New to smart phones. Few questions.

[Scott0719]

Hi everyone. I've only had smart phones for a couple months now and I'm still trying to figure out the best ways to conserve battery and data. I first had the original droid and just last month I upgraded to the droid razr. Love the phone so far but just have a few questions.

Does 4G use more battery? When i'm at work I hardly use my phone and it seems like by noon my battery is half dead and i've hardly used it. What do you guys use to conserve your battery?

I've also been struggling with certain apps running in the background and continue to open after I close them. I use Advanced Task Killer but then I got in a few minutes later and they are running again. Is there a way to prevent certain apps from starting on their own? Some of them are the crap ware that comes with the phone like motoactive and social networking. I know you can't uninstall them but I'd like to keep them from starting. I've also gone into the task manager and added some to the auto end list but I don't feel like that really does anything.

So after looking at a couple posts on here about uninstalling apps I saw someone said to freeze apps with titanium backup. Is this really a good app to use? If so is it worth it to pay for the Pro version? Or are there any other apps out there that could help me with my problems?

 

[tjk629]

Does 4G use more battery? When i'm at work I hardly use my phone and it seems like by noon my battery is half dead and i've hardly used it. What do you guys use to conserve your battery?

Yes it does. The more it uses depends on how well it can connect. If you're in a fringe area, or the phone is having a hard time with the signal it will use more battery.

The Razr has a feature call smart actions. Have you tried that yet?

Other things you can do:

- Turn off LTE from settings > wireless & network > mobile network > Network Mode > CDMA only
- Play around with the accounts on your phone. Turn off sync for Google services you don't use, and play around with how other email accounts sync
- If you have any widgets that use data (such as weather) change their update times
- Turn off location services for some apps

I've also been struggling with certain apps running in the background and continue to open after I close them. I use Advanced Task Killer but then I got in a few minutes later and they are running again. Is there a way to prevent certain apps from starting on their own? Some of them are the crap ware that comes with the phone like motoactive and social networking. I know you can't uninstall them but I'd like to keep them from starting. I've also gone into the task manager and added some to the auto end list but I don't feel like that really does anything.

It's part of the Android OS. It will semi start certain apps so that they'll begin quicker, and what not. You can add them to an auto kill list, but they'll just re open. There really is no harm in them being active.

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-applications/65483-task-killers-answer-google-developers.html

So after looking at a couple posts on here about uninstalling apps I saw someone said to freeze apps with titanium backup. Is this really a good app to use? If so is it worth it to pay for the Pro version? Or are there any other apps out there that could help me with my problems?

In order to use TI you'll need to be rooted.

 

[Scott0719]

Thank you for your response. You were very helpful. That link was very helpful as well.

The Razr has a feature call smart actions. Have you tried that yet?

Yes i have and I have a couple things that are supposed to help the battery but I can't really tell if its doing anything. There isn't a trigger to help with Memory though.

It's part of the Android OS. It will semi start certain apps so that they'll begin quicker, and what not. You can add them to an auto kill list, but they'll just re open. There really is no harm in them being active.

I guess I'm just too concerned about the memory usage. Sometimes when I open Advanced task killer it says my available memory is only 278M and when I kill the apps it shoots up to over 400 closer to 500 sometimes. I read in the link you gave me that its not a good thing to have a lot of available memory. I have to read it again to remember why but maybe I just need to ignor it. Seems like the phone will open and close apps as it sees necessary.

In order to use TI you'll need to be rooted.

What does it mean to be rooted? I've read some posts of people talking about it and it always sounds kinda like a hack and or dangerous to do if you'r not familiar with it.

 

[tjk629]

Yes i have and I have a couple things that are supposed to help the battery but I can't really tell if its doing anything. There isn't a trigger to help with Memory though.

Stuff like smart actions takes a while to customize. Since you have to look at how you use your phone, and then make it work for you.

I guess I'm just too concerned about the memory usage. Sometimes when I open Advanced task killer it says my available memory is only 278M and when I kill the apps it shoots up to over 400 closer to 500 sometimes. I read in the link you gave me that its not a good thing to have a lot of available memory. I have to read it again to remember why but maybe I just need to ignor it. Seems like the phone will open and close apps as it sees necessary.

Correct. Android will handle the memory. The 1GB the RAZR has is plenty, and you shouldn't have issues with it. Having the apps in memory won't have much of an impact on battery life unless they are pulling data/location. In which you should be able to modify how the do that in their respected settings.

What does it mean to be rooted? I've read some posts of people talking about it and it always sounds kinda like a hack and or dangerous to do if you'r not familiar with it.

Root gives you super user permissions. So you have more access to the phone. Below is some information on it.

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-razr-hacks/181762-how-root-your-motorola-droid-razr-windows-only.html

 

[Scott0719]

Correct. Android will handle the memory. The 1GB the RAZR has is plenty, and you shouldn't have issues with it.[\QUOTE]

When I see it has 1GB and all I have available is 200 something MB I just feel like I should have more. I guess that's just me still being used to PC's.

Root gives you super user permissions. So you have more access to the phone. Below is some information on it.

Does rooting void warranties or prevent downloading the new OS like ICS? Can I do permanent damage to the phone like brick it? I just bought the thing I'd hate to ruin it already.

 

[Talon66721]

Correct. Android will handle the memory. The 1GB the RAZR has is plenty, and you shouldn't have issues with it.[\QUOTE]

When I see it has 1GB and all I have available is 200 something MB I just feel like I should have more. I guess that's just me still being used to PC's.




Does rooting void warranties or prevent downloading the new OS like ICS? Can I do permanent damage to the phone like brick it? I just bought the thing I'd hate to ruin it already.

Yes, rooting does void the warranty. However, you should be able to sbf back to stock if you need to take it in or swap it out. Which is what you do if you have a hardware issue and need a new phone. Yeah, you can brick it, but with the locked bootloader, it's really difficult to pull off. It will stop you from getting the ota update on sofware, but not usually a problem. I was running GB on my DX a month before it got pushed out ota. Same with the new market. I'm the guy that goes into my VZW store to show the reps there the new stuff when it comes to software. Lol. My biggest and best advice to you about rooting is this: don't do like I and so many others did and jump in too quick. Read up on it. Read some more. When you're tired of reading, do it some more. The better informed you are, the less likely you are to bugger something up. Rooting and running custom roms offers greater control over your phone. It was the best thing I did with mine, but it's not for everybody. Read up and see if it sounds like it's for you and go from there.

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums

 

[Scott0719]

Thanks a lot for your help guys. I'll read over the links again later. I'm not sure if i'll root my phone or not. Sounds like it might be more of a hassle for me than a benefit. I could try on the original droid and see how I do with that. Maybe after the manufactures warranty is up i'll do it to the razr. Thanks again.

 

[tjk629]

Thanks a lot for your help guys. I'll read over the links again later. I'm not sure if i'll root my phone or not. Sounds like it might be more of a hassle for me than a benefit. I could try on the original droid and see how I do with that. Maybe after the manufactures warranty is up i'll do it to the razr. Thanks again.

Rooting the device itself isn't hard (about 5 steps). It's what you do WITH root that can cause problems. Like installing ROMs, playing around with certain files, etc.