Close Apps to Prevent Battery Drain?

Rayne

Member
Jun 24, 2013
9
0
Hello,

I am new to Android. Have a Nook Tablet with Jellybean 4.2.2. I noticed Aldiko e-reader has a permission that allows it to keep the tablet from sleeping. Indeed, if I leave the tablet to an open page in the e-reader, then put it to sleep, it looks like it's sleeping but the battery drains quickly. (e.g. overnight it will drop by 50% or more.... this is with WiFi off and literally no other extra apps loaded except what came with the ROM... not even Google apps or playstore)

If I switch focus away from the e-reader and back to the "desktop" before putting it into sleep mode, it drains very little but still more than when I did not have Aldiko installed at all. So my questions are:

1. Is there a way to "exit" a program in Android aside from Force Stop? (Moon+ e-reader actually has an "exit" button, but Aldiko does not. My Mom is elderly and I am teaching her Aldiko b/c she can use it to connect to the library, so I can't teach her Moon+ too, it's too much info for her.)

2. I really dislike the fact that Aldiko can prevent the tablet from sleeping... is there any app designed to curb app permissions? I know PDroid this for privacy but not sure if it looks at the "prevent sleep" permission at all, and even if it does, I cannot get it to work with my ROM.

Thanks for any guidance!
 

Frederuco

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jul 6, 2011
1,980
503
Welcome to the forum!

From the recent apps screen, you should be able to swipe apps away to close them. You can also go to Settings - Apps - All - <App Name> - Force Close.

There are also task killers in the Play Store (and Amazon AppStore) if you wish. I personally do not use them. When I am sleeping, my tablet is on the charger so I am not worried about battery drain.

There are apps like "Permission Denied" that can change app permissions, but you need to be rooted. Also, changing the app permissions could cause instability issue with that app, or even the tablet and could cause it not to boot and require a firmware re-flash or a factory reset (wipe). Also, these types of apps require you to be rooted (similar to jailbreaking).
 

Rayne

Member
Jun 24, 2013
9
0
Thanks so much Frederuco. So, if I understand correctly, when I press the "staggered squares" icon which allows me to switch between recently opened apps, if I close the apps off THAT screen, the apps are closed?

As to the Task Killers, I've read they are battery drainers too. And I'd rather do it manually as above. The fewer apps the better AFAIC.

The Permission Denied app sounds interesting. I will try that out. Even though I am new to Android I rooted the tablet, installed CWM on emmc, then the ROM (also on emmc), and I backed up the system. So not too concerned about having to reflash or reinstall the backup. And I don't know if changing the 'prevent sleep' permission would be much of a deal breaker anyway... but thanks for that warning!
 

Rayne

Member
Jun 24, 2013
9
0
This was a gigantic help, thanks. She doesn't have music apps and I disabled GPS.

I also have a Nook Tablet (i.e. she and I both have them and I installed Jellybean on both) so I installed Wakelock Detector on mine, which I just read about, opened Aldiko, then switched back to the Home screen, leaving Aldiko open in recent apps. I let the tablet go to sleep and will leave it alone a few hours, then wake it up and check Wakelock Detector to see how much of a drain Aldiko is when left open in the background. Then I will close it completely per your method and run a second test to see the difference.

IAC it seems leaving the app open to a page and putting the device to sleep from there is not the way to go if you want to save your battery... barring Permissions Denied or some other way to prevent Aldiko from preventing the tablet to fully sleep.

Thanks again, Frederuco!
 

ralphsteven

Member
Dec 17, 2013
6
0
If you notice that an application consumes a lot of battery you can use programs such as Bloat freezer. You will be able to freeze system apps/regular apps (only if your device is rooted). So you can freeze / defrost an app only when you need it
 
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