turn off running apps

[Guest Prettygrim]

am new here, so first thing is to say 'hi' to all.

i am a complete newby to smart phones, android and all related things. i have spent quite a long time looking thro' various posts and topics but cant find what i want to do.

a friend got me an orange san francisco/zte blade. he unlocked it, wiped it and installed cyanagenmod 7. i only want to use the phone on a daily basis as a phone, ie to make/receive calls and to make/receive txt messages. however, i would like to have the availability to use the other features like browsing, email, barcode scanner and gps navigation as and when i want to. how do i turn off everything i dont want? when i use an app that is installed it tells me of (up to) 13 apps running. i dont know what these are but assume they start when the phone does. how do i find those apps and stop all from starting when i turn on the phone, keeping the option to start an app when i want to? things like wifi, blutooth are turned off

perhaps someone could point me to the needed info?

sorry for being a complete idiot

many TIA

[Guest k0zmic]

You don't need to turn off apps that are running. Android will kill tasks automatically when needed.

If you really don't want them running then go to Manage Applications > Running and then just stop whatever you don't want to run.

To stop stuff running at startup I think you can use an app called Autostarts.

Edited August 11, 2011 by k0zmic

[Guest ColdEmbrace]

to block auto running apps at boot use autostart manager. Although I use it can't really say I can tell the difference.

[Guest Prettygrim]

hi. tnx for replies. what i am trying to do, which i didn't say, was improve the battery life. atm i get 1 day max out of it, even though it is only in stand by. if i actually use it for texting or making a call, it doesn't even last a full day! i like the phone, but the battery life is, in my opinion, crap. appreciate i am still learning about it. comparing the price to other smart phones, it is good, but this issue is very annoying. hence wanting to turn off everything i can unless specifically wanted at a specific time.

[Guest hugobosslives]

one day? that is pretty crap for not high usage.

have you got 3g on and syncing everything all the time?

[Guest Prettygrim]

tnx for reply, hugobosslives. i have ticked the 'use 2g only' option, but dont know if that will prevent anything i need to happen, from happening. as for the 'syncing everything all the time', i dont what that is, where to look or how to turn off what is not needed. as i said in my first post, i am a complete newby. sorry

[Guest Phoenix Silver]

CM7 has a very poor battery life.

If it's crucial for you install the leaked rom (like GSF the wbaw one)

[Guest t0mm13b]

Install DroidWall and block the apps from hogging up the transmission of data - which can suck up the battery when running in the background.

Also, I would suggest, install Titanium Backup (both apps I mentioned are available on the Google's App Market), go into Settings > Applications > Manage Applications, and tap on the Running tab and see what apps are running, make note of them and using Titanium Backup, look for the apps that you have made note of, and tap on the said app, then tap on Freeze, which is a temporary effect, it freezes the app. That is how you would go about nailing down the culprit that is hogging up the most and sucking up the most battery juice.

But as it has been said in previous postings, cm7 does suffer from the battery life.

Oh, just forgot there, ZTE are going to be releasing the source to a newer kernel which will hopefully improve things significantly especially for CM7 :)

[Guest targetbsp]

Use this: http://www.appbrain.com/app/autostarts/com.elsdoerfer.android.autostarts

[Guest Prettygrim]

tnx for further replies, guys. i have looked through the phone and found that Titanium Backup was installed by my mate. i have tried to stop the data services and selscted 2g only. i assume i would have to deselect that option and enable the data services if i wanted to check emails etc, as well as turning on the wifi access on the up/down arrow symbol?

hopefully, when ZTE release the new kernal, it will help. hope my mate knows what to do, ha ha

slight change of subject. i connected the phone to my pc by the usb cable, went to the app market (i think) and tried to install an app called contacts2sim. the web site tells me it is installed, but i cant find it. similarly, i tried to install an app to allow me to use ringtones for notifications of txt messages i am hard of hearing, so the short ring for txt messages is not really suitable for me. again, i am told the app is installed, but cant find that either. what a wally! any help here would also be most welcome.

[Guest julianpaul]

sorry to go slightly ot here, but i wanna do the opposite. how do i make an app run at startup?

[Guest sm4tik]

Just for a reference, I can easily get 5-6 days out of CM7 with some calls/sms's with 2g data on. So if your battery really doesn't last more than a day, it must be something else than CM7 itself. Another good way to hunt the battery drainer is to look into an application called Spare Parts, there see Battery history and change "Other usage" to "Partial wake usage". There might be an app on the top of the list that's keeping your phone awake all the time.

But as Phoenix Silver said, GingerStirFry (GSF) might better suit your needs :)

[Guest swisstourist]

contact2sim not workig on mine, why do u care, google keep list of ur contact, and u dont have the crap advertise from the sim card.

i installed blue ginger, only 2-3 % at night, can make over a day if u use it moderatly.

i am very happy with my phone. never crash after 2 months use, good abttery, i installe maildroid instead of gmail. i prefer pop3...

wireless off when u dont use it, and 2G, and u make 3-4 days if u use it lightly just check u r mail 2 x a day.

a great phone.

dont use task killer, i dont see any difference. keep soft running in back ground.

keep screen brightness on auto.

[Guest domerator]

Prettygrim:

If you try all suggestions so far and still not satisfied with battery performance you should consider replace the rom to Akash Froyo 2.2 rom. This rom is not as sophisticated as the newer Ginger Stir Fry roms or CM7 roms, but it has the best battery performance so far... besides it is stable and reliable.

You can find the rom here in another section.

Here:

Edited August 13, 2011 by domerator

[Guest Phoenix Silver]

You can dial *#*#4636#*#*

Go in statistics menu

It show you all the apps running with their time

Edited August 20, 2011 by Phoenix Silver

[Guest Prettygrim]

well it seems that with the 'data service' turned off, and 2g only ticked, battery life is much better. 2 days or so now. from what i have just read elsewhere, nightlie build 160 is now out. anyone know how that is performing? what changes/fixes have been implemented?

i have downloaded the rom suggested. tnx for that, domerator. will try the number suggested, Phoenix Silver.

my mate is going to upgrade to build 160 and see if there is any improvment in battery life. if i have to keep the settings i have at present to maintain battery life, so be it.

still dont know what the problem is with downloading apps from android market tho'.

tnx for help, suggestions and advice, guys. much appreciated

will post back after the upgrade, with results

[Guest sm4tik]

I had to freeze my maps (5.8.0) because it was keeping the phone in a wierd half awake state. Only power button woke the phone up, but battery stats showed the phone beeing awake almost all the time and my battery was draining fast. Now my blade is back to normal :) This is not the first time I'm having battery issues because of maps, so if you have it installed, you could try removing it temporarily and see if it helps.

Here's the changelog for CM.

Edited August 15, 2011 by sm4tik

[Guest Prettygrim]

tnx for tip, sm4tik. mate formatted the phone and put nightlie build 161 on. atm, battery is doing well. 2.5 days and still plenty left. received 1 5 min call, 1 missed call, 2 txts out, 2 in. still monitoring but much better than before.

[Guest Prettygrim]

as promised, this is what i have found since the upgrade to nightlie build 161. battery life is now 4 days between charges, with moderate use. whatever was depleting the battery life before has been stopped. i only use wifi when needed and haven't used the operator internet option, just for calls and txts. happy now. appreciate the help that's been offered, guys.

[Guest Phoenix Silver]

I have noticed a big amelioration of the battery life with the last cm7s.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Phoenix Silver

[Guest Prettygrim]

gonna carry on monitoring. if anything goes awry, will post back.