iPhone battery drain

Thanks for the response, Deb. I will wait until next week to see if Apple approves the app and if it fixes the problem. This is a show stopper, though; so if this doesn't work I will be forced to delete the app.

@Deb:

I'm curious as to how this works. My understanding is that the iPhone doesn't allow for background processes. Are you suggesting that reQall can poll (sync) its servers even when the app is not active?

I was having the same problem, battery dropping like a stone. Changed the sync to manual last night and things are much better so far today. Hopefully the update will fix the problem.

Deb,

First, thanks for taking the time to respond to my question.

Second, I was not leaving reQall active. I was returning to the home screen after use and the battery continued to drain.

I noticed that the new app was loaded in the app store today so I will d/l it and give it a try. I hope that it resovles the issue.

Deb, I understand what you are saying regarding returning to the home page stops reQall from running, et al. My experience, however, is that when I return to the home page after running reQall my battery dies quickly. When I uninstall reQall, the problem with the battery disappears. The ONLY common thread I can find is with reQall.

Tom

I am having the same problem. iPhone battery drains too fast even after I've gone back to the homescreen. There is actually a simple way of showing that its still running, go to Settings->General->Usage and look at the "usage" counter. Then go back to the home screen and put the phone in standby for 5 minutes. Go back to Usage and you'll see that the "usage" counter has gone up by 5 minutes as opposed to "standby". Only way to get around is too restart the phone. Haven't tried 2.02 long enough to see if it does the same but 2.01 definitely does.

Hi Deb,

I do need to say that I appreciate this application and your guys support tremendously. I really want this to work out.

But...

I needed to chime in for another view on this based on your 2.0.2 post. I updated upon release the other day and unfortunately (IMHO) the latest version is considerably worse with regards to battery drain (on the iPhone 3G). The reason i say this is that the previous version allowed the battery use to be throttled with the "manual updates" setting that i could control on demand. The latest version doesn't seem to respect the setting as the two intervals set resulted in the roughly 3 - 4 hr use window described above (i tested manual and 15mins yesterday). Besides the usage tracking pointed out above, the base of the phone also becomes noticeably warm as a sign of activity when the application is exited & the phone is also set to sleep.

The only way to halt this is the same.... you need to fully power down the device and reset. Any restart of the application kicks off the drain again making the remote iPhone app generally unusable.

As this wasn't really happening to me with the manual update setting in the previous version (and set in this version), I simply thought I may have left the screen active for too long or something similar. Not so. Without resetting the phone, I put the phone to sleep, plugged it into the usb charger and left it for an hour on my desk. My findings were that the battery usage is so great that the inbound usb charge cannot overcome the drain. It was at the same % dead on return. I thought my cable had faulted.. but nope. The moment i reset (thought being - kill any background procs - even tho there aren't supposed to be any) and left it for another hour, I came back to roughly 60+% from 10% (where it alerted me of it's impending death)

As i was using this from morning to night, and the fact there was a more usable iPhone version (for me anyway) is there a way for me revert to the previous version until this is rectified? I don't think that is possible. For right now my only usable solution is to use the website which kills the mobile strength of this service.

Let me know if any further information can assist, I won't have the luxury to tinker with this during the day as I need to device to stay alive, but don't mind it later on in the eve.

Thanks so much!
-phil

I have been unable to reply for the last week or so but have been using the new version of reQall. Even with the new version, I sometimes get very rapid battery drain; but, it isn't as consistent as it once was. There is something in the pattern of usage (eg, launch reqall, add a to-do via voice, sync, page to jogger, close app -- or some other pattern) that causes it to drain the battery. I've been heads down at work so I cannot trouble shoot to get the specifc pattern that causes the problem, but one of these weekends I will try to determine.

If anyone else has noticed the when it does and when it doesn't lose battery, let me know.

Thanks.

Here is a thought, if you go into the iPhone's settings and then into reQalls settings there is an option to "save geo-coordinates" . . . if we turn that off does it stop it from trying to figure out our location?

I just loaded this application yesterday and I'm already seeing the reduction in batter life too. :(

I have not seen any battery issues using Reqall on the iPhone. Sometimes I lock the phone while still in the Reqall app; others I'm at the home screen or some other app.

One note is that I have a 1st gen iPhone, not 3G. So maybe this issue is specific to the 3G iPhone?

I successfully used the beta version and installed version 2.0.3 this morning from the app store.

Thanks for addressing this issue. I work with many software companies and rarely do I encounter one that is responsive as this team is.

I did not test the beta, but I did do the upgrade and unfortunately did not have any better luck with the battery. Maybe there was a step in the beta loading process that made the difference. I have moved onto another application due to this issue, but I wanted to reply because I 100% agree with Tom. I was extremely impressed with the dedication to solving problems for your customers. I also had the lost data issue which I was not able to resolve, but I made two changes to the software in one day and didn't know which one caused the problem (which I should have known better).

Good luck with the future of your application, I think you have a great product . . keep moving forward!

- Kierstin

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back with you but I’ve been really busy. I do appreciate your company’s dedication to resolving this problem so I wanted to find time to reply.

I have the iPhone 3G, it is not jailbroken. I did select to track my location the first time I started the application and with the update it didn’t ask me that again . . . .Did the users that ran the beta un-install and then reinstall the new version to test? I’m just trying to figure out why it seemed to fix their problem and didn’t for me. Sorry I’m not much help. Good luck! :)

Kierstin,

When I ran the beta, I removed the application from the iphone and from itunes. Then I synced. I then added the beta version and synced again.

I followed a similar process to remove the beta and add the GA version.

All still seems to be well with the application.

Just added reqall within the last two days. I have found that after usage the iphone gets extremely hot and battery drain happens

For what it's worth, I'm having the same problem. This wasn't an issue until very recently, so it probably started happening for me after the most recent Reqall update. I did what Erling suggested, and was able to confirm that the the usage time does increase when the phone is off after having run Reqall, and I have also confirmed that the only way, it seems, to stop that is to completely power down the phone and power it back on.

I find ReQall very helpful, but couldn't understand why my iPhone's battery life fell off a cliff recently, just after I installed it. I'm using a 3-month old iPhone 3G. It's hard to say for sure that ReQall is the culprit, but my experience is the same as everyone else's.

I can't speak for everyone else, but for me, turning Location Services off seemed to have no effect.

Hi, I wanted to let you guys know that I had the same issue with another iPhone app. I have already un-installed reQall, but when I noticed another app doing it I thought I would let you guys know in case the two companies wanted to trouble shoot together. :)

It is called "Have2P" (it also has the gps locator feature)

Good Luck!

HI, have noticed this problem as well. In fact my phone is nearly dead for the first time ever.

reQall is the second app that I've encountered a battery problem with that has occured even when the application is closed. The other app is BeeJive IM.

If I restart my phone, and use neither app, I can last all day and have about 50% battery remaining. The second I open one of the apps, even if only for 5 minutes, my phone dies at around 6:00 pm.

Sounds to me like the problem is with the SDK and how it handles apps closing and deactivating hardware. Maybe when the app is closing the GPS module isn't deactivating and is continueing to drain battery despite nothing using it?

I'll endeavour to get the console log by tomorrow or the next.

In answer to your other questions:
1) IPhone OS 3.0 (7A341)
2) reQall 3.0

Thanks,
Simeon

I had an original iPhone and now have a 3Gs and have never experienced a battery issue - either on days I use Reqall or those that I don't. The lowest I've seen my phone at the end of the day is ~50% battery and that's on the weekend with much more frequent use.

Perhaps its a system settting like Push or Notifications in addition to running Reqall or a combination of applications and not simply the app itself.

I just installed reQall on my 3GS and have noticed significant battery drain. I came on this site to see if it was a known problem, as clearly it is. I love this app, but I can't live with the battery drain as bad as it is in the current version.
Has there been any progress on this problem over the past three months?

reQall is the only app I've installed in the past 7 days, and my battery has drained to less than 5% twice this week. This had never happened before. Perhaps it is a coincidence. I'll keep using it and see if it's a persistent problem. Thanks.

I'm just one more unhappy guy with the battery drain issue in my iPhone 3G. I'd never seen it before so quickly. Once i start the app the battery drops in a couple of hours. Please fix this problem quickly 'cause i really love the app!

Jessi,

I just wanted to say that I have had reqall on my iphone for a couple of weeks and have NEVER had a battery drain issue. I don't know how, but if there's a way that my experience/iphone can be useful to figuring out this problem for you guys, let me know.

I've had other small issues and you've responded pretty quickly, so I'm a big fan of this company and would like to help if it's at all possible.

Just throwing that out there!

I'm just wondering... I have OmniFocus installed as well and my iPhone lasts about a day. I'm pretty much a TechnoWeinie.... Is it at all possible that the two together on the phone draw more juice than one or the other alone? I didn't notice a problem when I had both on the phone at separate times.

I have just starting using Reqall, and love the app. However it is killing my battery, I set it to update manually, and that was a small help. My battery used to last 2 days, now 4 - 6 hrs.

iphone 2g
os: 3.0
the phone & all app's are fully updated
no data plan, wifi only
unlocked, on T-Mobile

Same problem here. Battery drains so fast you can almost SEE it go!!!!

Having had this problem,I removed Reqall from my iPhone 3G. I then reinstalled the latest version with the location service turned off; the problem hasn't recurred.

How do you turn the location service off for reqall ?

Under the "Save geo-coordinates" setting in Settings/reQall

For those of you with a 3GS iPhone (possibly others) and ver 3.0 firmware - try going into 'settings/notifications/reqall' and turn everything off here. My battery was draining from another app that also used 'push' feature. If I disable the push for this app, my battery drains like normal again :)

I just installed my application yesterday. Well, I have been installing and uninstalling for two days because of the battery issue.
At first I just thought it might be coincendence, but then I saw these postings. I have to recharge now once in the evening and once during the day.
does turning off the location service help?
I got the reqall because of the notification service. If I turn that off, I can go use todo or some other application.
Turning off the notification is not an option for me.

I take it you use the notification feature when you're on the move, and it uses the 'cellular data' part of the phone, and not the 'wifi' part? Unfortunately I use the wifi only, and sync it when at a wifi connection. I am no expert, but I believe the 'push' part of the phone keeps receiving or transmitting fairly regularly, and therefore uses a lot more battery. For some strange reason I noticed my signal strength also went a lot lower than normal with notifications turned on. I don't think turning the location service off would make much difference, not nearly as much as the notifications anyway. Did you try turning off the notifications to see if that is the cause?

Yes, during the day I can only connect with 3G or EDGE.

You said you sync then when you are connected to WIFI?
I have everythig set to manual, but noticed after every entry or editing Reqall will sync. So if I am in the Reqall and edit or add (for example) three different things, Reqall will have synced after each entry making it now have synced three times. Since the conncetion is weak and slow, this can take a few seconds each time.
This is where I notice most battery drain.

I have NotifyMe on my iPhone (am running a comparison test to see which applications I like best before buying) anyways, they also utilize the push feature and I do not experience any battery drain there.

I use my Reqall mainly on my cell phone, I do not use the website part of it at all, neither to organzie nor to enter anything since I am usually on the go, I do it all from the cell. I personally would not even need the website part of it.
So if Reqall does not need to sync for the push notification part of it, I wouldn't even need it to sync. It doesn't seem to me as if there is a lot of syncing going on when I use NotifyMe. If it does sync I can't tell on the interface nor is there any battery drain.

Maybe I am using Reqall wrong, or maybe it is not the best application for how I need it.
I like it a lot though, the interface is nice to look at, I think it is a powerful tool and the people on support are wonderful. I hope I can figure out how to end this drainage, otherwise I will have to just go with todo and hope they get the push notification working soon.

Don't know if it helps you, but you could try going into settings, and down to reQall and in the setup of the app, you can turn the sync to manual. Then when you want to sync you go down to the bottom right of reQall main screen and click the circular arrow icon. This could save battery life if you're entering a few items at the same time.

Just noticed on mine it does the same thing. It syncs immediately after everything I do even when the sync is set to manual. Maybe a bug in the software?

consider a mophie juice pack battery. my iphone would be relatively useless without one - http://www.mophie.com/SearchResults.a...

I love Reqall and was ready to pay for a years subscription for the pro version but I must say that the well documented battery drain is pretty obvious upon downloading this app. I think I'll have to wait, unfortunately, for a fix before I go for the pro version. I really hope this can be solved as I've been recommending the app to various friends.

FYI, I have one of the iPod Touch Fall 2009 models, and I do not experience this problem. I have Push Notifications turned on for Reqall and email only.

Good luck to those suffering.

Hi stewATPBw.
Do you mean iPhone? The push notification is to do with cellular data, which the iTouch wouldn't use.

Assuming it is the iPhone, can you give more info on your setup. eg. Version of reQall. Version of firmware in iPhone. Approx. long your battery lasts?

Cheers.

Ahhh, no probs.

Dave_D,

I have the iphone 3G. When I first started Reqall a few months back, I notice the battery drain too. I stopped using Reqall for a month or two. In that time I tried Todo, and OF.
Now that I am back I wanted to see if the battery drain was still there. I noticed posts still concerning this, but I also saw people who didn't have the drain. I wanted to test it for myelf.
I played around with Reqall, added todos, checked some off. opening,closing and so on. in about 15 minutes, I had lost about 5% battery.
Then I went back to my OF and wanted to compare. In about 5 minutes I had lost over 12%. OUch!
I use my Iphone a lot, and no matter which apps I use, I always seem to have to charge my phone once a day. Of course if I am using it to navigate, or have the google map on during a trip, then my battery goes much sooner.
But, on a daily usage basis, I need to charge once a day.
I had to do this using OF, Todo, and Reqall. (which now surprised me, since the drainage was so bad with OF.) I have a feelig though, if I were to run the same test again, that I would probably get totally different readings.
When it comes down to it, I have to charge the phone once a day.
I use push notifications, I don't shut down my wifi or bluetooth. I got this darn phone because of all that, now I don't want my fun to be taken away.
I don't know if Reqall made a change in the time I was gone, or if the iphone itself had a SP that helped with battery life.
The only time I ever got more life out of my iphone was when I "just" used it as a phone. But, hey, then why get an iphone...
I hope this info helped a bit.

Hi Christine,

My battery on my 3GS iPhone drains twice as fast as normal when I have push notifications turned on for reQall. I would have to charge my iPhone at midday and at night. Even if I don't turn the iPhone on at all, the battery would need charging twice every day. If I turn off the notifications I only charge it at night. And if I don't use the iPhone much, it would only drop by about 5 or 10% during the day, and wouldn't even need charging at night.

I did find on another forum however that some guy that also had an iPhone 3GS that had notifications turned on, heard his iPhone 'communicating' every minute or so. He knew this because he heard the interference on some speakers he had - you know sometimes you can hear when the mobile phone is about to ring because some speakers close by make a noise. But this happened very frequently every time he turned on notifications. It stopped when he turned them off. I'm not sure why notification need to communicate so frequently. Maybe it's a service provider side thing.

Having said that, I believe it's not a reQall thing. It's any software that uses notifications. Also I haven't tried turning notification back on since I updated the firmware on the iPhone to 3.1. I don't bother using notifications at all. I do everything through wifi connectivity.

The only problem I have is my reQall todo list is getting bigger and bigger :) It's a pity that reQall doesn't do my chores for me :)

On a side note...I don't know if you ever used 'Evernote' app. But QTech have linked reQall with Evernote (another excellent app.) Both apps. have to be some of the best in the app store. (By the way - I don't work for QTech :) )

Hi David,

Yes, I agree that is a huge drainage. I only achieve that if I am "shopping" in the app store for long periods (believe me, I could be in there forever checking things out), or google maps while driving.
I know exatcly what you mean about the noise the phone can make with surrounding electical stuff. I have a baby monitor on for my little one. I have the iphone next to it all night and do not get interference, so my phone is actually not doing anything when it shouldn't, except of course when a call is coming in.
I have push notifications on, and I fetch my emails. I do haver one account that pushes and three that fetch about every hour. Even with the email fetch on I don't get any disturbances neither on the baby phone nor computer speakers near by. We even hear it on the tv sometimes.
I own a ton of apps, but must say I do not have one game on the phone. I know I don't like putting games on my home computers because, eventhough they might be store bought, we have had a share of problems with them in the past. I don't know if this could be causing the drain by others.
In the beginning, for me, the drain was unusual since I came from a blackberry and I only needed to charge that puppy once a week.
This morning my iphone was at 56% battery, that was at 6am. It is now almost 11 and I am at 41%. I have been in out of Reqall at least 5-6 times already, checking emails about 10x, recieving emails through the fetch every hour, listening to voice messages.... and only lost about 15%.
One thing I do, I let the battery drain completly before hooking it up. So, I do carry the wire with me to plug it in somewhere, but that once a day might not be at night time.
So if at night it's at 20% I won't go plug it in. I will either play with it until it drains, or I will wait and plug it in the next day.
If I can only do a quick charge and gain a few %, I won't go and hook it up until it is drained again.
I don't know if that is helping, but I thought I'd mention it.

ha ha, I will check Evernote out. I was considering it shortly yesterday. I use "Awesome Notes". It doesn't have all the capabilities of Evernote, but I'm totally being girly on this one, and like using it becuase it looks cool. LOL

I believe that the battery drain problem is not related directly to reqall but is due to push notifications on the iphone being enabled. There are many discussions about this on the iphone forum at the apple discussion board (http://discussions.apple.com/forum.js...).

I have found that with reqall installed but push notifications disabled there is not a battery drain issue. Of course this disables the popup badges but if SMS is enabled the popups are redundant anyway in my opinion.