I got tired of my Nexus 5 draining its battery just sitting there in standby. Even if I turned the tablet all the way off, somehow the battery still drained itself (more slowly, but still…). I came up with the tips below so that I wouldn’t have to turn off the Nexus 5 completely between uses. I believe that a smartphone should be in standby and ready to go at all times.
I now get more than a week of battery life in standby.
The biggest battery drain culprit during idle time is behind-the-scenes software — continuously running, polling the Internet, or updating. On a Google device such as the Nexus series, most of that power-hungry activity comes from Google itself. So here’s what we're gonna do. Before we get to the Google stuff, let’s tweak some overall settings and Play Store settings to reduce battery drain in those areas:
First, let’s make sure you’re on the latest OS version for the Nexus 5. In Settings, swipe down to About Phone, choose that, then swipe down to “Android version”. When I wrote this in mid-February 2015, the latest OS version was 5.0.2. Check for OTA updates on the same screen, and update to the latest version if necessary. If rooted, install the latest custom ROM of your choice.
Once updated:
Hit your Play Store icon. Click the three-bar menu at the top left. Select “Settings” near the bottom.
Under “Auto-update apps,” choose “Do not auto-update apps.” (Why? Because that “feature” uses battery juice to download and install stuff whenever it feels like it, instead of whenever you say.)
On the same page, under Notifications, make sure “Notify me about updates to apps or games that I downloaded” is checked. That way you will know if something needs updating.
On the same page, uncheck “Add icon to Home screen for new apps.” Because it’s annoying, not because it uses battery.
Go to your phone's Settings.
Choose “Wi-Fi”.
Tap the three-dot symbol at top right.
Tap “Advanced.”
Make sure “Scanning always available” is unchecked.
While in Settings, let’s turn off some radios:
If you don’t travel much with your phone, disable Location (GPS). You can always re-enable it on demand.
If you don’t use Near Field Communication (NFC) for tap-to-pair features, disable that. You can always re-enable it when ready.
Disable Bluetooth when not using it.
Obviously, keep your device’s screen brightness as low as is comfortable. (The display is the biggest power hog on your device.) You can change the display brightness settings under Settings, Display.
While in Display Settings, disable Ambient Display. (Well, first Google it, because you might actually like the feature.) But it does use battery.
In Settings, under Sound and Notification, go to “other sounds.” Uncheck “Vibrate on touch.” (I have this setting on a custom ROM. I don’t know if the OEM ROM has it.)
When disabling or uninstalling Google apps, DO NOT uninstall anything essential to the smooth running of your phone. That includes:
Google Search
Google Chrome (unless you replace it with another browser)
Google Settings
Hangouts (you can disable Hangouts once you've replaced it with an aftermarket texting app)
Google Now (although we will disable many of its features and opt-out later)
Google Play
Gmail
Now let’s clean up a few apps. We will stay away from system apps, such as Email — because people can get into trouble uninstalling essential system apps.
It’s tough to keep up with every app working in the background or polling the Internet. So, in my opinion, you should uninstall any app that you didn’t specifically put on the phone yourself (system apps not included). This assumes that the app allows you to uninstall. System apps will only allow you to disable them. For example, I uninstalled:
Google Earth
Google +
Hangouts (after I replaced it with Textra)
Google Docs
Google Drive
Google Sheets
Google Slides
Google Fit
Any downloaded apps I’m no longer using, such as wallpaper apps.
For traveling smartphone owners, Google Now can be a godsend — always reminding you of what’s next, keeping you out of traffic jams, and keeping you on schedule. However, with Google Now, the Nexus 5 mic is always on and listening for that “OK Google” search command — which obviously uses battery power.
I found that I didn’t need Google Now at home, where my Nexus 5 sits 90% of the time (I work from home). If you’re like me, (or don't appreciate the privacy invasion and battery use), you can opt-out of Google Now — or at least stop the mic from listening.
We’ll start with the least draconian measure: stopping the mic from listening for the “OK Google” command:
From your main home screen, swipe left until you get to the Google Now screen.
Tap the three-bar symbol at top left.
Choose Settings.
Choose Voice.
Choose “OK Google” Detection.
Uncheck both “from the Google app” and “From any screen.”
If you don’t want Google Now at all (I don’t like it because it’s always updating something or doing something in the background), here’s how you disable it completely, while leaving full Google Search (and Voice Search, by tapping the mic symbol) functionality intact:
Start by disabling “OK Google” voice detection as shown above.
Then, in your Applications, open the Google Settings app.
Tap “Search & Now”.
Tap “Now cards.”
Uncheck “Show cards.”
You will see a message that asks if you really want to turn off Google Now. Go ahead and do that.
From now on, you can still easily search by swiping your finger up from the bottom of any Home screen. And you can still do voice searches by tapping the microphone on any Google Search screen.
I hope these battery-saving features do as much for you as they did for me!
U know 5.0.2 isn't available for the N5 right?
TheContinental said:
I got tired of my Nexus 5 draining its battery just sitting there in standby...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We already have two battery life threads. No need for another.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/battery-life-help-troubleshoot-battery-t2785128
http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/general/nexus-5-battery-results-t2509132
Ben36 said:
U know 5.0.2 isn't available for the N5 right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh? It's been available for this device since December, just not stock Google 5.0.2.
Hi,
As mentioned we already have an existing battery troubleshooting thread here. Please post your suggestions there rather than create a new thread for the same topic.
Thread closed
Google Keep notifications do not appear if the app is not open. Never happen to me on P10. Uninstaled it, worked for a day, again not working
Go to Battery -> App Launch and turn Manage automatically off for Google Keep.
Maybe also Apps, Apps, "3 dots top right", special access, battery optimization and exclude google keep.
Don´t really know why there are two options for battery saving to be honest, if anybody has an idea.....
Hi all
I recently did a gentle swipe left on the "Screen Lock Data Usage" notification banner to reveal the settings behind that notification. On the settings screen I saw a bunch of processes and few of the processes are just labeled in numbers. I've unchecked all of those processes thinking that it is going to disable future "Screen Lock Data Usage" notifications.
Unfortunately majority of my apps stopped working after the change as they can't seem to get connected to mobile data.
However these apps can still get connected to the internet via wifi. So I wonder if there is anything I did wrongly that resulted to this situation.
I tried looking up various sites to search for ways to bring up that menu of items again, but to no avail.
Please help. Thank you for your advice.
Have you tried minimal YT? I use it. It's spot on for YouTube.
In regards to the maps? Just enable the services again mate.
I just got a google chromecast with android tv and under settings - Accounts & sign in - (account)- I have no app only mode settings, these are the options listed
Settings Lock
Your Services
Autoplay trialers
Payment and purchases
Google Assisatant
Remove
does anyone have any idea how I get the Apps Only mode to show up or if something in my account is disabling it?
right now I am using wolf launcher in the meantime but I really want to swtich to app only mode so I can get rid of recommendations
I too am experiencing this issue. Have no problem with the first one I set up two weeks ago. This time, first of two more I received, "Apps Only Mode" (one of the few,, however significant reasons, I'm jumping Roku) is missing. I can offer no solution; normal troubleshooting (my third degree is in computer science, CCNA, and I've got major experience/expertise) gives no joy. I'll do the third tomorrow and hope for the best.
I updated my Samsung S21 Ultra (G998B) to Android 12 a couple of days ago. After that the default navigation app is set to Google Maps. I tried to figure out how to reset that to Waze but it can not be changed.
Before Android 12 is was just a matter of setting all apps to "not default" and a pop up appeared to ask you what you wanted to use.
But now it seems that you have to fnd the app in Apps and select the option "set as default". You can also choose the links that have to open the app. But when I want to set my default navigation app to Waze things go wrong. For some reason the links do not stay selected and are deselected as soon as I close the window. So there is no way to set the app as default. I already removed Maps but that doesnt help.
I already contacted Waze Support but the only replies I get from them is a simple answer on how to set default apps in Android 11. It seems they do not read questions.
Does anyone know how to resolve this issue?
I'm using this
Thanks for the reply. Nice app!
But it doesn't work when you want something through a browser. At that point is still goes back to Google Maps, either the app itself or Maps on the internet.