Database Develop

Diamond Battery 3G question and also GPS

Hi Everyone,
First post here so hopefully you guys can help. Been doing a lot of reading of the site over the last few hours since I got my Diamond - looks great. Am usually very literate in these things but have always tended to be an S60 guy so now breaking into the WM world properly..
Anyway, there are two things I wanna run by you which I'm sure you guys may know..
1. Battery/3G
As we all know, the battery sucks.. There's no denying that. I refuse to switch from 3G to 2G though cos that spoils the object. I have already conceded by turning HSDPA off and am now on normal 3G as it is. One of the things that can't be good for the battery is that it connects to check emails and then stays connected.. Whereas the beauty of the iPhone for example is that if you tell it to poll your imap server every 15 mins, it connects, checks and downloads and the disconnects. It connects again another 15 mins later.
I've set my Diamond to poll every 30 mins in the hope that it would then disconnect once it has downloaded the emails rather than staying connected for hours and hours at a time to the internet even though it's only checking my email server every 30 mins or so.. you follow?
So, I downloaded Advanced Customisation and have turned off the Auto Attach feature.. But what it does is stop the Diamond auto connecting the first time.. but then once it's connected, it stays connected to the internet.
You follow me?
Basically, I want a way for the phone to disconnect from the net when it has checked for messages then reconnect when it's time to check automatically again. Rather than staying connected or me having to switch to a manual check. Is that possible guys? Maybe that will help with the battery.
2. GPS/Battery
Other thing I heard was that if you go into the GPS settings and change the program port from Port 4 to None, then it saves on battery life. Only downside is that you then have to fiddle with the settings before you fire up Tom Tom or Google Maps. Is there any truth that the phone is always looking for GPS satellites even when satnav software is not switched on.
3. ALARM
Oh actually - there is a third question.
Is there a way of having the phone on silent but alarm clock on so that I can sleep knowing I will be woken up by the alarm but NO phone calls. It's a basic thing in Symbian/Blackberry/S40 but seems to be missing on my Diamond?
Thanks all - i have googled and searched through the forums looking for answers to these questions but had no luck.. Hopefully you can post some answers.
Have a good day and thanks in advance
Phil

I'm pretty sure that just because it's connected ie. the E or 3G symbol on the signal strength bar. It doesn't pull extra juice, extra power is only required to transfer data and not to 'maintain' the connection.
if your area has great 3G connectivity, then you could set the phone to 3G only instead of auto, cause that's what usually saps the power, the phone constantly trying to find the best band when it's feels that the signal strength isn't good enough.

philliplavelle said:
3. ALARM
Oh actually - there is a third question.
Is there a way of having the phone on silent but alarm clock on so that I can sleep knowing I will be woken up by the alarm but NO phone calls. It's a basic thing in Symbian/Blackberry/S40 but seems to be missing on my Diamond?
Phil
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can just put the phone on flight mode. that way no one will bother you with phone calls. (not tried it but i think it will work)

marauderz said:
I'm pretty sure that just because it's connected ie. the E or 3G symbol on the signal strength bar. It doesn't pull extra juice, extra power is only required to transfer data and not to 'maintain' the connection.
if your area has great 3G connectivity, then you could set the phone to 3G only instead of auto, cause that's what usually saps the power, the phone constantly trying to find the best band when it's feels that the signal strength isn't good enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
BTW, to set to 3G only, is it UMTS(800+2100) or UMTS(1700) in the UK?
Cheers

Sorry i'm from MAlaysia so I wouldn't know your settings. But in anycase you can leave that at AUTO. Just force it to UMTS instead of GSM or AUTO

firedup said:
Hi
BTW, to set to 3G only, is it UMTS(800+2100) or UMTS(1700) in the UK?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
UMTS in the UK is 2100.
So 900+2100 i suppose

govnah said:
you can just put the phone on flight mode. that way no one will bother you with phone calls. (not tried it but i think it will work)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This definitely works. I do it every night before going to sleep

philliplavelle said:
Hi Everyone,
First post here so hopefully you guys can help. Been doing a lot of reading of the site over the last few hours since I got my Diamond - looks great. Am usually very literate in these things but have always tended to be an S60 guy so now breaking into the WM world properly..
Anyway, there are two things I wanna run by you which I'm sure you guys may know..
1. Battery/3G
As we all know, the battery sucks.. There's no denying that. I refuse to switch from 3G to 2G though cos that spoils the object. I have already conceded by turning HSDPA off and am now on normal 3G as it is. One of the things that can't be good for the battery is that it connects to check emails and then stays connected.. Whereas the beauty of the iPhone for example is that if you tell it to poll your imap server every 15 mins, it connects, checks and downloads and the disconnects. It connects again another 15 mins later.
I've set my Diamond to poll every 30 mins in the hope that it would then disconnect once it has downloaded the emails rather than staying connected for hours and hours at a time to the internet even though it's only checking my email server every 30 mins or so.. you follow?
So, I downloaded Advanced Customisation and have turned off the Auto Attach feature.. But what it does is stop the Diamond auto connecting the first time.. but then once it's connected, it stays connected to the internet.
You follow me?
Basically, I want a way for the phone to disconnect from the net when it has checked for messages then reconnect when it's time to check automatically again. Rather than staying connected or me having to switch to a manual check. Is that possible guys? Maybe that will help with the battery.
2. GPS/Battery
Other thing I heard was that if you go into the GPS settings and change the program port from Port 4 to None, then it saves on battery life. Only downside is that you then have to fiddle with the settings before you fire up Tom Tom or Google Maps. Is there any truth that the phone is always looking for GPS satellites even when satnav software is not switched on.
3. ALARM
Oh actually - there is a third question.
Is there a way of having the phone on silent but alarm clock on so that I can sleep knowing I will be woken up by the alarm but NO phone calls. It's a basic thing in Symbian/Blackberry/S40 but seems to be missing on my Diamond?
Thanks all - i have googled and searched through the forums looking for answers to these questions but had no luck.. Hopefully you can post some answers.
Have a good day and thanks in advance
Phil
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you need to set the auto disconnect drop down in Advanced Config. I've set it to 10 secs and it works for me.

govnah said:
you can just put the phone on flight mode. that way no one will bother you with phone calls. (not tried it but i think it will work)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is an easier way... Just turn down the call volume to zero, leave system volume up. This will keep the alarm ringing, but calls won't bother you.
SMS messages however will also still ring. So if you are afraid of being woken up by those, just turn them off in the notifications setting.
Oh yeah, and don't forget to turn up the volume of calls again after you wake up I missed some calls because of that, hehe.

App needed!!! task manager

Is there any application to kills all open app on the phone"aka task manager"
Is there a possibility to colse with one click all 2g-3g connection.
I received the phone yesteday and i was charged of 55 euros ....

mastercut said:
Is there any application to kills all open app on the phone"aka task manager"
Is there a possibility to colse with one click all 2g-3g connection.
I received the phone yesteday and i was charged of 55 euros ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean you want to turn off the radio?
Simple method is to go to Settings -> Wireless controls -> Airplane mode. NOTE: This turns off all radios, including WiFi.
If you want a icon to do this, go to the Market and download AnyCut and make a shortcut to Airplane mode.

no not turn off the radio , just close all open connection. cuz i can't see if there's some connection open !!!!!!

A little more description on your dilema would be apreciated.
Who charged you 55 euros?
Are you talking about data transmissions?
If your phone is on and you have service with some provider AND haven't installed any apps that require streaming data, you should not have any "open connections" as you say.

mastercut said:
no not turn off the radio , just close all open connection. cuz i can't see if there's some connection open !!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
anycut to 'phone info' might help.
'service viewer' in marketplace, but without root cant kill ;{

mastercut said:
Is there any application to kills all open app on the phone"aka task manager"
Is there a possibility to colse with one click all 2g-3g connection.
I received the phone yesteday and i was charged of 55 euros ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need for a task manager as the device closes programs on its own.
To disable all data connections use anycut to phone info (like said above) and then menu -> more and you can disable data connection for just that time or disable it on boot to disable forever.
If you were charged 55 euros for using data then you need to get a different phone as this phone is meant for an always on connection so it is connected 24/7

Well I have the same issue. There are no affordable dataplan in the country I live in so letting any application use as much network as it feels like is not an option.
Sadly the phone does not have a way to control who's allowed to use the radio/network or anything for that matter past the installation time. So if pong3d has been installed with full network access you're screwed it can wake up at any time and start streaming whatever it wants from and to your phone. It can even clog your bandwidth and make your browsing suck.
I understand the whole fully connected device thing, but I still think this is a major flaw as users end-up with limited control over what application is doing what. There should be a way to disable data connection, like disabling wifi.
And ultimately there should be a way to manage the permission of the various app. I want to run pong3d but there is no way I'm giving it Contact Access and SMS access and "service that cost you money". Or I want a fair warning "accept/deny" whenever the application tries...
It also happens that people travel (like me) to other countries. And when traveling I use local pre-paid SIM card to avoid roaming fees. I don't need gtalk and MarioSimulator (yeah it does check for update when you launch it) to burn through my credit just because they think they can.
Since we had networking on phone they have been asking you if you wanted to allow the application to connect "Always/Never/Just this time". If Android expect to be used on other devices (so other providers, other countries, other dataplan) that feature will be needed. And the all or nothing attitude towards permissions when installing an app must be changed.
In the mean time, I suggest the original poster do what I do.. Delete all your APN settings and re-add them when needed. In my case just changing one letter in the APN seems to be enough.
my 2p.

mrboyd said:
Well I have the same issue. There are no affordable dataplan in the country I live in so letting any application use as much network as it feels like is not an option.
Sadly the phone does not have a way to control who's allowed to use the radio/network or anything for that matter past the installation time. So if pong3d has been installed with full network access you're screwed it can wake up at any time and start streaming whatever it wants from and to your phone. It can even clog your bandwidth and make your browsing suck.
I understand the whole fully connected device thing, but I still think this is a major flaw as users end-up with limited control over what application is doing what. There should be a way to disable data connection, like disabling wifi.
And ultimately there should be a way to manage the permission of the various app. I want to run pong3d but there is no way I'm giving it Contact Access and SMS access and "service that cost you money". Or I want a fair warning "accept/deny" whenever the application tries...
It also happens that people travel (like me) to other countries. And when traveling I use local pre-paid SIM card to avoid roaming fees. I don't need gtalk and MarioSimulator (yeah it does check for update when you launch it) to burn through my credit just because they think they can.
Since we had networking on phone they have been asking you if you wanted to allow the application to connect "Always/Never/Just this time". If Android expect to be used on other devices (so other providers, other countries, other dataplan) that feature will be needed. And the all or nothing attitude towards permissions when installing an app must be changed.
In the mean time, I suggest the original poster do what I do.. Delete all your APN settings and re-add them when needed. In my case just changing one letter in the APN seems to be enough.
my 2p.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely understand where you are coming from and I think once the OS comes out of beta it will be a lot better. In the meantime I think it is easier to do the method I did above as it just turns off the data connection and doesn't change any other settings. And you can turn it on or off on the fly.

neoobs said:
I completely understand where you are coming from and I think once the OS comes out of beta it will be a lot better. In the meantime I think it is easier to do the method I did above as it just turns off the data connection and doesn't change any other settings. And you can turn it on or off on the fly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't mean to derail the converstaion but... Google, out of BETA? ROFLOL!!!
That'll be the end of life as we know it!
Anyways... going back to the subject. Your trick is neat and I don't need it (T-mobile customer with unlimited data) but still usefull.
@ mrboyd:
As neoobs stated, you'll have to do that workaround untill Google does add such a feature, but unless you give enough stink (complain) about it, they won't listen.
You could go here to developers and see if anyone is doing something about it and "ask" for such a "feature"
http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers
Also, where are you located? Who's your service provider? What data plans do they have there, or don't?

On the same topic... if someone notices they have no data connection and want to enable it follow the same directions. I did this the other night when tmobiles towers were down. It helped me get connected again.

Does this thing works? I have tried playing with it a little bit and it didn't seem to do much. I'll give it another shot.

mrboyd said:
Does this thing works? I have tried playing with it a little bit and it didn't seem to do much. I'll give it another shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what 'thing' ?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Turn data off on schedule

Are there any applications to turn data connections off on a schedule?
I'd like to be able to turn my data off overnight, but knowing me I will just forget!
Thoughts?

It looks like WiSync Plus will work, although perhaps not on Hero.
http://www.gearsoft.mobi/products/product/3
I use Toggle Settings on my mT3G to turn off some data syncing overnight. It is not as thorough as WiSync Plus though.
http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-cooolmagic-android-toggle5-qzw.aspx

I'm currently in the process of making this type of program, it will do data, wifi, bluetooth, gps, all things you don't need while sleeping! but on a timer.

You just need to moderate the background updates for Peep, People, HTC Mail etc.
Mine sleeps with GPS on, always on data, WiFi off (I turn this on when I need it). Only looses one block overnight (as seen in Phone Status).
I also have 2G data only as I don't live in a 3G area. This saves a lit of battery.
Handy widget I use allows me to turn 3G back on with 2 touches of the screen.

nicelad_uk said:
I'm currently in the process of making this type of program, it will do data, wifi, bluetooth, gps, all things you don't need while sleeping! but on a timer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool let me know if you need someone to test it. I was thinking of writing one myself if nobody else was.
My phone goes down to 70% overnight. I'd rather turn all services all off so that I don't have to fiddle with the update frequency stuff for in the day.

I think Locale will do this.

simon211175 said:
I think Locale will do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed locale last night and realised it can make changes based on time, although you cant turn data off you can get a plugin which will turn google auto-sync off. They just need to add an option to turn data off all together!

perhaps I should have checked before posting.. sorry

simon211175 said:
perhaps I should have checked before posting.. sorry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well its good that you did because it will make others aware that you can use locale with time based conditions - I originally thought it was just location based!

Well its good that you did because it will make others aware that you can use locale with time based conditions - I originally thought it was just location based!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WiSync is also a Locale plugin. And it provides more features than the Sync plugin for Locale. Plus you can effectively toggle your auto sync configuration by simply connection/disconnecting from a WIFI access point.
WiSync Info

I would like an app that changes the sync schedule according to time of day.

Would greatly appreciate some help with Tasker.

In order to improve battery life and such like I want to accomplish the follwoing with Tasker or another app if deemed better.
1. Turn off Wifi and Mobile Data at night, lets say between 11:30pm and 6:30am.
2. Turn Wifi on when in range of my home access point, and off when out of range (I understand it requires regualar scanning of wifi but I always forget to turn wifi off when I leave the house so it must improve MY battery life)
Obviously though the first rule should override the second. I can set both up but cannot get the priority or execution handling rules to work properly, also do I need exit tasks?
Would really appreciate the help. Tried the app help website and searched but cannot seem to find out the exact settings required.
Thanks in advance.

I know it's not what you asked for, but http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.schwimmer.android.wifistatus could solve your problem #2.

There's a huge Tasker thread in the apps and themes section where you might want to ask.

Turning gsm radio off PERMANENTLY?

Hello all!
I was wondering of there is any way to switch.off.the gsm radio of the tab completely and permanently.
I found a solution using service code in the dialer but after resrtarting the device the annoying icon comes back onto the status.bar.
Thanks in advance!
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk

Are you trying to convert it to a WiFi only model?

theREDlegion said:
Are you trying to convert it to a WiFi only model?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup! But would be nice to revert if I change my mind lately
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk

Rem-X said:
Yup! But would be nice to revert if I change my mind lately
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seen that there are no updates here so I thought I'd stop by and ask how you made out?
If you still haven't done anything about it, have a look at this post

Just got a possible solution from frgking12!
I'll post it here if someone would like to try it:
I used Llama to create an Event called "Start Up" which will automatically turn Airplane Mode ON, wait 1 minute, then turn Wifi ON. This essentially makes it a Wifi only device and conserves battery life. Here are my Llama settings:
Conditions -
Phone Reboot > After Start up
Actions -
Toggle Airplane Mode > Airplane Mode On
Queue another event >
Conditions
Event name > WiFi on
Queue Delay > 1 minute
Actions
Toggle Wifi > WiFi On
Thanks to frgking12 again!

this method of turning airplane mode on and then enabling wifi also makes it so that bluetooth is disabled (and therefor won't work for my needs as I often use my apple wireless (bluetooth) keyboard with it.
unfortunately, it looks as if the post referenced by theREDlegion is a temporary fix that must be done each time you restart.
if anyone has an alternative, I too would appreciate the ability to turn off the gsm radio (and save battery life) as I too have a tmobile sgt and I also choose not to subscrube to 3g service but would rather use wifi all the time.
thanks in advance
Rem-X said:
Just got a possible solution from frgking12!
I'll post it here if someone would like to try it:
I used Llama to create an Event called "Start Up" which will automatically turn Airplane Mode ON, wait 1 minute, then turn Wifi ON. This essentially makes it a Wifi only device and conserves battery life. Here are my Llama settings:
Conditions -
Phone Reboot > After Start up
Actions -
Toggle Airplane Mode > Airplane Mode On
Queue another event >
Conditions
Event name > WiFi on
Queue Delay > 1 minute
Actions
Toggle Wifi > WiFi On
Thanks to frgking12 again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

cpgeek said:
this method of turning airplane mode on and then enabling wifi also makes it so that bluetooth is disabled (and therefor won't work for my needs as I often use my apple wireless (bluetooth) keyboard with it.
unfortunately, it looks as if the post referenced by theREDlegion is a temporary fix that must be done each time you restart.
if anyone has an alternative, I too would appreciate the ability to turn off the gsm radio (and save battery life) as I too have a tmobile sgt and I also choose not to subscrube to 3g service but would rather use wifi all the time.
thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My reference was only for the OP's original request which is an easy way to disable the GSM radio, and EASILY revert back to it working, nothing permanent. There are also widgets to do this but some of them are buggy. The fix outlined works well, the average tab user does not shut off their tabs regularly only the screen. The OP will not find that this is something they would be doing constantly. There are also scripts that can be run at boot, or apps such as Tasker which can automate these tasks.
A permanent fix would be to flash a ROM without a modem, but I'm not sure how you would get rid of the existing one. I'm sure some searching would get you places.

theREDlegion said:
My reference was only for the OP's original request which is an easy way to disable the GSM radio, and EASILY revert back to it working, nothing permanent. There are also widgets to do this but some of them are buggy. The fix outlined works well, the average tab user does not shut off their tabs regularly only the screen. The OP will not find that this is something they would be doing constantly. There are also scripts that can be run at boot, or apps such as Tasker which can automate these tasks.
A permanent fix would be to flash a ROM without a modem, but I'm not sure how you would get rid of the existing one. I'm sure some searching would get you places.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ooh, that's an interesting idea. shouldn't it just be a matter of restocking the tab, then flashing overcome (or any other rom of your choice that doesn't integrate the modem software), and simply choosing to not install a radio at that point?
I might experiment with that at some point (has anybody else tried it?)