Android Performance Tips
Android devices offer users a wide range of useful functionality. The downside is often short battery life, meaning that as a user you may have to charge your phone or mobile device often, or even face the difficulty of running out of power when you need it. If you employ several specific techniques, you can increase the battery life for an Android-powered device.
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Home Screen
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Having many widgets on your Android's home screen uses up processing power. This eats up a significant amount of battery life, particularly if the widgets are carrying out continual processing, such as animated effects or connecting to other data sources. Widgets are essentially a way of having an application always running when the home screen is visible. For these reasons, a reduction in the widgets you have can improve performance on your device. Animated and live wallpapers have a similar effect.
Animations
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The Android operating system offers a number of features designed to make the user experience more enjoyable. Examples include the animated effects that take place when you rotate the phone to switch orientation and those used to transition between screens in an application. These can use unnecessary amounts of processing power. However, Android allows users a good level of control over these features. If you are not bothered about seeing these effects and would rather get more life out of your battery, you can turn them off within the settings section of your device menu.
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Task Managers
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Many different task manager applications are available from the Android Market; some are free. These allow you to control the applications running on your device and also to see which ones are using up the battery life. Some task managers are aimed primarily at letting you stop running processes to reduce the number of applications that are currently ongoing. However, some task managers also give you an overview of what apps are using up most resources, so you can then reconsider how you use them.
Synchronization
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The Android operating system is designed to sync automatically with other services, particularly the Internet services offered by Google. These include Gmail, Google Calendars and Contacts. Whether you need your phone to sync these services automatically depends on whether you use them regularly. If you are not reliant on them, there is no need for "Auto-sync" to be turned on. You can turn off synchronization for any or all services within the settings section in your device menu.
Data
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Data services on an Android device include GPS and Wi-Fi. These services are useful for many of the applications users run on Android phones and PCs, but they do use up processing power and therefore have an impact on performance. If you want to be able to use these services, you can turn them off and on as you require them. Rather than going into your settings menu each time you need to do this, you can install widgets providing you with shortcuts to toggle these services on and off.
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References
- Tech Geek Guy: 11 Tips to Increase the Performance (Speed) and Battery Life of Your Android Phone; Keshav Gupta; December 2010
- Android Tapp: 5 Tips on How to Increase Performance on Your Android Phone; Antonio Wells; September 2009
- How-To Geek: Complete Guide to Maximizing Your Android Phone's Battery Life
- TechRadar: Android Battery Life - How to Improve It; Gary Cutlack; June 2010
Resources
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