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So it seems like most Android manufacturers are independently adding their own aggressive power savings mode which kills apps - and prevents any background task

by npunt 9y ago

So it seems like most Android manufacturers are independently adding their own aggressive power savings mode which kills apps - and prevents any background tasks or notifications - just about as soon as they're out of the foreground. And users have no idea this is the case when they buy the phone. Seems like Google should just create a better power management system - or one that selectively lets through notifications without firing up the whole app - rather than have the manufacturers bungle this up.

BEEdwards 9y ago
Oh be honest, the manufacturers will just find something else to bungle up. They can't just leave the software alone, they all have to add mindbogglingly worthless cruft for no reason that makes sense.
- vvanders 9y ago
  9 out of 10 times it's the carrier and not the manufacturer. I always ran "worldwide" roms and the difference is stark.
  - flukus 9y ago
    It's the manufacturer, the same stuff happens when you buy off the shelf. PC manufacturers don't have carriers and look at all the crapware they build.
veeti 9y ago
The upcoming Android O update introduces standard limits on background tasks very much like these manufacturer "optimizations": https://developer.android.com/preview/features/background.html https://developer.android.com/preview/features/background.ht... The difference is that these limits have defined guarantees for developers: cloud push notifications can still wake up an app, apps can schedule periodic jobs to be batch executed and background services can stay alive using an ongoing notification when necessary. Right now, some distributions like MIUI will cripple your app entirely unless the user disables "battery optimization" for it, no matter what you do.
tomc1985 9y ago
If phone apps followed a proper runtime lifecycle -- start, use, terminate -- and phones had proper task management this would be visible front-and-center and wouldn't be an issue. And I don't share this author's view on notifications... most of the messaging delivered to me via notifications is neither urgent nor time-sensitive. Notifications are a nuisance
- khedoros1 9y ago
  I disable most notifications. Basically everything besides sms and e-mail (and only for some accounts that tend to get 2-3 messages a day). The ones that remain activated tend to be reasonably urgent, and the apps that receive them are the ones that I'd like to start as soon as the phone boots and keep permanently in memory. Or at least, I'd like my remaining notifications to be able to wake up the apps they belong to.
  - tomc1985 9y ago
    Me too, yet theres always more to block. Especially on Android. And if you do block notifications? Some apps needle you about it relentlessly!
- PhasmaFelis 9y ago
  The entire purpose of notifications is to bring urgent and/or time-sensitive things to your attention. If you're getting notifications you don't want, it's on you to turn them off.
  - yfufufucycf 9y ago
    Totally. I agree 100%. App makers have a financial incentive to make their apps as addictive and engaging as possible. Notifications are a key tool. The above article is basically nakedly advancing their own financial agenda, but it's for the greater good. Remove the structural impediment to maximum addictiveness. Let the users fend for themselves! Who cares that their battery life will suffer even if they opt out of a given app. That's the penalty we all must pay to live in a notification poppin' utopia not unlike the most acclaimed episodes of star trek.

by npunt 9y ago

BEEdwards 9y ago

Oh be honest, the manufacturers will just find something else to bungle up. They can't just leave the software alone, they all have to add mindbogglingly worthless cruft for no reason that makes sense.

vvanders 9y ago
9 out of 10 times it's the carrier and not the manufacturer. I always ran "worldwide" roms and the difference is stark.
- flukus 9y ago
  It's the manufacturer, the same stuff happens when you buy off the shelf. PC manufacturers don't have carriers and look at all the crapware they build.

veeti 9y ago

The upcoming Android O update introduces standard limits on background tasks very much like these manufacturer "optimizations": https://developer.android.com/preview/features/background.html https://developer.android.com/preview/features/background.ht... The difference is that these limits have defined guarantees for developers: cloud push notifications can still wake up an app, apps can schedule periodic jobs to be batch executed and background services can stay alive using an ongoing notification when necessary. Right now, some distributions like MIUI will cripple your app entirely unless the user disables "battery optimization" for it, no matter what you do.

tomc1985 9y ago

If phone apps followed a proper runtime lifecycle -- start, use, terminate -- and phones had proper task management this would be visible front-and-center and wouldn't be an issue. And I don't share this author's view on notifications... most of the messaging delivered to me via notifications is neither urgent nor time-sensitive. Notifications are a nuisance

khedoros1 9y ago
I disable most notifications. Basically everything besides sms and e-mail (and only for some accounts that tend to get 2-3 messages a day). The ones that remain activated tend to be reasonably urgent, and the apps that receive them are the ones that I'd like to start as soon as the phone boots and keep permanently in memory. Or at least, I'd like my remaining notifications to be able to wake up the apps they belong to.
- tomc1985 9y ago
  Me too, yet theres always more to block. Especially on Android. And if you do block notifications? Some apps needle you about it relentlessly!
PhasmaFelis 9y ago
The entire purpose of notifications is to bring urgent and/or time-sensitive things to your attention. If you're getting notifications you don't want, it's on you to turn them off.
- yfufufucycf 9y ago
  Totally. I agree 100%. App makers have a financial incentive to make their apps as addictive and engaging as possible. Notifications are a key tool. The above article is basically nakedly advancing their own financial agenda, but it's for the greater good. Remove the structural impediment to maximum addictiveness. Let the users fend for themselves! Who cares that their battery life will suffer even if they opt out of a given app. That's the penalty we all must pay to live in a notification poppin' utopia not unlike the most acclaimed episodes of star trek.