[ONE Android Development] uudruid74:
Tweaking

Tweaking, Trimming and Theming

Kernel

There is a UKM for jgcaap's kernel which is in the download area. You'll need Synapse from Play store to use it. I don't recommend tweaking the kernel, but if you want the option it is there. Just download the ZIP, flash it in recovery, and you can start tweaking some kernel parameters! Personally, I use 3C Android Tuner (see below) because it can tune more than just the kernel, but you might find something UKM does that 3C doesn't. As as Badger, you can use the init.d script option for restoring settings imposed by kernel tweakers.,

Governor

Your governor controlls when your CPU is at full blast, when it throttles down, and how quickly it changes and by how much. This will affect battery and performance (and "lag") considerably. As of Badger, the default CPU governor is "blu_active". You won't need to ever change to "Performance" mode to squeeze out more power, its runs even more fluid than before, and battery life is as good as ever. There are a couple ways to select the governor. The one I use is 3C (below). The only source of lag is memory. If you run out and Android has to swap stuff out, there will be a noticeable delay. If you rarely get lag, but get it rather severely, I bet its when you have 20 apps open and a million installed with their own background services and content providers! Suddenly the OOM (Out Of Memory) killer attacks and your phone stops for a second or two. I'm testing a possible solution, but everyone's phone is different.

CPU Temp

How hot does your CPU get? If you run Cardboard like me, you might be concerned. If you have to switch to an app to find out, then your CPU will have already cooled by the time you see the temp. This CPUTemp App displays an overlay anywhere you want that will show you your exact temperature. It can also save the data and give you in-depth graphs of CPU speed, load, and temperature. Alternately, you can just use this Xposed module to always show the CPU temperature in your status bar. (WARNING: I've not tested this Xposed module myself).

Xposed

Wildlife already has Xposed installed. If you have heard of requirements that your ROM must be deodexed or odex or and that you will have compatibility issues or slowdown, the current news is that the latest Xposed works on odexed ROMs and jgcaap has personally blessed some modifications to increase speed and compatibility with this ROM, and final result is packed into Wildlife. However, until you install some Xposed modules, it lies dormant. Fire up the Xposed Installer and you can start searching for tools to tweak how your phone looks, how it acts, how it sounds, and tweak some more battery life. Once you install a module, activate it, and then reboot.

Please be aware that not all Xposed modules are compatible with Lollipop and not all modules are created equal. I have heard mixed reports on GravityBox in particular. If for some reason your phone gets horribly confused and won't boot because of some Xposed module you have installed, or if you just hate the idea of having Xposed and want it gone. There is a solution! Flash this Xposed Uninstaller and if you flash this and want Xposed to come back, just Flash Jgcaap's modified v75 Xposed framework.

Ones I use are the 3C Toolbox helper, Clarity (makes your contacts in better definition), No Device Check (privacy), RootCloak (hides root), Smart Network (auto switches between 3G and LTE to conserve battery).

3C ToolBox

If you like tweaking, this toolbox has a little bit of everything. You can view logs, including last kernel boot log (the one that ran before you crashed), open a terminal, set a firewall, change CPU and GPU governors, disable services, remove programs from the start-up list, change network congestion control ... the list goes on and on!

Here is the XDA thread (with download links) for this tweaker's toolbox.

Battery Extensions

The first step to checking battery problems is Wakelock Detector and Better Battery Stats. These tools will tell you where your juice is going. If an app is holding a wakelock, ditch the app or alert the developer. Once you see what is chewing the most battery you can launch an assault on it with these tools:

Xposed Modules - Again, I'm going to defer to an expert source, @V7 's Extreme Battery Life Thread for all the goodies on PowerNap, Greenify, Amplify, and all the others that you've heard about.

Underclocking - I simply do NOT recommend this. Why? Well I checked Better Battery Stats! And my CPU had only been at full speed for 6% of the time. The next speed was under 2Ghz. So, is it worth slowing down your phone by 20% in order to achieve an overall savings of about 1.2% battery? The reason for this is that your system has what's called a governor that predicts how much CPU you need at any given moment and adjusts accordingly. This means you only use max CPU when you need it! If you underclock, then you are slowing down your phone when you need it most. You might even waste more battery because you'll be keeping your screen on longer waiting for your phone to finish!

Undervolting - I don't like this idea either. Basically, the voltage is how much strength it takes to open the transistor gates, like little doors. When your CPU gets busy, the voltage can fluctuate by small amounts, and if you undervolt your CPU, you can occasionally get a gate that doesn't open, and your get a CPU doing really crazy things and some app with crash or your whole system will crash. Generally, higher speeds require higher voltage to keep your CPU stable, and less voltage at lower speeds. Imagine trying to open and shut a door really fast ... you'll need more force than just shutting the door gently.

Can I get 9hrs SOT? - Sure! See the screen shot, but here's the secret. WASTE battery power! If you have a flip-case, remove it. Take your screen timer and set it REALLY high and don't turn off your screen. Let it BURN! This will ensure that your screen is on for a really long time. Cheating? Well, yes and no. The point is that someone who is chatting on their phone over Wifi and rarely touches it, but leave the screen on while doing so will get great SOT. The guy streaming Bluetooth audio all day long and has their phone tethered to use LTE internet with a low signal will waste tons of battery and may not have the screen on at all. The 9hr screen on time was done while doing all the above, plus some web browsing using ....

Ultimate Browser - This browser is said to use less battery than Chrome and others. You can check it out and see for yourself on The Ultimate Browser XDA thread.

Themes

Many people ask about the themes pictured in the screenshots. This is the Deep Darkness Overhauled Theme but with the thinner fonts from Cosmos CM12. Just select which parts of each theme you like before clicking the Update button.

I'm now using an Add-On package for this theme that gives icons that aren't so dark. It has a cool font, too, but I don't know if I like the Cosmos or Deep Darkness Add-On better. I'm also using a compromise between the 400 DPI (real) and 480 DPI (stock) of 440 DPI. This still gives me 5 icons wide on the home screens without throwing off apps that expect stock DPI (much).