D/\SH
08-05-2009, 01:08 PM
Note this is a BETA version and will have issues.
About
WMLongLife is an automatic 2G/3G band-switching solution. It will keep your device in 2G when you do not need to use 3G, and will switch to 3G automatically when you do need it. For most users, having your device in 2G uses much less battery, and thus your phone lasts longer on a single charge. 2G also usually generates less radiation than 3G, so it will likely be better for your gonads (if you have them) as well (see this thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=473209) for a discussion about that) - think of your hypothetical future children!
Main features
2G/3G (auto)/3G (only) automatic band switching based on:
- Running programs and their needs
- Availability of Wi-Fi
- Availability of USB
- Roaming
Idle data connections disconnect based on running programs (note that unlike the registry tweak this does not break simultaneous voice/data)
Manual band switching
Automatically disable data when roaming (including AGPS)
Pauses applications while switching bands (so you don't get networking errors)
Several predefined applications supported
Support for HTC/MSM72xx GSM devices (GSM/EDGE vs UMTS/HSDPA)
Support for HTC/MSM75xx CDMA devices (1xRTT vs EV-DO)
Support for various Samsung GSM devices (GSM/EDGE vs UMTS/HSDPA)
How to use
The manual is in the post below this one. Give it a quick skim!
License?
You can use this yourself on your own devices, if-and-only-if you download it from this post. You are not allowed to (re)distribute this app, not to your brother, not to your friends, not to anyone. Cooking it into your ROM and then distributing that is obviously also not allowed.
I reserve the right to turn this into something commercial if I want. I'm not planning it, but lets just cut the crap and say it may eventually happen (avoid BS like the last time). Should that happen, as last time, people who helped out will get taken care of.
Is this guaranteed to save battery?
No, it is not. If it will or will not save battery is dependent on your configuration of WMLongLife, your 'average' network conditions, your radio, and usage. The default WMLongLife configuration will give you (also depending on those other factors) a nice average between least and maximum savings while trying to be not too annoying. Radio firmware is very tricky, and results vary all across the board. It is likely there is a radio thread for your specific device, if you are comfortable with flashing devices, flashing a different radio may give you better (or worse) connectivity and battery life. How your usage effects all this should be obvious: if all you do with your phone is watch YouTube until the battery goes flat, WMLongLife will not help you [at all]. If you pretty much use at as a phone with additional email and some browsing / Google Maps here and there, you may definitely see benefits. It all depends.
Now let's get to the most interesting part: network conditions. 3G [at least in theory] uses less battery than 2G under ideal conditions. However, these ideal conditions are hardly ever reached. A lot of battery is spent finding a decent/better 3G signal to use instead of 2G - and I mean a lot. If 3G is few-bars or just an unreliable signal in your area, your device will not just use a lot, it will use massive amounts of battery trying to get a 3G signal. Aside from that, if the conditions are less than ideal, 2G may use less power than 3G. As an example, I am personally in an area with excellent 3G coverage (5 out of 5 bars of HSDPA) and my device still lasts nearly twice as long on a single charge with WMLongLife running. Your mileage may vary, of course. While it is completely possible that it may not make a relevant difference in your case, I would say there will be many people who this does make a difference for. This is also the reason you will see many people advising in "battery saving" threads to disable 3G and attesting to how much battery it saves for them, and others will always respond that it doesn't make a difference [for them].
Having an idle(!) data connection should theoretically not make a difference with power usage, you have the connection anyway, it's just a question about whether you have an IP or not. However, some background applications (inside services mostly) will initiate data transfers if (and only if) a data connection is already up. So if you have an idle data connection, these applications would start using data, while if you did not have a data connection (connected), they would not.
Supported devices
This is a list of device it should work on, most of them have not been reported to work since 0.2, though.
HTC Touch Cruise
HTC TyTN II
HTC Touch Diamond [B]GSM + CDMA
HTC Touch Pro GSM + CDMA
HTC Touch HD
HTC Touch Diamond II GSM
HTC Touch Pro II GSM
Samsung i780
Samsung Omnia GSM
Samsung Omnia II GSM
Sony Ericsson Xperia X1
Palm Treo Pro
Suspected to work on (never been tested, not even on 0.2):
HTC Titan/Mogul
HTC Vogue
HTC Touch 3G
HTC Touch Cruise II
HTC MAX 4G
HTC Touch Diamond II CDMA
HTC Touch Pro II CDMA
Samsung Epix
Important release notes
A lot of code has changed the past two weeks and I'm sorry to say not everything has been tested deeply and/or repeatedly after all these changes. Unexpected switches may happen, I may have overlooked certain combinations of states and what it results in, etc. Feel free to comment on unexpected behavior, including what you did expect to happen, and/or what you actually wanted to happen. Please include details about the device you are using.
It has all gotten horribly complicated, much more than expected.
Currently known issues and problems are listed in the 4th post of this thread.
Download
Version 0.1 and 0.2 are provided for historic reasons... I doubt you'll want to use them, but who knows. 0.6 will stop working on the first of October, but 0.7 should long be out by then.
original thread can be found here with download link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=478519
About
WMLongLife is an automatic 2G/3G band-switching solution. It will keep your device in 2G when you do not need to use 3G, and will switch to 3G automatically when you do need it. For most users, having your device in 2G uses much less battery, and thus your phone lasts longer on a single charge. 2G also usually generates less radiation than 3G, so it will likely be better for your gonads (if you have them) as well (see this thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=473209) for a discussion about that) - think of your hypothetical future children!
Main features
2G/3G (auto)/3G (only) automatic band switching based on:
- Running programs and their needs
- Availability of Wi-Fi
- Availability of USB
- Roaming
Idle data connections disconnect based on running programs (note that unlike the registry tweak this does not break simultaneous voice/data)
Manual band switching
Automatically disable data when roaming (including AGPS)
Pauses applications while switching bands (so you don't get networking errors)
Several predefined applications supported
Support for HTC/MSM72xx GSM devices (GSM/EDGE vs UMTS/HSDPA)
Support for HTC/MSM75xx CDMA devices (1xRTT vs EV-DO)
Support for various Samsung GSM devices (GSM/EDGE vs UMTS/HSDPA)
How to use
The manual is in the post below this one. Give it a quick skim!
License?
You can use this yourself on your own devices, if-and-only-if you download it from this post. You are not allowed to (re)distribute this app, not to your brother, not to your friends, not to anyone. Cooking it into your ROM and then distributing that is obviously also not allowed.
I reserve the right to turn this into something commercial if I want. I'm not planning it, but lets just cut the crap and say it may eventually happen (avoid BS like the last time). Should that happen, as last time, people who helped out will get taken care of.
Is this guaranteed to save battery?
No, it is not. If it will or will not save battery is dependent on your configuration of WMLongLife, your 'average' network conditions, your radio, and usage. The default WMLongLife configuration will give you (also depending on those other factors) a nice average between least and maximum savings while trying to be not too annoying. Radio firmware is very tricky, and results vary all across the board. It is likely there is a radio thread for your specific device, if you are comfortable with flashing devices, flashing a different radio may give you better (or worse) connectivity and battery life. How your usage effects all this should be obvious: if all you do with your phone is watch YouTube until the battery goes flat, WMLongLife will not help you [at all]. If you pretty much use at as a phone with additional email and some browsing / Google Maps here and there, you may definitely see benefits. It all depends.
Now let's get to the most interesting part: network conditions. 3G [at least in theory] uses less battery than 2G under ideal conditions. However, these ideal conditions are hardly ever reached. A lot of battery is spent finding a decent/better 3G signal to use instead of 2G - and I mean a lot. If 3G is few-bars or just an unreliable signal in your area, your device will not just use a lot, it will use massive amounts of battery trying to get a 3G signal. Aside from that, if the conditions are less than ideal, 2G may use less power than 3G. As an example, I am personally in an area with excellent 3G coverage (5 out of 5 bars of HSDPA) and my device still lasts nearly twice as long on a single charge with WMLongLife running. Your mileage may vary, of course. While it is completely possible that it may not make a relevant difference in your case, I would say there will be many people who this does make a difference for. This is also the reason you will see many people advising in "battery saving" threads to disable 3G and attesting to how much battery it saves for them, and others will always respond that it doesn't make a difference [for them].
Having an idle(!) data connection should theoretically not make a difference with power usage, you have the connection anyway, it's just a question about whether you have an IP or not. However, some background applications (inside services mostly) will initiate data transfers if (and only if) a data connection is already up. So if you have an idle data connection, these applications would start using data, while if you did not have a data connection (connected), they would not.
Supported devices
This is a list of device it should work on, most of them have not been reported to work since 0.2, though.
HTC Touch Cruise
HTC TyTN II
HTC Touch Diamond [B]GSM + CDMA
HTC Touch Pro GSM + CDMA
HTC Touch HD
HTC Touch Diamond II GSM
HTC Touch Pro II GSM
Samsung i780
Samsung Omnia GSM
Samsung Omnia II GSM
Sony Ericsson Xperia X1
Palm Treo Pro
Suspected to work on (never been tested, not even on 0.2):
HTC Titan/Mogul
HTC Vogue
HTC Touch 3G
HTC Touch Cruise II
HTC MAX 4G
HTC Touch Diamond II CDMA
HTC Touch Pro II CDMA
Samsung Epix
Important release notes
A lot of code has changed the past two weeks and I'm sorry to say not everything has been tested deeply and/or repeatedly after all these changes. Unexpected switches may happen, I may have overlooked certain combinations of states and what it results in, etc. Feel free to comment on unexpected behavior, including what you did expect to happen, and/or what you actually wanted to happen. Please include details about the device you are using.
It has all gotten horribly complicated, much more than expected.
Currently known issues and problems are listed in the 4th post of this thread.
Download
Version 0.1 and 0.2 are provided for historic reasons... I doubt you'll want to use them, but who knows. 0.6 will stop working on the first of October, but 0.7 should long be out by then.
original thread can be found here with download link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=478519