Battery use on OLED when screen black but not "off"?
Hey, what's up. I've been trying to get my phone (oneplus 8) all perfect again, after I recently decided not to use fingerprint security anymore. I now use a password, which feels right, but when I'm just sitting at my desk it feels like overkill to have to retype it so many times when I'm just checking little things. So.. I'm trying one of those pretend-screen-off apps (Blackr) with which I can "turn off" the screen with a quick press, for the times when I want my screen off, but don't need full security (like, I'm not leaving my desk, cops aren't breaking down my door, etc.). Then I just double-tap the screen to turn the screen back on. If I want security, I use the actual power button to turn the screen off, and then when I open it back up it asks for my password as usual.
Anyway! I've been trying this for a day or so, and.. it just seems like my battery is draining faster. I think. Is it? I can't be sure, and I know the answer is to do some rigorous scientific testing, but I ain't got time... I knew someone(s) out here has been through the same thing and has the answer, so... anybody know? :)
Thank you!!
If you put it on standby properly, the processor and other components will enter a low power mode. If you just turn the display black, everything keeps running. And just idling draws more power than the dedicated power-save modes that just wake the processor and important components every now and then to check if something happened.
Thank you for confirming this!
I'm not sure if I can recommend anything. You probably need to let it go sleep properly. I believe there once used to be seperate settings for the display to turn off, and a seperate time to activate the screen lock. Either I'm confusing Android with something else... Or they removed that setting now that everyone uses a fingerprint reader. Maybe there is an app to control the screen lock. I didn't find one with a very quick search.
You are right. There used to be some setting.. I had it hooked in via Nova Launcher and some accessibility setting, where with one gesture I could "turn it off" without requiring password, and with a power button press I could fully lock. But Android has (fairly recently) removed that option. (Also, fwiw, I'm no longer on Nova, but that's beside the point!) Thanks for checking that for me.
I presume your phone can't enter deepsleep if it's not in Standby. I'm not that knowledgeable on that topic but another point (that might be practically the same thing) is AFAIK your CPU and GPU can't shutdown, as your phone is still on and rendering a black image.
This makes sense. Thanks!
I think that Android doesn't enter sleep mode properly. Also touchscreen remains active which also draws power.
That sounds right. If I swipe down from the top, there's my navbar, which very much feels like the phone is sitting there "on." ok thank you! Maybe this idea was a pipedream after all, but I can get used to typing my password more often.
If you are ok using location services then you can tell it to stay unlocked at various places. I use home and car.
Good idea, but yeah, I tend to leave location off unless I'm using it for driving directions or something. I'll keep it in mind though, thanks!
Genuinely not being critical, I don't know your risk assessment as you do.
If the phone isn't actually off, how is that any better than using fingerprint?
You can force a full lock at times if you want (I've always used apps like Gravity Screen for this, so I don't recall if it's built in now).
Just trying to clarify your use-case and risk concerns.