There I was, showing off my new HTC One to a friend when
“plink!”
the low battery alert sounded. Considering it wasn’t yet lunchtime,
this was potentially embarrassing. With under 20% charge left, I had to
act fast.
Charging An Android KitKat Phone
Getting the phone charged up was my priority – but what could I use?
Looking
around, I saw a wall outlet, and my USB adaptor just happened to be in
my bag (not a surprise, as I also carry a Surface Pro in there).
Fortunately, throughout the demo I was able to keep the phone plugged in
and charging as I showed off photos, videos, games, and the slick HTC
Sense 5.5.
Heading back home, I decided to keep the phone charging
in the car. Using my cigarette lighter-powered charger, I found that
rather than charging the phone at the usual rate, the charger was giving
a current akin to the trickle charge that you get from USB connectors
on your desktop computer.
That is, a charge that wasn’t going to make any considerable impact on the low battery.
It
was then that it struck me. A couple of weeks into life with my new
phone – and new to KitKat – it was time to start managing its battery
use more effectively.
Using A Battery Saver Mode
Although
unavailable on stock Android 4.4 KitKat devices (rather limited to OEMs
like HTC and Samsung, such as the HTC One and the Galaxy S5, which has Ultra Power Saving Mode), using the built-in battery saver tool was my first port of call.
You can open
Settings > Battery Settings > Power
on some devices (labelling can differ from manufacturer to
manufacturer) to check your battery level and to activate Battery Saver
mode. The HTC Battery Saver mode is configurable, enabling you to enable
or disable further elements such as your data connection, vibration
feedback, screen brightness, and CPU usage.
Meanwhile,
use the App Usage list (or equivalent) to find out which apps are using
resources. These can be tapped to open their app details screen, and
the app can be disabled if required.
If your Android 4.4 KitKat device isn’t a Samsung or HTC, you’ll need to find a battery saver app in the Play Store.
DU Battery Saver and
Battery Doctor should be the first apps you try, both of which have been updated and optimised for KitKat.
Managing Connectivity: Location Mode
You should probably be aware that one of the key causes of low battery on your Android device is connectivity.
GPS,
for instance, is used widely these days with many apps taking advantage
of localization data to serve information based on your current
whereabouts. This can prove hugely convenient or terribly inconvenient,
depending on when you need to use your phone.
Introduced
in Android 4.4 KitKat is the Location mode screen, a feature that
enables you to select the accuracy of your localized data, with the
least accurate method using only GPS and less battery than the most
precise option, which employs Wi-Fi and mobile networks. The Location
feature can also be disabled.
Other battery savings can be made by
using Wi-Fi over mobile Internet. Although a good option, even in 4G
areas, be aware that open wireless networks are almost always
non-secure, so don’t use these connections for any sensitive tasks such
as online banking or shopping.
Using a tool like
Trigger to switch to favourite Wi-Fi networks instead of your mobile Internet automatically as soon as they are in range can help here.
Deal With Always-On Wi-Fi Scanning
As
well as switching off Wi-Fi when no connectivity was needed, I also
discovered that there is an additional wireless networking setting that
can also contribute to battery drain. Hidden away in the
Settings > Wi-Fi > Advanced menu is a feature that helps your phone’s location be pinpointed by apps, games, and Google Play.
Disabling the
Scanning always available feature will help reduce the speed with which your battery runs down, but it will also reduce the effectiveness of Google Now.
Google Now Launcher: Killing Batteries?
The
“OK Google” voice control feature of Google Now is probably its most
popular and visible element, but the app is constantly busy working away
in the background to find information that it deems relevant to you
based on your profile.
So if you’ve already disabled its ability
to accurately determine your whereabouts, why not go further and reduce
its impact on your battery further?
You
should probably know already that the “OK Google” hotword can be
disabled. If not, head to Google
Now, scroll down to the bottom and tap
the menu button to open
Settings. From here, tap
Hotword Detection and switch to
Off.
What you may not know is that the whole Google Now service can also be disabled. Via the same
Settings menu, toggle the
Google Now switch to disable the service, then
Turn off to confirm your choice. You might also check the box to delete location history.
Note
that if this seems too extreme, you can skip this and leave Google Now
activated but with limited battery impact (and relevance from the
information it finds for you) from the disabled location services.
Don’t Use ART To Reduce Battery Use
Introduced
with Android 4.4 KitKat is ART, the Android Runtime that is included as
an alternative to the default Dalvik runtime. We previously explained how to enable ART,
and the potential speed improvements of doing so, but if you’ve
followed that guide or any similar steps to switching your KitKat’s
runtime to ART, you may have unwittingly made your battery run down
quicker.
At
this point, the jury is still out on ART, but that shouldn’t matter at
this stage as it is a beta runtime, not yet intended for full production
use. Although many apps may launch and run quicker, impact on battery
drain overall is unclear, based largely on what apps and services you
use.
If you’re looking for a “hacker’s option” for reducing battery use in Android KitKat, why not install a custom ROM
with built-in tweaks? There are guides here on MakeUseOf for installing
custom ROMs, and once you’re familiar with the basics you will find
further help – and custom ROMs to download and flash – at the
XDA-Developers forum.
You Shouldn’t Be Recharging Twice A Day!
The tips listed here are specifically for Android 4.4 KitKat devices. Battery saving tips for earlier
Android versions may also work.
Ultimately,
you shouldn’t be charging your phone more than once a day; you could
even squeeze two days out of some phones with moderate use. Since
disabling Google Now alone, my HTC One runs for an additional 2-3 hours
on average – not a bad result.
How often do you recharge your Android 4.4 KitKat handset? Let us know your thoughts below
