Am I outsmarting my smartphone?

October 19, 2012 1:48 PM

Do Jelly Bean push notifications work with apps shut off?

So after all your great advice in this thread, I went with the Galaxy Nexus, and so far I really like it. But I have a question. I have noticed that push notifications are inconsistent, and I think this might be my fault - in my quest to maximize the battery life of my phone, I've gotten in the habit of shutting down apps completely when I'm done using them. Does shutting down an app also shut down push notifications for that app?

I really like the drawer - it's probably my favorite feature of the phone so far - and I like that I can control apps via messages in the drawer, so if leaving apps on is the price of having that functionality so be it - I'm just not sure if I'm actually having a problem or if I'm the one causing the problem.

(I have installed JuiceDefender to help increase battery life, by the way)

posted by pdb to Technology (8 answers total)

I've gotten in the habit of shutting down apps completely when I'm done using them. Does shutting down an app also shut down push notifications for that app?

No.

I have installed JuiceDefender to help increase battery life, by the way

More likely to be the problem. I wouldn't advise the use of JuiceDefender.
posted by grouse at 1:58 PM on October 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

JuiceDefender does more than turn off the app, it stops all the services running in the background for that app, including the ones that check for and deliver notifications. I don't really suggest apps like that on phones, because it takes just as much processing power to get the app up and running fully as it would be to leave those notification services running all the time.

Closing and swiping away the apps from the task button just closes the program that you interact with, not these notification services.

Short answer: Uninstall JuiceDefender, and your problems will go away.
posted by deezil at 2:02 PM on October 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

Also advising against JD.
Jelly Bean already has excellent controls for battery life. Apps like JD will shut down background services and, depending on settings, sometimes all sync services and background data. IMO, not worth the extra hour or so of battery life unless you prize that above actually using your phone as intended.

If you are of the rooting/ROMing persuasion, you can probably get even better battery life (if you need it) by installing a non-stock ROM or even just a new kernel, then playing with the governors and min/max CPU settings.
posted by trivia genius at 2:13 PM on October 19, 2012

Response by poster: grouse/deezil -

Thanks for the answers about notifications. I guess now I need to repurpose the question a bit. I'm a very unsophisticated smartphone user, and here has been my experience so far:

1. Got phone, charged it to 100% overnight
2. Over the course of 6 hours the next day, with moderate use (20 minutes of nav, but otherwise just getting a few apps and dinking with my new toy a bit, as one does) phone went from 100% charged to 5%
3. Frantically researched why phone eats battery so fast because oh my goodness that's ridiculous
4. Found many helpful tips, including turning down screen brightness, manually turning on/off WiFI and 4G radios and nav as needed, and JD
5. Did all the non-JD things for a couple days, phone still burns through 70% of battery in less than 8 hours
6. Installed JD and configured it
7. Battery life has doubled and then some

I like a long-lasting battery. if JD causes problems, is there some sort of non-app alternative that will also increase the charge time of my battery? I don't watch a ton of streaming video (I think in the two weeks I've had this phone, I've watched a total of 5 minutes' worth) and I don't use the nav on a daily basis, if that matters for anything.
posted by pdb at 2:14 PM on October 19, 2012

Oh - forgot that you have the GN on Verizon.
Turn off 4G if you aren't actively using it to browse the web or download large files. 3G is more than fast enough for apps to pull down data and you'll get MUCH better battery life.
posted by trivia genius at 2:20 PM on October 19, 2012

Did you take a look at Android's idea of who's responsible for the battery drain?

(Settings->Battery).

I have one too (well, the unlocked gsm version) and agree that battery life is a problem, but your experience sounds worse.

(As long as I'm religious about leaving it charging on my bedside table every night, I don't have any trouble, unless I'm really using it very heavily during the day. But, apologies, I can't quantify "very heavily".)
posted by bfields at 2:20 PM on October 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

You can also buy a bigger battery for this bad boy. It's a noticeable difference
posted by Patbon at 7:32 PM on October 19, 2012

I use an app called green power premium. It' simple but can do a lot, but I primarily use it to turn off 3g on my galaxy s2 when the screen is off except for a minute or two every half hour to check for push, and also to set a night zone, when I don't wish to have anything pushed at me. It's a set and forget type app, which has worked well for me. Looking at the battery graph you can easily see the difference between it and the always on approach.
posted by Sparx at 9:55 PM on October 20, 2012