JuiceDefender FAQ

JuiceDefender FAQ

Known issues and a list of questions about JuiceDefender (and UltimateJuice), asked for a period of 8 minutes every 30 minutes. Now comes with answers too!
Jump to: Known Issues - Download/Install/Purchase - FAQs - Compatibility Matrix

KNOWN ISSUES

JuiceDefender crashes/doesn't respond/doesn't work/destroys battery life/behaves strangely

99.9% of the times this is because the app itself or its internal settings got corrupted somehow. A full uninstall/reboot/reinstall will fix this.


JuiceDefender killed my connectivity! I have no internet now! YOU %@#%# &!$@!!!11!one

99.9% of the times this is because you inadvertently tapped on the Toggle APN widget (if you don't need it, don't put it in your home screen) - so JuiceDefender duly keeps your mobile data disabled. If that's not the case, please reboot and contact me.


JuiceDefender keeps disabling itself/all buttons are grayed out

Setup is now mandatory. JuiceDefender needs a successful completion of the Setup routine to work, there's no cheating around it; if Setup keeps failing, wait until you get to an area with strong reception before running it. If you don't have a data plan, or otherwise don't have mobile data working for some reason, please tap on Skip connectivity check when prompted.


On [little-known Android device] with [even more obscure custom ROM], [feature] doesn't work

There are more than one hundred different Android devices now, every single one of them with its own carrier/manufacturer "customizations" and quirks/bugs/inconsistencies. I only have two. So yeah.
But I'll be more than happy to support as many devices as possible - if you think you can help, please join the Beta Group.


Location doesn't work

This might happen indeed in some unlucky areas. Please disable it temporarily; I'm working on a better algorithm.


The WiFi connection is not restored

This is due to an Android bug - see issue 4650 (it seems fixed on my Nexus One since Froyo). JuiceDefender will automatically force a rescan/reconnect as a workaround; if WiFi still fails to connect after 10-15 seconds, you can try a manual scan. I found that not having a hidden SSID and setting a static IP address often helps in preventing the issue.



Using JuiceDefender in conjunction with [app that controls the same system settings as JuiceDefender] causes unfathomed trouble

That's hardly surprising. You can use other 'automation' apps - just make sure they act on different settings - have each one controlled by JuiceDefender or the other app(s), not both. Doing otherwise might cause unexpected results.

DOWNLOAD - INSTALL - PURCHASE

JuiceDefender seems very useful, but it won't install on my device

Your device is probably running Android 1.5 (Cupcake). Unfortunately, some of the internals require Android 1.6 (Donut) or greater. On the bright side, pretty much every device will be getting at least 1.6 (most 2.x) quite soon, according to carriers and manufacturers.


JuiceDefender seems very useful, but I can't find it in the Market/don't have a credit card/can't access paid apps

If your device is running Android 1.5: see above. If not: the Market has all kinds of issues, apparently - and there's nothing I can do - but do not despair! Just head over to AndAppStore - you'll find both JuiceDefender and UltimateJuice (you can purchase via PayPal) there.


I see two different UltimateJuice apps - what's the difference?

They're basically the same. The alternative version is meant for people with the aforementioned Market problems.


I tried to buy UltimateJuice from the Android Market, but my card is refused

Some users have reported problems with the Android Market using American Express cards. Again: there's nothing I can do about it - I have no control whatsoever on the Market. You can always purchase via AndAppstore, it uses PayPal as a backend.


I purchased UltimateJuice from the Market, but I can't download it!

It might take some time for Google to authorize the transaction. This is usually done within hours, but in some rare cases it might need up to two or three days. Unfortunately there's nothing I can do to speed up the process.



I've purchased UltimateJuice from AndAppStore, but I can't download it!

• First and foremost, make sure you use the same email address for your AndAppStore account and for your PayPal account (you can have more than one email address associated with your PayPal account).
• Sometimes AndAppStore marks transactions as invalid even if they went through fine. Please allow 48 hours for me to manually unblock your transaction. 
• If you still can't download after 48 hours, try uninstalling and reinstalling the AndAppStore Android client app - this will force a refresh of your purchases catalog and often solve the problem. 
• If everything fails, please contact me with all the details.

I just installed UltimateJuice, but can't open it

UltimateJuice is an add-on to JuiceDefender that provides additional features. It does not have a UI on its own.

Just open JuiceDefender - as long as UltimateJuice is installed, the extra features will be enabled.

I had purchased UltimateJuice some time ago, but recently all the advanced features got disabled!

Make sure you have the latest UltimateJuice version. If you have problems, please contact me.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

There are too many buttons! I just wanted to save some battery, what's with the messy UI? What if I break something?

Tap Help and then Revert to Easy Mode - voilà!
For completeness, these are the settings for Easy Mode:
- Juice control: only Data enabled (WiFi too with UltimateJuice)
- Triggers: Screen, Battery, Traffic, Night and Schedule enabled
- Schedule: 15min, Quick enabled
- Night: 2am to 5am (guess most people sleep in these hours)
- Traffic: 50KB/15secs
- Battery: disable when below 15% left, Charger enabled


Ok, but what are the best/most balanced/right settings for Advanced Mode?

I suggest you start from the defaults above (just Revert to Easy Mode), then change one setting at a time and test it for a while to see how it works for you, before trying the next one.


Why doesn't JuiceDefender work flawlessly, with 110% reliability and without the remotest hint of a bug?


Because it's a beta.


Still.




Why, oh why! JuiceDefender now requires root, and I have no intention of rooting my phone!

That statement is not entirely unlike a misrepresentation of the truth. See the Compatibility Matrix below - happy reading!

Will I still receive text messages?

Regular text messages (SMS) don't use the data connection but the regular GSM stack, and JuiceDefender won't interfere with that in any way. However some apps (such as Google Voice) might deliver messages via the internet - then you'll receive them according to the schedule and triggers (just like emails).


Why isn't WiFi enabled when it's supposed to?

• JuiceDefender detected that at some point you manually disabled WiFi. In this case it will never touch it until you re-enable it again manually.
• The Location trigger is enabled and JuiceDefender thinks you are outside the known zones. This can happen even if you're in the location of a previously recorded WiFi network - Location needs some time to "train". Just enable WiFi manually, JuiceDefender will pick up the situation and adjust the saved location accordingly.

Why can't I set my own schedule - every 20/49/73.14 minutes?

There's a good reason for the current schedule intervals; JuiceDefender uses an Android feature for elastic schedules in order to save battery - and that's all the app is about! As a matter of fact, if all applications used this feature the battery problem would be less dramatic. The 5m/15m schedule uses less power, taking all the interactions within the system into account, than a schedule of 5m/20m, and probably even a 4m/20m one.


I opened [online radio app/generic audio streaming app], started listening to a nice stream and went on with my business but the audio stopped after a while.

The Traffic trigger is what you want to enable to handle this automatically. See below for how to set it.


What are the "right" settings for the Traffic trigger?

The default (50KB/15secs) should be just fine in most situations. If you think JuiceDefender isn't saving as much battery as before, check your log (tap Help) - if it's filled with 'Data traffic detected' entries it means there's some app that is using the connection continuously, thus preventing the disabling of data/WiFi. You should then either get rid of that app or increase the threshold amount to 100KB or more.

If you want to save as much juice as possible and have a very specific reason to eanble the Traffic trigger (i.e. an online radio streaming app), try with a setting of 100KB/30secs; depending on the buffering employed by the specific app, you might need to increase the timeout value even more - increase it one step at a time until the streaming app works as expected. Note that some apps (Pandora in particular) employ such aggressive caching that the Traffic trigger will always fail (unless you set it to 5 minutes, but that would drastically reduce the battery savings). Currently the best option is to temporarily disable JuiceDefender when using these apps. A much better solution is in the works ;)


What is that 'Service started by OS/user' thing in the log?

It's debug info that is useful to isolate some kinds of problems - mostly, JuiceDefender getting shut down by Android due to a low-memory situation.
You should only see 'started by OS' after boot; if it occurs often, it means you have a chronic low memory problem that you should address - see below.


JuiceDefender keeps shutting itself down (due to low memory, according to the log) but I still have N MB of RAM available!

Enable the Notification icon to lower the chances of the service getting killed by Android.

COMPATIBILITY MATRIX

In order to do its magic, JuiceDefender operates at a rather deep level, outside the scope of the Android API; a level where manufacturers and carriers, who build the "stock" ROM (the software) that you get when you buy an Android device, usually (if not always) employ wildly different implementations - just like when they put a custom UI layer on top of Android, or include customized apps, etc. Not to mention all the differences (some tiny, some fundamental) between different Android versions - 1.6, 2.1, 2.2.

JuiceDefender now works correctly on almost all handsets out there (the only requirement is Android 1.6 or greater) by supporting as many of these different implementations as humanly possible. Its Setup routine detects how certain features of the Android software in your handset work (if they work at all), and configures JuiceDefender accordingly.

But of course not all of JuiceDefender features are available on all these different implementation - in certain cases the underlying core software just doesn't provide the required support. Below is a chart that broadly shows what works in which handsets/ROMs. Keep in mind that there are many exceptions to the general rules outlined in the chart - Setup will know when this is the case.

	Mobile data	Background data			2G/3G	WiFi	Timeout	CPU
Donut (1.6)	Y	root				Y
Eclair (2.1)	Y	root				Y	Y	root/kernel
CyanogenMod 5.x/AOSP ROM (2.1)	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y
Froyo (2.2)	Y					Y		root/kernel
CyanogenMod 6.x/AOSP ROM (2.2)	Y				Y	Y		Y

As you can see, it's incorrect to state that "JuiceDefender requires root" - only certain features do.

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