Does anyone know what the "usage" is really measuring?

[VydorScope]

If you go into Settings->general->usage you can see the "usage" numbers that have been a main stay of the battery threads, but I was wondering what they are measuring because the numbers do not fit reality as I understand it.

For example, right now mine says 9 hours 21 mins idle, and 2 hours 50 mins of usage. Now I unplugged the phone at around 5:30 am, and its 3pm now. So that means the 9 hours 21 mins of idle time is probably the exact amount of time it has been unplugged. That leaves the question, where did the almost 3 hours of usage come from? A time warp?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Mine says Usage 7 hours, 23 minutes and Standby 7 hours, 23 minutes. No mention of Idle.

Perhaps time on WiFi is considered "Usage"? I work from home so have not been out of WiFi range all day. I have made several calls and used various apps.

BTW this is iPhone 4, iOS5.

 

[leanne..]

the usage show the amount of time the phone was being used.... checking / reading mail, Internet, etc...

 

[VydorScope]

Mine says Usage 7 hours, 23 minutes and Standby 7 hours, 23 minutes. No mention of Idle.

Err sorry meant standby not idle.

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the usage show the amount of time the phone was being used.... checking / reading mail, Internet, etc...

Cant, unless I feel through a hole in space time Or the phone could be idle and in use at the same time?

 

[protobiont]

Yeah, the phone has always shown overlapping standby and usage times... it doesn't make a lot of sense, but it was this way in iOS4 also.

Pretty much "standby" seems to mean "total time since phone last fully charged".

What is odd is that "usage" doesn't always seem to make sense. For example, yesterday I was paying close attention to this and while listening to a podcast for 30 minutes, my usage only went up by about 15 minutes...

So, I would like to know exactly what constitutes usage. Assuming that was a bug yesterday, I always thought that "usage" meant anything other than the phone just sitting there unplugged... but even that is vague, with all the various background processes that exist.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Or the phone could be idle (standby) and in use at the same time?

Apparently.

I put mine into airplane mode for a couple of minutes. Now I see Usage of 7 hours, 44 minutes and Standby of 7 hours, 46 minutes. As mentioned above I have made calls on the phone today, so it appears that "Standby" time is actually just time the phone has been powered up since last charge.

 

[VydorScope]

What is odd is that "usage" doesn't always seem to make sense. For example, yesterday I was paying close attention to this and while listening to a podcast for 30 minutes, my usage only went up by about 15 minutes.

Maybe it means CPU time then? If it only used 50% of the CPU to play your music, then 30 mins of play time = 15 mins of CPU time?

 

[soLoredd]

Apparently.

I put mine into airplane mode for a couple of minutes. Now I see Usage of 7 hours, 44 minutes and Standby of 7 hours, 46 minutes. As mentioned above I have made calls on the phone today, so it appears that "Standby" time is actually just time the phone has been powered up since last charge.

That's how I've always interpreted "Standby" - simply time after full charge.

"Usage" I believe is any time the phone has to do something other than sitting there asleep. Even if it checks for Mail or you have a notification. As the quote suggests, putting into Airplane Mode showed an increase in Standby but not Usage because in Airplane Mode nothing is "On" unless you trigger it yourself (i.e. turn Wi-Fi on or play music/movies, etc.).

Seems pretty simple to me, really.

 

[adztaylor]

This is the official explanation from Apple's own website if anyone is interested:

Usage: Amount of time iPhone has been awake and in use since the last full charge. The phone is awake when you’re on a call, using email, listening to music, browsing the web, or sending and receiving text messages, or during certain background tasks such as auto-checking email.

Standby: Amount of time iPhone has been powered on since its last full charge, including the time the phone has been asleep.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html

 

[protobiont]

This is the official explanation from Apple's own website if anyone is interested:



http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html

Awwwwww.....Why'd you have to go and spoil our conjecture with actual facts?

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Maybe it means CPU time then? If it only used 50% of the CPU to play your music, then 30 mins of play time = 15 mins of CPU time?

I doubt it, I think it was a bug, or I made a mistake. It certainly wasn't consistent.

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Apparently.

I put mine into airplane mode for a couple of minutes. Now I see Usage of 7 hours, 44 minutes and Standby of 7 hours, 46 minutes. As mentioned above I have made calls on the phone today, so it appears that "Standby" time is actually just time the phone has been powered up since last charge.

Your usage time seems alarmingly high. Were you actually listening to music or something that whole time?

 

[jclardy]

Yeah, the phone has always shown overlapping standby and usage times... it doesn't make a lot of sense, but it was this way in iOS4 also.

Pretty much "standby" seems to mean "total time since phone last fully charged".

What is odd is that "usage" doesn't always seem to make sense. For example, yesterday I was paying close attention to this and while listening to a podcast for 30 minutes, my usage only went up by about 15 minutes...

So, I would like to know exactly what constitutes usage. Assuming that was a bug yesterday, I always thought that "usage" meant anything other than the phone just sitting there unplugged... but even that is vague, with all the various background processes that exist.

I am thinking Usage only includes time when the screen is on. So playing music or a podcast while the screen is off doesn't count.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Your usage time seems alarmingly high. Were you actually listening to music or something that whole time?

Nope. Wifi on and connected the whole time, Bluetooth on but not connected. Email set to Push (from Gmail / Google Apps). No location-based reminders, location arrow not showing in the top bar.

Currently showing Usage 8 hours, 39 minutes and Standby 8 hours, 41 minutes.

I have been on the phone at least 30 minutes today, plus emails and some apps, but for the most part the phone has been sitting on my desk with screen off (no music playing or anything of that nature all day). Battery is now at 72%, BTW.

I'll be leaving the house in about 2 hours (leaving WiFi coverage) so curious to see if I'll still rack up Usage or not. If so, then it's probably the Push email??? If not, then I'm guessing being connected to WiFi is "Usage" no matter what else is going on.

 

[protobiont]

Nope. Wifi on and connected the whole time, Bluetooth on but not connected. Email set to Push (from Gmail / Google Apps). No location-based reminders, location arrow not showing in the top bar.

Currently showing Usage 8 hours, 39 minutes and Standby 8 hours, 41 minutes.

I have been on the phone at least 30 minutes today, plus emails and some apps, but for the most part the phone has been sitting on my desk with screen off (no music playing or anything of that nature all day). Battery is now at 72%, BTW.

I'll be leaving the house in about 2 hours (leaving WiFi coverage) so curious to see if I'll still rack up Usage or not. If so, then it's probably the Push email??? If not, then I'm guessing being connected to WiFi is "Usage" no matter what else is going on.

hmmm... that seems odd and doesn't jive with the official explanation. When I get home and on wifi, I'll see if I get similar behavior.

 

[shikari89]

I am thinking Usage only includes time when the screen is on. So playing music or a podcast while the screen is off doesn't count.

There is nothing measuring the amount of screen time. Usage is when you are doing anything besides sitting idle with the phone. Even playing music counts as usage, or gps in the background while the screen is off. I really wish apple did add in screen time, thats one nice thing about android phones.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I'll be leaving the house in about 2 hours (leaving WiFi coverage) so curious to see if I'll still rack up Usage or not. If so, then it's probably the Push email??? If not, then I'm guessing being connected to WiFi is "Usage" no matter what else is going on.

Didn't have to leave, I just turned off WiFi

Now showing Usage 8 Hours 53 minutes, Standby 9 hours 59 minutes. So apparently WiFi connected counts as usage no matter what? That's the only change I made so that is the only conclusion I can draw.

Never looked at it before this thread so I guess it's an academic question for me but battery life is good (now 68%) so I have no complaints.