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Some Apps DO bleed battery when on Quick Start dock

S

samcraig

macrumors P6
Original poster
Jun 22, 2009
16,786
41,983
USA
Sorry - and I am sure I'll get people telling me the science of Apple's multitasking trying to convince me that there's no way Apps are running in the background or whatnot.

But after several days of testing - there are some Apps (like Words with Friends) that are draining the battery when "not in use" but still in the quick start dock.

On days that I have NOTHING in the dock, I am at between 97-100% throughout my NYC morning commute while reading with the Kindle Reader. If I have some apps in the dock during the same time frame I've gotten as low as 90-92%.

Going to do some more empirical testing (one full day of not opening up one of these apps at all vs keeping one open but not using all day long) to see overall difference.

So either some apps unfortunately are sucking battery life - or my phone, in particular has varied battery life. I typically come home with anywhere from 55-65% of battery left when everything is closed on the dock. On the days I've test the above, I've come home with about 30-40%. Same usages/settings/locations.

Would love someone else to test to see what they come up with.
 
I'll have to agree. GodFinger, which technically shouldn't be really running while in the background definitely destroys battery life. It's a killer in regular use as well, but I'm pretty positive that the battery drains really fast even in the background.
 
I really only had one instance when my some app running in the background drained my battery. My battery drained to 70% from 100% after one hour and was warm when I turned it on. I rebooted the phone and it was ok after that.
 
I've come across many threads claiming the same with Words with Friends app being the common denominator.
Maybe its something up with that app.
 
kaelell said:
I've come across many threads claiming the same with Words with Friends app being the common denominator.
Maybe its something up with that app.
Click to expand...

There a few others. I haven't narrowed down (yet) which others. But it's not just WWF. Although - yes - I do believe that WWF is a definite.
 
I have never had a problem with a plethora of apps in the quick switch dock...battery life has always been constant. all I know is every once and a while a random app may get confused and run in the background causing battery drain but this has happened in all versions of the iOS.
 
I was wondering about this myself as I see battery usage patterns. I'd think apps that are frequently looking for "updates" (new FB/twitter posts, etc) have the potential to impact the battery life.
 
ScubaCinci said:
I was wondering about this myself as I see battery usage patterns. I'd think apps that are frequently looking for "updates" (new FB/twitter posts, etc) have the potential to impact the battery life.
Click to expand...
Agreeing with what you said, but would like to add that I think those apps looking for updates (push notifications) are active whether they are in the quick switch dock or not.
I have also noticed a couple times where my usage time in settings is the same as my standby time after a number of hours. Closing all apps from the quick switch dock seemed to fix this. I didn't notice any large difference in my battery though.
 
I can't wait to jailbreak to see exactly which services are running, I got my doubts about this, but I can't denied I've been seeing a lot worst battery life when apps are in the quick switch taskbar.
 
I'm unsure if this is correct, but I assume that if an app is consuming/using RAM, then it must be using battery life. And apps that are in the multitasking taskbar are using RAM even if they are in a "suspended" state. You can tell this by running apps that show free RAM.
 
kas23 said:
I'm unsure if this is correct, but I assume that if an app is consuming/using RAM, then it must be using battery life. And apps that are in the multitasking taskbar are using RAM even if they are in a "suspended" state. You can tell this by running apps that show free RAM.
Click to expand...

Those apps shouldn't be using ram, they are "suppose" to saved they "current state" so they can come back quick.

RAM is always being refresh so it always consume soe battery, the really power hungry process is Writing and reading, so this only should happen when the app is quitted and them when the app is restore, when the app is on that "suspended state" it shouldn't be consuming any additional power since even when the info was already written on the ram, it is not constantly reading or writing (in contract to a real background service which is actually reading and writing constantly)

Now that is on paper, who knows what's really happening!
 
Surrylic said:
I'll have to agree. GodFinger, which technically shouldn't be really running while in the background definitely destroys battery life. It's a killer in regular use as well, but I'm pretty positive that the battery drains really fast even in the background.
Click to expand...

You have to keep in mind that while most apps quit running, some DO continue to run.

This GodFinger, in particular, is one. I know when I had that installed I constantly got silly local push-type notifications from it. This means that at least some part of it was always running
 
samcraig said:
Sorry - and I am sure I'll get people telling me the science of Apple's multitasking trying to convince me that there's no way Apps are running in the background or whatnot.

But after several days of testing - there are some Apps (like Words with Friends) that are draining the battery when "not in use" but still in the quick start dock.

On days that I have NOTHING in the dock, I am at between 97-100% throughout my NYC morning commute while reading with the Kindle Reader. If I have some apps in the dock during the same time frame I've gotten as low as 90-92%.

Going to do some more empirical testing (one full day of not opening up one of these apps at all vs keeping one open but not using all day long) to see overall difference.

So either some apps unfortunately are sucking battery life - or my phone, in particular has varied battery life. I typically come home with anywhere from 55-65% of battery left when everything is closed on the dock. On the days I've test the above, I've come home with about 30-40%. Same usages/settings/locations.

Would love someone else to test to see what they come up with.
Click to expand...


I may be wrong.. but Im almost 99% sure that words with friends doesn't even multitask. it sits in the multitask dock but relaunches each and every time you try to open it. so.. I really doubt that it could be leeching battery since it doesnt even keep an instance running.
 
ulbador said:
You have to keep in mind that while most apps quit running, some DO continue to run.

This GodFinger, in particular, is one. I know when I had that installed I constantly got silly local push-type notifications from it. This means that at least some part of it was always running
Click to expand...

That isn't necessarily true - apps could push notifications prior to ios4 if you remember - that doesnt mean it is running. (Granted it COULD be running, but the push notifications arent an indication of that.)
 
mrathee said:
I may be wrong.. but Im almost 99% sure that words with friends doesn't even multitask. it sits in the multitask dock but relaunches each and every time you try to open it. so.. I really doubt that it could be leeching battery since it doesnt even keep an instance running.
Click to expand...

"in theory."

And I agree this should not be the case.

But after several days of testing both with and without the app in the dock I can assure you I see a significant battery drain by the end of the day to the tune of 10-20 percent vs NOT having it in the dock.

All things being equal - there APPEARS to be no other answer
 
I have status bar memory switched on, and some suspended apps are definitely still using ram, so I'm not surprised they would use battery :(
 
There isn't any way it could actually be running though.

Outside of VOIP, Location or Music, Apps can only run in the background for 10 minutes when closed.

Push notifications would explain some of it.

Try turning them off for that App.
 
There has been a lot of misinformation about iOS4 multitasking. Apps can do a multitude of things in the background, if the developer codes for it--virtually anything except draw to the UI. The most expensive in terms of battery life, as I understand it, is GPS. There are ways to try to minimize that from the developer's side, but unfortunately right now there is also a burden on the user to make sure that these apps aren't running and the "recent apps" interface does not make this job easier. There is no way to tell (AFAIK) that an app in that list is still running and eating your battery or not.
 
Surrylic said:
I'll have to agree. GodFinger, which technically shouldn't be really running while in the background definitely destroys battery life. It's a killer in regular use as well, but I'm pretty positive that the battery drains really fast even in the background.
Click to expand...

I noticed a big change from when I had Godfinger to now ( I deleted it). That app really drained the battery.
 
huskerchad said:
There has been a lot of misinformation about iOS4 multitasking. Apps can do a multitude of things in the background, if the developer codes for it--virtually anything except draw to the UI.
Click to expand...

No. This is pure misinformation.

Apps can:

1) Play Audio in the background - if they are doing this, there will be a play symbol in the status bar.

2) Continue VOIP calls in the background - this should cancel out number 1 as you wouldn't want to hear music during a call. This would be shown with a "tap to return to call-style bar" at the top of the screen.

3) Use location services in the background - this will be shown in the status bar with the location "Arrow" symbol

4) Run, but without a UI for a maximum of 10 minutes after they have been closed (although officially this should only be used to finish tasks - like uploading a photo).

Everything else is really the same as it was in iOS3
 
I have WWF open in the dock all the time, and I haven't noticed the battery drain. Sorry this is happening to you!
 
Pandora sometimes has been running even when paused.

Several times I've played pandora, then paused it quit using my phone. I look 3 hours later and under usage my phone shows it has been used the whole time, and the battery is lower than it should be.

Then I closed pandora from the multitasking bar and checked an hour later, lo and behold NOW it's showing an hour of standby time under usage.
 
Just my own experience:

I have push notifications set to "off" and mail set to manually fetch, yet every time I close out of the mail app and leave it in the "last used" bar, it still grabs email.
 
a.jfred said:
Just my own experience:

I have push notifications set to "off" and mail set to manually fetch, yet every time I close out of the mail app and leave it in the "last used" bar, it still grabs email.
Click to expand...

Apple's Applications don't follow the same multitasking rules.

They have been able to run in the background since iOS 1.0
 
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