I’ve been using the battery saver on my FP2 during my holidays and wondered: why not leave it always on? I see no performance issues when it’s activated, and I don’t think I have anything running in the background anyway (I never leave apps ‘open’, I always swipe them ‘close’ when done).
The only app that may be relevant is the the Dutch ‘Corona checker’ which checks via Bluetooth for other devices around.
What does the battery saver do anyway?
If you don’t have any apps that should do something in the background you can use the battery saver permanently if you like. This mode basically limits background activity, which means that mail apps or messengers won’t receive messages immediately anymore but only if you open them. Incoming phone calls however will always be received. Also some animations when changing apps and so on will be limited or disabled completely. Just check the search engine of your choice for “Android battery saver” and you’ll learn more about it.
The Corona Checker is using the exposure notification framework by Google under the hood. Exchanging the Bluetooth beacons will still work while in battery saver mode, however the app might not check your risk status anymore and thus won’t be able to warn you unless you open the app yourself.
I’m doing so permanently (since I got my FP3+ in March or April), first on Fairphone OS, now on /e/OS. I notice that screens sometimes change with a bit of delay, the device most likely doesn’t respond as “snappily” as it would without battery saver on, but to an extent I can easily live with.
Usually I just deactivate battery saver when I browse files as (at least on /e/OS) battery saver comes with dark mode and file names are displayed far too dark in this mode for the time being (almost undistinguishable from the dark background).
AFAIK the vibration motor is disabled when battery save mode is on. But if you don’t use notifications via vibration or haptic feedback on typing then it obviously won’t be a problem for you.
Indeed…I’ve just left the battery saver on for several weeks and noticed no difference in function - including leaving bluetooth on for the track and trace app. E-mails and similar notifications - including the vibrate function - seem to be unaffected. The battery lasts appreciably longer and takes less charging which is a boon for those of us trying to avoid impacting the polar bears too much.
I also tend to leave the battery saver on - I do sync various files, but these can usually wait until I charge the phone (which disables battery saver). One bonus of upgrading to Android 9 from 7 seems to be that the battery saver mode kicks back in again automatically once the phone is disconnected.
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