A lot of folks are having "issues" with battery life after the over the air (OTA) update and there has been much speculation as to the cause. My frustrattion level increased with each new post I read that did not reveal a resolution. The back and forth banter about FTC complaints (that was an interesting escape from the battery problem but not very helpful), new apps running from startup (I don't like 'em either), Linux really working better with all these programs running (don't really care as long as the battery level isn't drained after an hour of just sitting on the counter) just made matters worse.
I would like to share with you my experience and hope that it helps some of you who have taken the time to read my post. First, let me say that the cause is not due the the "bloatware" applications that were installed during the OTA update.
Secondly, the primary purpose of my handheld is for voice calls but running close behind is my need for immediate email, contacts and calendar information (which is configured through Exchange Active Sync). If you are not using your phone with Active Sync or updating a remote calendar like Google), you can stop reading this post.
I noticed that the yin/yang (sync) icon at the top of my screen kept popping up more than usual after the update. Looking through the items I have set to sync (Menu -> Settings -> Accounts & Sync), I reviewed all the things I have set and disabled the sync settings for the things I did not want. After disabling the "Backup Assistant", "Google", "News", "Stocks" and "Weather", I thought for sure the issue would be resolved. Not yet. When those adjustments didn't change the frequency of the sync, I decided to look at the Exchange Active Sync and to my surprise, the culprit was revealed - the calendar was stuck in a sync loop (syncing over and over). I disabled the "Sync Calendar" feature and the phone stopped it's maddening attempt to refresh the calendar.
I let the phone cool off and thought that I could get by with manually toggling the option to sync the calendar but I couldn't accept that was the only way this thing would work. I removed the Exchange Active Sync account and created a new one. After the new account was verified, it attempted to sync mail, contacts and calendar but this time, there was a error that occured during the calendar sync. Instead of repeatedly attempting to re-sync, an error message that stated "Client/Server conversion error". At this point, the calendar sync loop was no longer a problem (wasnt' draining the battery) but now my calendar wouldn't sync at all.
To fix it, I cleared the data in the Calendar applications (Menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications -> All [tab at the top]). Scroll down the list and open each of the Calendar items and click the "Clear Data" button.
(Credit goes to "Brenny" at AndroidForums.com for the post that explains how to clear the Calendar Data)
It seems that adjustments made to events before the update were kept in the phones local storage. After the update, the calendar data in the phone's cache was not matching my remote calendar and appears to have been the cause for my battery drain. After performing these steps, everything is back to normal. Good luck!
My battery does not even last till noon. I leave the house at 8am and that is all the longer it lasts with just a few calls and maybe two or three texts. I used to surf the web, watch movies, text and message all day and at about bed time midnight or so I'd have to charge it. It is totally useless and in the past I did most of my business on it.
Super frustrating, I know. Do you use Exchange Active Sync?
If so, you might be having the same issue that I've explained. Since making the adjustments (clearing the data from the Active Sync components like mail, contacts and calendar), my battery life is back to normal.
Try clearing the data (see first post in this thread) and let me know what happens.
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