.....I would recommend to go with V6 as it is a forward progress with the evolution of this ROM. But, for people who use any security "stuff," like a VPN for example, stay on V5 for now. I know a lot of folks use tethering, but I can assure you that WiFi Tether Router works flawlessly on V6 so that's not even an issue worth mentioning.

Either way....can't go wrong....

To be continued....

My personal set up for Security:

As a hyper security/privacy junkie, one of the most thrilling things about this ROM is that Mega took the time to tweak some things to prevent random data mining from communist Google and alike. On top of that I'm connected full time on VPN with AES-256 Data Encryption, SHA-256 Data Authentication, RSA-4096 Handshake through UDP connection along with Internet Kill Switch Enabled. I also only use Firefox with particular add-on's proxied and certain apps all proxied through Tor. (Sometimes I use the stock browser for general stuff.) My main weapon is XPrivacy, which is amazing for you privacy junkies. I have this tweaked to my specs and basically have it to where instead of blocking anything where it could cause the app not to function, it just shoots blanks or random data to the evil data miners. So if you see in one of my screen shots below, it says, "DEFACE." I've included another screen shot where it randomizes the IMEI, Phone Number etc... It's random, but I blocked it out anyway.

I hope this helps some of you get an idea of some things you can do to hopefully increase your battery life. Like I've said, I keep my set up very clean and although I love the live wallpapers, widgets and stuff....I personally have found alternatives that satisfy me just as much without sacrificing anything.

For the first time EVER LOL....Here's screenshots of my set up (on V4) hahaha.....I can already see Mega saying....WHAT! No he didn't haha.....

(((THE RESIZED IMAGES WHEN UPLOADED DOESN'T DO THE SHOTS MUCH JUSTICE....THE BACKGROUNDS ARE STUNNING ON THE PHONE IN REAL LIFE...)))

Notice how I keep things Dark....

This is my current set up on V5 .... I LOVE THE EXTRA ROW! SO MUCH BETTER....

Notice the random Phone Number! Haha! It does the same with the IMEI, Serial etc...

I'm pretty happy and I hope you've enjoyed the post. Cheers.

NOW THANK ME DANG IT! LOL J/K....hit thanks ROFL.

If you don't hear from me it's because She got me.....now I have to explain how I love her more than XDA/Note4 ...wish me luck.

Update 12/28/14: Okay guys....she forgave me but....I'm still not sure if she's convinced LOL.