Develop Bugs

[Q] Advice... Google Play Services consuming battery

Hey all
When I did a search for this topic, it seems alot of people are having this issue.. So I guess if Google cant track us using Google Maps (Remember that always on), theyre now using Google play itself...
Im using an Unbranded HTC One M8 LolliPop 501 (v4.16.401.10), unrooted...
Googe play is consuming 50% of my battery usage.. I have "Location Services" set to "Battery Saving" Mode and "Location History" OFF. Ive disabled/uninstalled apps I dont use.. Twitter, FaceBook, Foursquare, Google Play Music, Google Games, Kids Mode... Ive also noticed that one of the google updates is "Android System Web View". I have read around the web and the GP store itself.. that this webview is causing mixed issues, so... Do I need this installed if I dont use Chrome.. I use FireFox (Both on phone and on home pc with chrome plugin).
Can anyone advice me of ways around this battery drain with the Goggle Play Services
Cheers

NightOrchid said:
Hey all
When I did a search for this topic, it seems alot of people are having this issue.. So I guess if Google cant track us using Google Maps (Remember that always on), theyre now using Google play itself...
Im using an Unbranded HTC One M8 LolliPop 501 (v4.16.401.10), unrooted...
Googe play is consuming 50% of my battery usage.. I have "Location Services" set to "Battery Saving" Mode and "Location History" OFF. Ive disabled/uninstalled apps I dont use.. Twitter, FaceBook, Foursquare, Google Play Music, Google Games, Kids Mode... Ive also noticed that one of the google updates is "Android System Web View". I have read around the web and the GP store itself.. that this webview is causing mixed issues, so... Do I need this installed if I dont use Chrome.. I use FireFox (Both on phone and on home pc with chrome plugin).
Can anyone advice me of ways around this battery drain with the Goggle Play Services
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can, at a start, disable all location services and the GPS receiver. That will help enormously. Of course, you won't be able to use things like mapping services, but you can always re-enable the GPS if you need those. This doesn't require root, and has a noticeable benefit.
If you are willing to root, though, you can use a program like App Ops to disable wakelocks for your top offenders. I disabled wakelocks for Google Play Services on every device I own, and there are no visible issues other than improved battery life. I'm not sure why Google has that service wake the phone up so much, but it's absurd. You can't kill the service entirely, at least not without taking out a lot of Google functionality, but it DOES NOT need wakelocks to operate correctly.

NightOrchid said:
Hey all
When I did a search for this topic, it seems alot of people are having this issue.. So I guess if Google cant track us using Google Maps (Remember that always on), theyre now using Google play itself...
Im using an Unbranded HTC One M8 LolliPop 501 (v4.16.401.10), unrooted...
Googe play is consuming 50% of my battery usage.. I have "Location Services" set to "Battery Saving" Mode and "Location History" OFF. Ive disabled/uninstalled apps I dont use.. Twitter, FaceBook, Foursquare, Google Play Music, Google Games, Kids Mode... Ive also noticed that one of the google updates is "Android System Web View". I have read around the web and the GP store itself.. that this webview is causing mixed issues, so... Do I need this installed if I dont use Chrome.. I use FireFox (Both on phone and on home pc with chrome plugin).
Can anyone advice me of ways around this battery drain with the Goggle Play Services
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem with google services. From my observations, I concluded that google services and facebook's location polling are the culprits. My solution is as follows:
Go into Google Settings -> Security -> and disable all options here.
Also go into Location -> Google Location History -> disable location history.
Also, you can either disable facebook altogether, or at least disable location polling to reduce the battery drain.
Let us know if this helps, so other users can take advantage of it.
Cheers

shirreer said:
I had the same problem with google services. From my observations, I concluded that google services and facebook's location polling are the culprits. My solution is as follows:
Go into Google Settings -> Security -> and disable all options here.
Also go into Location -> Google Location History -> disable location history.
Also, you can either disable facebook altogether, or at least disable location polling to reduce the battery drain.
Let us know if this helps, so other users can take advantage of it.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tips.. and I was actually coming online to share all my findings anyway Ive done all of what you suggested. I dont use "Life Intruder" (faceBook) on my mobiles anyway.
As well as what you suggested, I also .. Disabled/uninstalled the apps mention in my OP, then after some research Ive found that "Android System Webview" is only for Chrome, so Ive disabled it and changed to FireFox instead, cleared both Chrome and webview Cache in Apps, Rebooted my M8 and its on 80% after 19 hrs.
Another Massive battery drains which I found is keeping GPS Location in Camera turned on all the time. / Auto Sync turned ON and "Location" in Settiings set to High Accuracy. Turn asll these down / Off or Battery Saving Mode. When you install an App that uses Locations, such as Foursquare or HERE maps.. Goto Location and check the App is set to Battery Saving, Not High Accuracy
If your like me and a light to moderate user, who uses their phone mainly for Media ... Boomsound, Camera, BlinkFeed and gaming. Then I dont really need Google Location Services.
Also Turn Off GPS and WiFi when not in range. You can also Turn OFF mobile data, but I find 4G pretty efficient compared to 3G, so I leave it ON.
If you use Google Drive DroipBox or other Ckoud Apps, set them Download your Files over "Wifi Only"
Its just a shame HTC didnt create a Location Icon in the Notifications Panel, but its not too bad.
Hope this helps others

[Q] Location Services & Google Play?

So, I got the new 4.6.1 update, and I've installed all the Google Play apks. Things seem to be working fine overall. However, I can't seem to get location services to act right. I had Location Services and Enhanced Location Services turned on with only a select few apps turned on to utilize those services. However, every time I go back to make sure everything is working properly, all of the apps are turned back on. I specifically chose to only allow certain apps that I know need those services (maps, weather, etc.) in order to save battery life. My suspicion is that Google Play Services keeps turning everything back on. This wasn't happening before I installed Google Play Store/Services. Granted, this could also be the result of the new 4.6.1 update, but I'm thinking that this is more of a Google Play Services issue. Now I have to choose between having location services on altogether or off altogether which is less than ideal.
Anyone else having this problem? Is there a way to get Google Play Services to stop messing with things on my phone? I'll uninstall the Google Play Store/Services if I have to , but I'm trying to determine if there is a less extreme way out of this.

So, I may have at least partially answered my own question. The last time I tried to get location services preferences to stick, I had still allowed Google Play Services and Play Store to access it. Well, this time I turned both of those off. Now my location services preferences appear to be holding. The only exception seems to be when I reboot my phone. Then everything goes back to being on which is annoying, but this is acceptable for now. I don't reboot my phone very often. So, as long as my location preferences stay otherwise locked in then I think I'm okay. I'll update if anything changes.

I'm not sure what's going on now. The location services for all of the apps turned back on without my having rebooted my phone. If anyone wants to chime in with suggestions or theories, feel free to do so, because I'm honestly not sure how to stop this from happening short of just uninstalling the Google Play Store/Services.

Dowload freeze on google play!

Whenever I try to download apps from Google Play, it freezes in certain percentage. Then I clear cache in Google play app and Google services framework, it works good. Is there any solution to download without any interruptions?

I am getting the same problems, along with texts sticking at "sending" and after clearing data and messing with these two apps I can get them to work right. Have you disabled any apps or made any mods? I am rooted and have only disabled VZ apps like Message+, Cloud, Support & Protection. And modified the xml file to give write access to the external sdcard.
Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

shag_on_e said:
I am getting the same problems, along with texts sticking at "sending" and after clearing data and messing with these two apps I can get them to work right. Have you disabled any apps or made any mods? I am rooted and have only disabled VZ apps like Message+, Cloud, Support & Protection. And modified the xml file to give write access to the external sdcard.
Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is probably something interfering. I had this com.tmobile.pr.adapt just screwing with everything to where i couldn't even download titanium to freeze it. If you have su installed try to disable su in app and see if your getting those errors. If not just re enable su.

I didn't rooted my mobile and not disabled any apps. How to solve it.

shag_on_e said:
I am getting the same problems, along with texts sticking at "sending" and after clearing data and messing with these two apps I can get them to work right. Have you disabled any apps or made any mods? I am rooted and have only disabled VZ apps like Message+, Cloud, Support & Protection. And modified the xml file to give write access to the external sdcard.
Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tpanneer said:
Whenever I try to download apps from Google Play, it freezes in certain percentage. Then I clear cache in Google play app and Google services framework, it works good. Is there any solution to download without any interruptions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having these same issues. I have a Verizon G4, running stock Android 5.1. No mods, just disabled a few apps (Caller Name ID, Music, Music, NFL Mobile, Slacker Radio, and ThinkFree Viewer)
Whenever I try to update an app, it stops at a certain point, and the downloading arrow notification icon disappears, too. If i open up the "recent apps" window and swipe away Google Play store, the download arrow notification icon reappears and the app usually finishes downloading. Can't find any other fix for this
Also, I have been getting the issue with my text messages just STOPPING. a few times a day, it I just stop getting any and I can't send any. If I reboot, they usually start up again about 10 minutes later, but then will stop at some point as well. It's really frustrating. And, this seems to almost always happen at my home only. I took 2 trips out of town recently and texts worked fine both times. Within 5 minutes of stepping into my house, texts stop again. Verizon is looking into this, but I don't have much faith in them

i have the same problem, but it looks like when uninstalling xposed play store works normally again.
this is strange because the same setup was working for several days without any troubles.
also my alarm app "Alarm Clock Xtreme" stopped ringing and i had to use another alarm app.
maybe the new greenify beta update is the reason? the problems began somewhere around this update.

CheckInService Wakelock

Hi guys,
I am having a problem with the Google Play Service CheckInService wakelock. It is draining my phone's battery quickly while the screen is off. I disabled location and Google Location Reporting but it did not help. Someone suggested an app called Wakelock Terminator but it is not available anymore. I tried disabling the wakelock for all of Google Play Services but it caused the app to constantly crash.
Any help would be appreciated.

TheDoolster said:
Hi guys,
I am having a problem with the Google Play Service CheckInService wakelock. It is draining my phone's battery quickly while the screen is off. I disabled location and Google Location Reporting but it did not help. Someone suggested an app called Wakelock Terminator but it is not available anymore. I tried disabling the wakelock for all of Google Play Services but it caused the app to constantly crash.
Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I would do is back up and uninstall all the user installed apps that ask for location access to see if the wakelock disappears, then restore them one after the other. It might be a third party app trying to use the check-in services even though you blocked it?

android404 said:
What I would do is back up and uninstall all the user installed apps that ask for location access to see if the wakelock disappears, then restore them one after the other. It might be a third party app trying to use the check-in services even though you blocked it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only apps I saw trying to use location are google and google play services. I had turned off location but it still happened whether or not location was on

TheDoolster said:
The only apps I saw trying to use location are google and google play services. I had turned off location but it still happened whether or not location was on
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could it be an app that tries to use location, even though it's blocked? Tries over and over again?
You got tibu or something similar? Backup and uninstall everything and see if it helps (since you, understandably, seem desperate).

(Q) How can I disable Instant Apps for Android

Like the title says, I've noticed since updating to 7.1.2 at least 2-3 times a day I am thrown a notification for "updating Instant Apps" but it never tells me if it was updated or installed. I tried going to Settings -> Google -> Instant Apps and it is disabled yet these apps are auto-downloading and installing in the background. I have auto-updates off on the play store but this still occurs.
Is there anything I can do to disable or at least cripple the instant apps? I'm reading the purpose of instant apps is so you can try an application without installing it, I do not want to test drive apps like Buzzfeed so however I can disable it would be great

fatapia said:
Like the title says, I've noticed since updating to 7.1.2 at least 2-3 times a day I am thrown a notification for "updating Instant Apps" but it never tells me if it was updated or installed. I tried going to Settings -> Google -> Instant Apps and it is disabled yet these apps are auto-downloading and installing in the background. I have auto-updates off on the play store but this still occurs.
Is there anything I can do to disable or at least cripple the instant apps? I'm reading the purpose of instant apps is so you can try an application without installing it, I do not want to test drive apps like Buzzfeed so however I can disable it would be great
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, using Titanium Backup I couldn't find the package com.google.android.instantapps.supervisor but using a root explorer I found the application in /data/app/com.google.android.instantapps.supervisor-2
I also found saved data in /data/data/com.google.android.apps.instantapps.supervisor
I have no idea if this will prevent the service from auto-updating as it has been without permission but I know where it is now...
Update: Deleting both folders causing settings to crash when you go to Settings -> Google -> Instant apps, so it might be deleted off my phone entirely. I will update if I see the application re-install itself

Instant apps are temporary apps. So you can't uninstall them or disable it. It's a feature built into Android that is not going away. Your only option is to install a rom without Gapps. Otherwise deal with it.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

superchilpil said:
Instant apps are temporary apps. So you can't uninstall them or disable it. It's a feature built into Android that is not going away. Your only option is to install a rom without Gapps. Otherwise deal with it.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
deleting those two files seemed to have broken that feature.
My issue was that I disabled that service through settings as suggested by one of the google support pages but it would still download and install "Instant Apps" the service throughout the day, not the actual temporary apps themselves. So it's been dealt with lol

oh man, when i saw this i thought i had a virus on my phone.
especially when i couldn't find anything named "instant apps" in the app drawer

I am hoping that this will work for me as well. The first time I saw the instant apps pop up I just connected to a free wifi in Mexico and freaked out. This seriously bothers me. I uninstalled it and it came back update after update. I also will not be using any instant apps, so this is something I want to break.

speedee12 said:
I am hoping that this will work for me as well. The first time I saw the instant apps pop up I just connected to a free wifi in Mexico and freaked out. This seriously bothers me. I uninstalled it and it came back update after update. I also will not be using any instant apps, so this is something I want to break.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
some how it was pushed back on to my phone. this is not a permanent solution...

so I'm trying to disable this through other means now and I found something interesting? I need someone with more experience to chime in as far as what these* lines* do*.. and where I found it...
so in /data/data/com.google.android.apps.instantapps.supervisor/shared_prefs/phenotypeConfigurations.xml there are these three lines:
<boolean name="Supervisor__enable_instant_apps" value="true" />
<boolean name="Supervisor__disable_url_resolution" value="false" />
<boolean name="TestFeature__enable_test" value="true" />
I flipped the value of these three entries to see if this will disable it. I find it odd that for the first line it was set for "true" when the settings say it's off. I will update again if I see this come back. My coworker had suggested that this may be built in to the Google app itself? Let's see...

so I had to unroot my phone because I forgot to log into snapchat, then re-root after, and Instant Apps was back yet again. The changes I made to the XML file persisted but the app was back.
I think I found a way to remove it entirely. I used Root Explorer, idk what other applications would work for this. So I navigated back to /data/app/com.google.android.instantapps.supervisor-1 and I clicked the base.apk and I had an option to uninstall, I did this then rebooted my phone to see if reboots are why it fixes itself except the entry for Instant Apps has been removed from settings. This appears to permanently remove this feature.

every time I think I fix this it keeps coming back lol, I finally called Google Support and this is the first they are hearing of it. The application re-installed itself at 430-some Mountain Time on it's own, other times it re-installs upon reboot. I'm going to find a way to cripple it if google cant
I recommend calling support to let them know that Instant Apps is enabled even though the switch says it is disabled.

fatapia said:
every time I think I fix this it keeps coming back lol, I finally called Google Support and this is the first they are hearing of it. The application re-installed itself at 430-some Mountain Time on it's own, other times it re-installs upon reboot. I'm going to find a way to cripple it if google cant
I recommend calling support to let them know that Instant Apps is enabled even though the switch says it is disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same annoyances, "Installig Instant apps" notification appears randomly during the last month, and reading in the logcat they are updates/patches to the new feature, managed by finsky app (Play Store). The most scaring thing is that one time it appeared also during mobile data connection, which is not acceptable (and 800kb background data from Play Store). Google is being too aggressive with it. Why not simply integrate it and update it along with Play Services like the other 1000 google APIs ? !on WIFI!
Thank you for your tests, unfortunately the update process seems to be triggered by Google Play services itself or by Google play store.
I searched for related alarms/wakelocks in Amplify and could only found one wakelock coming from com.google.android.apps.instantapps.supervisor itself: .ExperimentUpdateService. I decided to keep it as this probably isn't the trigger.

ninestarkoko said:
I have the same annoyances, "Installig Instant apps" notification appears randomly during the last month, and reading in the logcat they are updates/patches to the new feature, managed by finsky app (Play Store). The most scaring thing is that one time it appeared also during mobile data connection, which is not acceptable (and 800kb background data from Play Store). Google is being too aggressive with it. Why not simply integrate it and update it along with Play Services like the other 1000 google APIs ? !on WIFI!
Thank you for your tests, unfortunately the update process seems to be triggered by Google Play services itself or by Google play store.
I searched for related alarms/wakelocks in Amplify and could only found one wakelock coming from com.google.android.apps.instantapps.supervisor itself: .ExperimentUpdateService. I decided to keep it as this probably isn't the trigger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah that's now my only worrisome complaint is that it ignores the play store settings and will download over any network connection. You can try submitting feedback through settings and suggest they fix this part so that it updates as you said. Thanks for the additional info, I'll try disabling that and report back if it makes any difference. I doubt that's the source of the problem though so I uninstall the apk so something else must be initiating it.

Thank you guys for this thread! I have the regular Pixel and have been seeing this happen... "Instant Apps" was disabled but somehow still updating either itself or something else, and I wondered if there was an additional switch somewhere to disable it. Looks like the answer is no. ?
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

So I noticed every time the play store found an update, magically Instant Apps was back. I began to notice that this may be a service built into Play Store and not the Google app itself. So I had an idea, I went into Settings for Android and turned off background data for Play services. Obviously this will affect quite a bit, but honestly I am at that point from fighting this feature that I'd gladly give that up. So far after 2 days I have not seen the application re-install itself. It has been more permanent that the other solutions I've had so far.
There's an article from XDA in Analysis and Opinion talking about Instant Apps and Play Store 7.8.15, apparently this issue is affecting people all the way down to the Samsung S5... although people are hesistant to believe this issue exists for whatever reason.

You can cripple it by restricting its access to internet via firewall. Unfortunately this method also drives up battery consumption as the firewall does jujitsu with "Google Play services for Instant Apps" - I am actively fantasizing about taking my baby sledge to this thing and going back to a "dumb"-phone that doesn't have all this drama constantly! I'm using an S5 right now. This is definitely a google thing. They have a similar self-install-without-asking "feature" on windows via their chrome browser. Just look up "SwReporter" in that program's directory. It self-populates with an executable as you use chrome normally and there is no option in the program for it to not do that. You can safely make a shortcut to that directory and empty it out regularly to restrict its functionality which is presumably for keeping an eye on you. I am also trying an alternate method of changing security to prevent write access to that directory. I have no idea how to do that on an unrooted android. Any ideas? And does anybody know how to cripple "instant apps" malware/spyware backdoor "feature" on an unrooted device without eating battery like crazy?

Today I noticed that Instant Apps was installing without my permission. When I clicked on that notification, it brought me to the Google Play Store. (In Google Play Store, I have auto updates disabled.) I have an unrooted Galaxy Note 4 and I can't even find the settings for Instant Apps under the Google settings. Why aren't the settings there? I found the app in the Apps settings called "Google Play services for Instant Apps" (thank you G1A). I cleared it's the cache and data and then uninstalled it. So I'm assuming it will not come back but you never know.
EDIT: Well the "Google Play services for Instant Apps" reinstalled itself AGAIN WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. Getting sick of tired of Google's POMPOUS business ethics.

If it reinstalled itself.... then his would require root privileges in order to disable.

yeah this issue is annoying, it seems to initiate the download upon every reboot and each time it checks the play store for updates for any of your apps.
I found a way to disable it but it required freezing the app through Titanium Backup. I have NO CLUE why I couldn't see Instant Apps before in this list but it is listed as "Google Play Services for Instant Apps." It does not re-install or try to even download, does not show in Settings under Google, but if you look at the app itself in settings you will see it does still run. I am not sure to what extent but yeeeaahhh at least it doesnt seem like it can run anything

No problem As an update, changing security permissions (specifically for writing) for chrome's target folder Definitely (in windows 10) serves as an effective measure to blockade its ability to regenerate itself. This same method also works for microsoft edge located in the C-Windows-SystemApps folder. I presume that the programming methods would be analogous with android on google's end. Anybody know how to restrict write access to a folder on android? So long as it checks for a folder existing and it does exist (multi-decade programming approach) then it attempts to write to that folder. However, because it's already running in stealth mode (aka background) then it will never show an error message when it fails to execute, and it won't report back either, as that functionality depends on the contents of the targeted folder it is denied access to. It should be effectively crippled without excessive CPU consumption if you can just restrict its ability to write to the default folder that it installs itself in. Any ideas how to execute this kind of blockade?
UPDATE: As a way to cripple not Instant Apps specifically, but an entire host of functionality on the android platform, something called "Power Saving Mode" seems to knock out a key background runtime required for this pest to run. Unfortunately it doesn't let you pick and choose what it shuts off, so other useful apps may lose their functionality too. Post if anybody finds a more app-specific method!

Does this crap have its own separate package? If so, you could uninstall it and make a dummy APK having the same package name. This could prevent "updates" due to signing key conflicts, but might also break things...