Battery draining

GHqBD_1942

Hello, I started using GrapheneOS using a pixel 8 like 6 months ago. I found that the battery started draining during the night for no reason, from 89% to 66% with airplane mode and battery saving mode. when checked in settings what app was causing this, it said it was system apps and not one I installed.

At first I tried lots of things like entering developer mode and limiting processes but it didn't change nothing so I sent an email to GrapheneOS contact email looking for answers. They told me that it was how I have it set up like the apps I installed, they also said that I shouldn't change any settings in the developer mode and that the battery stats are not accurate so I didn't knew what app was causing this.

After this I did a factory reset to my device not long ago and this time I did not touch developer mode, it worked for a while but then it started again, and I'm not sure if it was caused by an app because when I installed everything I needed and work correctly, it was after a week when it started again.

Right now I have two profiles with these apps installed:
Aurora store, Briar, F-droid, KeePassDX, Metro, Newpipe, ProtonVPN, and the rest of the system apps
I didn't make significant changes in the setting, just disabling the screensaver not much else.

So now I don't know what else I should do to make the battery last longer and make it more efficient and I wonder if this happened to more users.

Should I reinstall the OS again from a computer?
Is this battery draining caused by virus or an error during the system installation?
If not what should I do? what settings do I need to change?

DeletedUser396

GHqBD_1942
Briar if left on all the time will drain a battery. I use it and make use of an old android tablet with Briar mailbox set up. That way I can log out of Briar, and when I log back in can check for messages. This way my battery lasts longer. But then you must know how to operate Briar...

I don't use a VPN of any sort, but just by its design being on 24/7 it must be a significant drain on the battery

linux-dev

Briar for example drains battery faster than other apps, since it does not make use of a push service but has to constantly stay connected, but this shoud not cause drain when airplane mode is on.

Not sure if this works on grapheneos, last time I did this was on calyxos, but you can get a detailed consumption statistic using this method:

https://developer.android.com/topic/performance/power/setup-battery-historian

GHqBD_1942

linux-dev
I saw the link and it says its not actively maintained but I'll check it out thanks!

GrapheneOS

linux-dev Changed the link to be English instead of German.

BoredHusky

Do you use more than one sim? If so, that could likely be the issue.

GHqBD_1942

BoredHusky
No, I don't even have one sim on my device, Having a sim makes the battery drain even more?

BoredHusky

GHqBD_1942 Yes, a lot, from my experience. A single e-sim drains much less than dual setup. Without any sim at all, you should have even better battery life. My phone can withstand a full day of heavy use with 15-20% left at the end of the day or a couple of days with very light use. This is with 24/7 VPN usage.

If you're going to reinstall through a PC, I suggest you burn a clean copy of Linux Mint/Ubuntu to a USB and boot through that and do the manual install with adb/fastboot to be in full control of the process.

linux-dev

GHqBD_1942 FYI, I just used the tool with a report for my pixel 9 and grapheneos 16. It still works, but you have to pull from docker:

In order to properly create a report you would do the following:

adb shell dumpsys batterystats --reset
adb shell dumpsys batterystats --enable full-wake-history

Then let the phone sit for a few hours, then create the report:

adb bugreport battery.zip

Now spin up battery historian docker:

docker -- run -p 20000:9999 itachi1706/battery-historian:stable-3.1 --port 9999

open a browser an go to localhost:20000

upload battery.zip

GHqBD_1942

I have noticed the the draining is not continuous and it doesn't happens all the time.
I don't have a Briar account yet and I don't use it so I don't think this is the cause of the draining.
So its normal that the system itself uses so much battery?

GHqBD_1942

I'm going to try reinstalling the system from a computer. Can I use fedora with Librewolf?? or I need specifically the system and browser that says on the website.

Dumdum

GHqBD_1942 fedora

Should be able to.

Librewolf

No. Firefox browsers don't have WebUSB if i recall.

need specifically the system and browser that says on the website.

Ideally yes. That's why the instructions have them.

harp

GHqBD_1942 Can I use fedora with Librewolf??

It's highly recommended to use a Chromium-based browser like the ones listed in the install section on GOS' website. You could simply install Brave (but disable Brave shields before and during the installation). Fedora is not officially supported but it may work. You may have to install some additional packages like android tools, add udev rules for that and maybe other stuff. It could be a little complicated, see here: https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/help-installing-grapheneos-from-fedora/114113.

If you have the chance to use one of the officially supported systems, it might be better to do so.

GHqBD_1942

BoredHusky
Well, I already installed with Windows 11 using Brave, I'm going to see if the battery keeps draining with absolutely nothing installed. If this fails I'll try you suggestion, thanks

GHqBD_1942

Ok, the battery doesn't drains when nothing its installed, but it came back after I restored my data with my backup file, so I'll try to fix it by my own.

Is there anything I can try?

GrapheneOS

GHqBD_1942 We know there isn't a battery drain issue on fresh installs without apps installed. You can see that for yourself. You know it's caused by your apps and will need to narrow that down and identify which ones are burning a lot of power. It's best to start with anything listed by the OS as an active app which means it's running a foreground service. Open the notification drawer and check the active apps.

GrapheneOS

Marking as solved due to GHqBD_1942.

GHqBD_1942

I can't see any active apps, I'm going to try using Hali to freeze apps, but I don't know what apps are causing the draining, should I use Better Battery Stats or a similar app?

...

HIghQualityH2o

GHqBD_1942 Can you rebuild your APN profile? I had that issue after an update and found that i could only receive MMS and not send. I deleted and rebuilt my APN profile and problem solved with battery and MMS. I use a T-Mo mvno and it seems it may have been stuck on T-Mo network. Not sure if this helps but thought Id share.

GrapheneOS

GHqBD_1942 You should use the OS provided Restricted battery mode for user installed apps you don't need running in the background.

GHqBD_1942

what is a APN profile, MMS, T-Mo network? srry I'm no expert

HIghQualityH2o

GHqBD_1942 Access Point Name. It is under your SIM settings. T-Mo is just short for T-Mobile. An MVNO is just a Mobile Virtual Network Operator - a company that resells service of a major network. Some examples are like Total Wireless and Mint. You can search your carrier website and see if they provide the APN settings for their network. Mobile devices are frequently keeping in touch with their network. If they can't find it (maybe because of an APN issue) they continue to attempt sending data unnecessarily which can cause battery drain.