The battery remains one of the weak points of smartphones that, although they are increasingly better and have higher capacity batteries, the autonomy of smartphones does not improve, and a smartphone can only be used for a full day. However, BetterBatteryStats It is an application that will allow us optimize battery so that we can get the most out of it.
And in many cases it is not just about smartphones having little autonomy, but with the passage of time, after having installed many applications, our smartphone is consuming more battery than before, and sometimes it is because of background apps that we no longer use, or that we installed to test but have never gotten around to using. BetterBatteryStats is an application that will allow us to know a large series of data and statistics on the battery, thanks to which we can optimize the battery and achieve greater autonomy.
For example, it gives us the data of the applications that use the most battery, and the percentage of battery these apps consume. This could be useful for locating apps that consume a lot of power and that we aren't using. Uninstall these apps, as explained in one of the articles of our special series 20 tricks for Android that maybe you did not know, it will save battery.
However, BetterBatteryStats It also allows us to know data about the percentage of time that the screen has been on, or the time the smartphone or tablet has been in standbyThis way, we might realize that perhaps what's happening is that the smartphone screen stays on for too long, and we can fix it by changing the time it takes for the screen to turn off after we stop using the smartphone.
BetterBatteryStats is a payment application It's available on Google Play and can be purchased for two euros. However, it includes a large number of features, and some of them can only be used with a smartphone or tablet. rooted.
Google Play – BetterBatteryStats
Installation and permissions without root (ADB)
Although many advanced features benefit from the root access, BBS works without root by granting it permissions by ADB. Key steps: activate the USB debugging, connect the mobile to the PC, run adb devices and accept the notification on your phone. Then, grant permissions:
adb -d shell pm grant com.asksven.betterbatterystats_xdaedition android.permission.BATTERY_STATS
adb -d shell pm grant com.asksven.betterbatterystats_xdaedition android.permission.DUMP
adb -d shell pm grant com.asksven.betterbatterystats_xdaedition android.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATSWith these permissions, the app detects wakelocks, CPU states and network usage for diagnose abnormal consumptionRestarting your device may help consolidate the changes.
How to interpret BetterBatteryStats: states, menus, and wakelocks
- Main states: deep sleep (ideal, minimum consumption), Awake (I wake up with the screen off), Screen on, Wi‑Fi on y Wi‑Fi running, No data connection, No or Unknown signal, and distribution of gloss.
- First drop-down: Partial wakelocks (apps that prevent deep sleep), Kernel wakelocks (of the system), Alarms (scheduled events; requires root), Network (traffic by app), CPU States (frequencies and times) and (processes and CPU).
- Second drop-down: statistics since Boat, Unplugged, Charged (100%) and Screen off (if you activate watchdog).
Common wakelocks and solutions: PowerManagerService (see Partial wakelocks for details), multipdp/svnet-dormancy (mobile data; check Network), wlan_rx (Wi-Fi; turn off when not in use or when updating the router). Partially: alarmmanager (check Alarms), NlpWakeLock/NlpCollectorWakeLock y NetworkLocationPassiveCollection (Google Services and location; reduces Location History), AudioOut_2 (media playback).
Key settings to fine-tune your reports
- Display: Filter stats (hide zeros), Hide graph bars, Show Battery Levels and Customize views (add Wi-Fi or screen).
- Defaults: Default stat, Default stat type, Wakelock % of and Fallback to since boot.
- Settings: Knowledge Base, Dumpfile, Widget, Watchdog (what happens when you turn off the screen), Active monitoring (consumes more) and Advanced (root, system app).
Quick tip: Use the menu Network y CPU States to detect if consumption comes from synchronizations or a high frequency sustained processor.
Android features that affect battery life
- Pickups y Standby App: Defer tasks while idle and when an app is not in use. You can request exclusion of optimizations if the core function requires it.
- App Standby Buckets: Active, Working set, Frequent, Rare and Never run. The less an app is used, the more restricciones network/alarm/jobs will have.
- Battery saving: limits background processes, location and networks with the screen off.
- Unused apps: Automatic hibernation of apps that you haven't opened in a long time (revokes permissions and clears cache).
Testing with ADB: Force Sleep (adb shell dumpsys deviceidle force-idle), go out (... unforce), simulate low level (settings put global low_power 1) or move an app between buckets (adb shell am set-standby-bucket paquete active|working_set|frequent|rare).
Advanced Analysis: Batterystats and Battery Historian
Batterystats collects detailed device metrics and Battery Historian displays them in the browser. Please note that Historian may not be actively updating; as alternatives, consider system log, macro-comparison power metric o Power Profiler.
- Quick installation with Docker:
docker run -p PUERTO:9999 gcr.io/android-battery-historian/stable:3.1 --port 9999and navigate tohttp://localhost:PUERTO. - Data Capture:
adb shell dumpsys batterystats --reset, reproduce the case, and export:adb shell dumpsys batterystats > batterystats.txtyadb bugreport > bugreport.zip. - Interpret: check wakelocks, synchronizations, signal y gloss to isolate causes of expenditure.
More options and practical methods
From Settings > Battery On Android you can see which apps consume the most and use Force stop or uninstall them if you don't need them. Useful for bloatware and unused apps.
Battery Stretch
Once known details of battery consumption from our mobile we can go on to use applications that modify some values, such as the use of certain connections, to try to make the phone really use battery only when necessary.
This is the case of Battery Stretch (to which we already dedicated an extensive article) that not only manages the de/activation of the synchronization and data connections either by 3G or WiFi (the latter connection can be disabled) but also keeps a record of the terminal's consumption.
Battery Stretch has both a 7-day trial version , the a paid one (€2,31) if you like the result and it is compatible with Android 2.1 and later versions.
Download Battery Stretch
Android Battery Doctor
Halfway between the first and second application we could find Android Battery DoctorAnd I say halfway because it allows control connectivity the phone does offer a insights BEST organized in the form of graphs of battery consumption.
Android Battery Doctor adds to the application statistics and monitoring that suspiciously demand their own energy task-killer to close processes and even app uninstaller in case we were forced to do without an application that resisted.
It also allows both the closing of applications to free up memory and the optimization of the system by activating its Turbo Battery Booster functionwith a single click making it easier to activate the control of the parameters that we have specified.
Android Battery Doctor is a free application support Android 2.0 and later versions.
Download Android Battery Doctor
android booster
In the same line as the previous application we cannot forget android booster which we already told you about some time ago in an article. This application also opts for the simple activation via a widget of its particular system optimization seeking to obtain more speed, battery life and data traffic control.
Of course it also includes a task-killer and just like the previous application it's free and compatible with Android 2.1 onwards.
Download Android Booster Free
JuiceDefender
Finally we leave you with a classic, JuiceDefender, one of the applications most downloaded and of the essential (for me, the best) when it comes to trying to maximize your battery life. This app we've already briefly discussed here, and over time, its positive results have increased its popularity.
And JuiceDefender not only allows control phone connectivity o schedule synchronization periods but also allows the profile creation that will be applied automatically, for example disconnecting the data network when the battery is at a low level.
Also allows disable data connection for certain applications, connect and Disable WiFi network scanning depending on your location (for example, it starts searching for WiFi networks when you are close to home and stops doing so and wasting battery unnecessarily when you move away), etc.
It also allows you to take the control over CPU usage improving usage peaks depending on the real need.
JuiceDefender is presented in both free version as in two paid versions in the form of add-ons, JuiceDefender Plus (€1,99) and JuiceDefender Ultimate (€4,99) that allow access to more profiles and more configuration options such as a night mode, control over screen brightness, timer for settings… an all-in-one compatible with Android 1.6 and later.
Download JuiceDefender
Also, if you want to monitor health, temperature and charging speedA modern alternative is Battery Guru, which is useful as a complement to monitor your battery in real time.
With BetterBatteryStats as a basis for to diagnose and these utilities for act, you'll be able to identify processes that wake up the device, adjust synchronizations, and take advantage of Doze and system power savings to stretch out many more hours per charge.