Purdue University and Microsoft recently conducted a study and revealed that approximately 75 percent of the battery power consumed by a smartphone app is used to serve third-party ads. This study covered various popular smartphone applications such as Android Browser, Angry Birds and other Ravio games. It was also reported that the application download manager at The New York Times consumes a large amount of power even after its main operation is completed, to download news. The study mainly includes users who use free apps and avoid paying money to remove apps. Software developers for Android phones have suggested that users should use the free app on a trial basis and once they find it useful, they should purchase it to remove the ads. The longer you use free apps, the sooner your battery life will run out. Users need to take care of the battery because it is many times more expensive than a small app fee. The study only involved Android apps, not Windows Phone or iPhone apps.
The study was conducted using a tool called eprof. He found that many applications spend considerable time performing I/O functions, including accessing Wi-Fi or 3G data. The study also revealed that numerous apps have a hidden feature to keep a device running in full power mode even after the app operation is complete. Rovio’s Angry Birds, for example, has a third-party ad network that consumes 45 percent of the total power consumed by the app. Opening the Android search page in the native browser consumes 20,000 µAH and around 31-16% are used for 3G and GPS.
In testing, a sample application was found dedicated to establishing a connection to a remote server and sent 5 data packets. Even after the app completed its operation, its 3D radio was found active for an additional 6 seconds which wasted 57 more present of the total power consumed by the app.
Hundreds of other applications also behave in a similar way and cause provocations among users. It’s also a tough time for Android software developers whose apps are draining battery senselessly. The study concluded that most of the power consumed by an application is actually consumed by I/O operations that often do not correlate to the operations for which the application is made. Software developers for Android phones need to reconsider their approach to developing apps and curb the temptation to collect personal data from the user’s device. This is also advisable for business communities to go for Android scheduling as fair as possible that doesn’t drain the user’s battery for independent I/O operations.
