Mode Switcher All Day battery life! Try out and tell me what you think

[drahgon]

Not too long ago I went to NY and needed a way to have my battery last all day so what I did was turn data off. That worked great and but is not very practical for everyday since data is so important for me and many others. I was then referred to mode switcher. Using it I created a profile which lets my battery last all day while giving me on demand data capabilities.

The reason why turning data off works so well is because Synergy kills your battery by syncing info all day all the time. Compared to Synergy even having your email set to "As arrives" sips power compared to Synergy. Since there is no way to set how often Synergy syncs the only way to restrict its activities is to regulate when and how often your data connections turn on. This is why I created Data on Demand.

Data on Demand - by default keeps data off however turns it on when a internet based app(ex. browser or email app is in the foreground). However there is also a timer which turns data on every 2 hours for 5 min to get emails and do synergy syncing in case you don't use any internet apps for two hours...highly unlikely.

Finally there is a Phone only mode which triggers when you reach 30% it turns off Data and WiFi in order to keep your phone alive as long as possible and recharge as fast as possible. your phone can run for about 3-5 hours in phone only mode at 30%!

Here is how it works. I also explain how to set it up manually below or you can use the Exported Mode Files I included to skip setting it up manually:

1. battery between 50% - 100% and not charging - Data on Demand(Data turns on when needed triggered by internet based applications in the foreground)

2. battery between 50% - 100% and charging - Data on Always

3. battery between 30% and 50 percent - Data on Demand Always

4. Every 2 hours for 5 minutes - Data Always On

5. battery between 0% and 30% - Phone only (turns data and WiFi off)

I have been using it for about 3 weeks works great. Try it out and post your results. Hope it helps some people out.

Known Issue:
1. Very occasionally Data On mode will be activated but data EV connection does not start up. This rarely happens but when and if it does just open Phone preferences and toggle the data connection off then on will fix the problem or turn off Data On mode and turn it back on.

2. Since data does not start until you open a internet App. Usually you will get a message data is turned off. Most apps you just have to wait until you see the EV icon in the upper right corner then reload or restart the app. However the Browser HAS to be closed and opened again. You cannot just reload it.
A possible less energy efficient fix is for Data On Mode for Group 1 is get ride of all the application triggers and set a Display State Trigger and set State to "Display On" and Delay to 15 Seconds(0 seconds would be ideal but it is not an option) Then wait for data to turn on(This will kill your battery if you play a game or do non-internet based activities on your phone since data will stay on so i do not recommend this)




Here are the Exported Mode Files:
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Data On Mode
MSMODE - DataOnbyDrahgon-Searchprecentralfordescription.txt

Phone Only Mode
MSMODE - PhoneonlybyDrahgon-Nodescription.txt

************************************************


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Setup Instructions:


1. install mode switcher(MS) app


Default Mode
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2.Open the MS and press "Edit Default Mode"
3. Click "Settings" button
4. Click "Add Setting" and click "Connections"
5. Connections will have 5 settings. Phone, Data, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS. Set them as follows:

Phone: Enable

Data: Disabled
(IMPORTANT: if you already have other MS Profiles that are Normal. You have to set Data to Disabled for Data on Demand to work with those profiles)

WiFi: Do Not Set
Bluetooth: Do Not Set
GPS: Do Not Set
(Any other settings do not matter)

6. Perform two back swipes to get back to the home screen. Now click "Add Custom Mode"




Data On Mode
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7. In "Mode Name" type Data On
8. For "Mode Type" set to Modifier


Settings
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9. Click "Settings"
10. Under Behavior set both options to "Do Not Set"
11. Click "Add Setting" and click "Connections"
12. Under Connections Set Data to "Enabled" and everything else to "Do Not Set".
13. Click "Add Setting" and click "Email"
14. Set Alert to "Do Not Set" and Get Email to "As Arrives"


Data On Triggers
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15. Perform one back swipe and then click "Triggers"
16. Under Behavior set Required to "Any Grouped" and Block Mode to "Modifier Modes"
17. Now under Activation Triggers we are going to make 5 groups total.


Group 1
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18. For every App that uses the internet click "Add Trigger" and click Application
(This part is by far the most tedious I recommend adding your most vital apps that you use all the time ex. browser, email... first and the less used ones later when you finally use them. )

19. Under Application there are 3 settings State, Application, and Delay. Set them as follows for each internet App. set State to "On Foreground", Application to "the name of your application that requires internet access" and Delay to 30 seconds.

AGAIN you have to do steps 18 and 19 for EVERY internet APP that you have on your phone or this WILL NOT WORK. Do the most important ones like email and browser first.

(This step not working skip and go to step 21) 20. Last for the Mobile hotspot and Neato! Apps do steps 18 and 19. Do 18 and 19 once again except the second time set State to " On Background" for both the Apps. This way data will stay on All the time when you have these Apps open.


Group 2
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21. Now click "Group >" button on the bottom right of the screen
22. Click "Add Trigger" and click "Battery Level Trigger".
23. Set High Limit to 100% and Low Limit to 50%
24. Click "Add Trigger" and click "Charger Event Trigger".
25. Set Charger to "Wall Charger" and Delay to "No Delay".



Group 3
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27. Now click "Group >" button on the bottom right of the screen
28. Click "Add Trigger" and click "Battery Level Trigger".
29. Set High Limit to 100% and Low Limit to 50%
30. Click "Add Trigger" and click "Charger Event Trigger".
31. Set Charger to "Touchstone", Orientation to "Any" and Delay to "No Delay".


Group 4
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27. Now click "Group >" button on the bottom right of the screen
28. Click "Add Trigger" and click "Battery Level Trigger".
29. Set High Limit to 100% and Low Limit to 50%
30. Click "Add Trigger" and click "Charger Event Trigger".
31. Set Charger to "USB Charger" and Delay to "No Delay".


Group 5
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32. Now click "Group >" button on the bottom right of the screen
33. Click "Add Trigger" and click "Time Interval Trigger".
34. Set Mode to "Repeating", Active to "5 minutes" and Every to "2 Hours"




Phone Only Mode
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35. Now back swipe twice to get back to the home screen and click "Add Custom Mode"
36. For Mode Name type "Phone Only"
37. Mode type "Normal"
38. Auto Start "Immediate" and Auto Close "Immediate"
39. click "Settings"
40. under behavior set Notify to "Use Banner" and On Charger to "Turn Off"
41. Click "Add Setting" and click "Connections" set as follows

Phone: Enabled
Data: Disabled
Wi-Fi: Disabled
Bluetooth: Default
GPS: Default


Phone Only Triggers
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42. Back swipe and click "Triggers"
42. Under Behavior set Required to "All Unique" and Block Mode to "Other Modes"
43. Click "Add Trigger" and click "Battery Level Trigger"
44. Set High Limit to 30% and Low Limit to 0%
45. Click "Add Trigger" and click "Charger Event Trigger"
46. Set Charger to "No Charger" and Delay to "30 Seconds"

[gollyzila]

Mode Switcher has a mode export functionality. Could you upload your premade modes please?

[drahgon]

Does it? wow wrote all that for nothing. Sure i'll upload give me a min.

[drahgon]

I included the exported modes here for download(in the first post). After installing these you still however need to follow steps 1-6 for this to work correctly.

Let me know if you have any issues.

[C-Note]

Drahgon,

Can you quantify how much of an improvement you've seen in battery life?

[drahgon]

its quite a bit. I've left it off the charger all night 8+ hours at around 60% and woke up and it was at 41%. But I never worry about battery anymore, well unless I play angry birds for 4 hours straight with no charger...happens

Here are my estimates(guestimates really from everyday use as I didnt do any real analysis)

Standby 19-24 hours(14-18 before Phone Only mode hits at which point you lose data connection)

Normal use: 12-18 hours(7-12 before Phone Only mode)

Heavy use: 6-11(3-6 before Phone only mode)

could get more if you remove the last trigger group in Data On mode, which keeps Data Always on above 85% battery.

[palmuse]

Very cool. I would like to give this a try. Thanks

[kbrabble]

Thanks for posting this, its just what I have been trying to accomplish. One question however, do you still receive text messages with data off?

[palmuse]

Something is not working right for me . I would like to see the exported modes, but I do not have access to a PC and they do not play well with my phone. Any one willing to send them to me?

Also, looking at the desc vs the instructions, I do not see where the 50% - 30% mode is triggered. Am I missing something or was it left out?

EDIT: I figured out the 50% - 30% trigger. I was not thinking this through well enough. It isn't triggered. The only trigger that is hit are the indv apps listed. Got it.

Still not working for me, but it must be my default mode. Thanks for the example.

[kbrabble]

I cant get this to work either. Data will turn on when one of the apps is launched, but it dose not turn off after the app has been closed.

[drahgon]

Originally Posted by kbrabble

Thanks for posting this, its just what I have been trying to accomplish. One question however, do you still receive text messages with data off?

yes you do

[drahgon]

Originally Posted by kbrabble

I cant get this to work either. Data will turn on when one of the apps is launched, but it dose not turn off after the app has been closed.

it has a 15 or 30 second delay after you close an app or put it in the background. which is nice if you switch between apps you dont have to wait for the data connection to restart. just give it some time should shut off.

[drahgon]

Originally Posted by palmuse

Something is not working right for me . I would like to see the exported modes, but I do not have access to a PC and they do not play well with my phone. Any one willing to send them to me?

Also, looking at the desc vs the instructions, I do not see where the 50% - 30% mode is triggered. Am I missing something or was it left out?

EDIT: I figured out the 50% - 30% trigger. I was not thinking this through well enough. It isn't triggered. The only trigger that is hit are the indv apps listed. Got it.

Still not working for me, but it must be my default mode. Thanks for the example.

Its a little tricky but the basic idea is your data connection is controlled exclusively by Data On Mode. So ANY "Normal" modes you have set need to shut off the data connection. I recommend deleting all your other modes until you get this working so that all you have to deal with is default mode. Then add them later one by one.

[drahgon]

@palmuse I can send them to you. How email?

[rw_hoover]

Could you also incorporate Govnah / Uberkernel to improve efficiency? I was previously building modes to improve battery, when I simply created a new ScreenState mode that runs 125/800. By dropping the Palm 500 default clock speed to 125 when the screen is off, I've saved about 6% battery per hour. ** My battery was dropping 8-10% per hour for my "average" usage. But since I've changed to the 125/800 speed, I'm only dropping about 4% per hour. Again...based on MY average usage. ** Just thought that might help.

[zmann]

I just love keeping all on all day. Solio solar charger is with me all the time. In car pre is on car charger all the time.if I'm fishing in a canoe,pre is on solio charger. Solio is smaller and lighter then a pack of smokes,lol. On top of that,i always have a fully charged extra battery on me,all the time.

[drahgon]

Well my Pre can't handle 125Mhz it freezes immediately, so it wasn't an option for me. But with Govnah using Screenstate takes care of scaling your CPU when not needed. I don't know of a way to incorporate it that would be better. If you can think of a way let me know. I did however originally drop the CPU to 500Mhz in Phone Only Mode but I found the difference was negligible so I decided I preferred the extra speed.

[drahgon]

Originally Posted by zmann

I just love keeping all on all day. Solio solar charger is with me all the time. In car pre is on car charger all the time.if I'm fishing in a canoe,pre is on solio charger. Solio is smaller and lighter then a pack of smokes,lol. On top of that,i always have a fully charged extra battery on me,all the time.

Well this has other benefits like prolonged battery life since your battery drains slower and stays at higher percentages throughout the day and really i found i almost always get my email within 30 minutes of it being sent. The only thing that isnt always on with this patch is IM, which I dont mind. With this you probably will never need that extra battery with that solar charger or never need that solar charger with that extra battery lol.

[palmuse]

Originally Posted by drahgon

Its a little tricky but the basic idea is your data connection is controlled exclusively by Data On Mode. So ANY "Normal" modes you have set need to shut off the data connection. I recommend deleting all your other modes until you get this working so that all you have to deal with is default mode. Then add them later one by one.

Right. I was thinking of doing that. I'll give it a go tonight.

my email is (username) @gmail

thanks

[drahgon]

ok sent