Tapping into Android Pie's adaptive battery for optimum battery performance

HMDLaura

Hi Nokia phones Fans

Before Google introduced Adaptive battery on Android P, OEMs had their own solutions for managing system performance and battery life. Evenwell was our solution. With Android 9 Pie’s adaptive battery feature, the need to have an alternate solution no longer exists. Adaptive battery uses deep learning to understand usage patterns and prioritise battery and is more intelligent AI driven approach for battery and performance management and is available across the range of Nokia smartphones running Android 9 Pie. When our devices that launched with Android N or Android O originally upgraded to Android 9 Pie, we started to gradually disable Evenwell while carefully monitoring end user feedback. Now we have completely disabled Evenwell from our legacy devices so even if you see the solution there, it does not do anything. On our new devices launching with Android 9 P (or later) releases we do not have Evenwell at all.

Best regards,
Laura & Team

Kartik Gada

Thanks for sharing why the evenwell apps were included and it feels nice to know that HMD is listening to user feedback and addressing it.

A big thank you to you as well for continously communicating with the community. 😊

I hope HMD also has some plans for bootloader unlocks. 😁

dorso

Thank you, good to know. 

user1555208268263

If now,,Evenwell doest do anyhting than why not completely removing it ,,can be done by OTAs  

Адель Хамидуллин

It's good. Now i can uninstall all evenwell apks,as Bokeh Editor, Battery Protect and etc.?

madbilly

Hi @HMD_Laura that's great to know, thank you.

As you know, there are also many other Evenwell apps and the purpose of some is very unclear. It would be very helpful if we could get a sort of inventory of all of the Evenwell apps (plus those from other third parties) which are included in the standard firmware and an explanation of what they do. I know this is possible, because someone at HMD knows what these apps do, so I hope you agree that it will be a helpful thing to do.

Thanks

nitinkachare

HMD_Laura said:

Hi Nokia Fans

Before Google introduced Adaptive battery on Android P, OEMs had their own solutions for managing system performance and battery life. Evenwell was our solution. With Android 9 Pie’s adaptive battery feature, the need to have an alternate solution no longer exists. Adaptive battery uses deep learning to understand usage patterns and prioritise battery and is more intelligent AI driven approach for battery and performance management and is available across the range of Nokia smartphones running Android 9 Pie. When our devices that launched with Android N or Android O originally upgraded to Android 9 Pie, we started to gradually disable Evenwell while carefully monitoring end user feedback. Now we have completely disabled Evenwell from our legacy devices so even if you see the solution there, it does not do anything. On our new devices launching with Android 9 P (or later) releases we do not have Evenwell at all.

Best regards,
Laura & Team

But It's still there in Nokia 8.1 Pie.I didn't complaining about this but just informing from my side.

SirFaceFone

Thank you for the official response, but imo this should've been posted much sooner, when the backlash was still fresh.

Also, an official statement regarding when bootloader unlock will be available for Nokia phones would be greatly appreciated. Bootloader unlocking should've been available on Day 1, and unless this is a problem with the manufacturer, there is no good reason for HMD to restrict their customers on what they can do with their phones. I'm seriously considering holding off buying a new Nokia phone just because of this. 

singhnsk

@HMD_Laura Appreciate your clarification.

Can you please also put some insights about the DuraSpeed service used on the Nokia phones powered by a Mediatek SOC. These device owners still continue to complain that most apps are killed soon after they are pushed to the background and I believe dura speed is still running.

Daniel G M

Адель Хамидуллин said:

It's good. Now i can uninstall all evenwell apks,as Bokeh Editor, Battery Protect and etc.?

Bokeh editor is needed for re adjusting focus on live bokeh photos.

Others, dont know.

The evenwell apps are still there (August 1 SP), even if not being used.

Mick1965

Daniel G M said:

Адель Хамидуллин said:

It's good. Now i can uninstall all evenwell apks,as Bokeh Editor, Battery Protect and etc.?

Bokeh editor is needed for re adjusting focus on live bokeh photos.

Others, dont know.

The evenwell apps are still there (August 1 SP), even if not being used.

The com.evenwell bokeh disabled or enabled seems to make no difference to the function of live bokeh or the editing of live bokeh images.

Which makes me think if disabling the others does anything either.

Uninstalling Via ADB I don't know, but disabling via the settings seems to do nothing.

Daniel G M

Mick1965 said:

Daniel G M said:

Адель Хамидуллин said:

It's good. Now i can uninstall all evenwell apks,as Bokeh Editor, Battery Protect and etc.?

Bokeh editor is needed for re adjusting focus on live bokeh photos.

Others, dont know.

The evenwell apps are still there (August 1 SP), even if not being used.

The com.evenwell bokeh disabled or enabled seems to make no difference to the function of live bokeh or the editing of live bokeh images.

Which makes me think if disabling the others does anything either.

Uninstalling Via ADB I don't know, but disabling via the settings seems to do nothing.

Most of these evenwell apps have hidden larger size apk, which are not listed in phone app list.

They are visible only through adb.

Mick1965

Daniel G M said:

Mick1965 said:

Daniel G M said:

Адель Хамидуллин said:

It's good. Now i can uninstall all evenwell apks,as Bokeh Editor, Battery Protect and etc.?

Bokeh editor is needed for re adjusting focus on live bokeh photos.

Others, dont know.

The evenwell apps are still there (August 1 SP), even if not being used.

The com.evenwell bokeh disabled or enabled seems to make no difference to the function of live bokeh or the editing of live bokeh images.

Which makes me think if disabling the others does anything either.

Uninstalling Via ADB I don't know, but disabling via the settings seems to do nothing.

Most of these evenwell apps have hidden larger size apk, which are not listed in phone app list.

They are visible only through adb.

So the only way to truly disable them is to uninstall the whole package via ADB.

I'm talking about the power saver app this time.

Which I think is causing me problems with an app that just stops after 2ish minutes when the phone is locked.

rizaldiardiansah

HMD_Laura berkata:

Hi Nokia Fans

Before Google introduced Adaptive battery on Android P, OEMs had their own solutions for managing system performance and battery life. Evenwell was our solution. With Android 9 Pie’s adaptive battery feature, the need to have an alternate solution no longer exists. Adaptive battery uses deep learning to understand usage patterns and prioritise battery and is more intelligent AI driven approach for battery and performance management and is available across the range of Nokia smartphones running Android 9 Pie. When our devices that launched with Android N or Android O originally upgraded to Android 9 Pie, we started to gradually disable Evenwell while carefully monitoring end user feedback. Now we have completely disabled Evenwell from our legacy devices so even if you see the solution there, it does not do anything. On our new devices launching with Android 9 P (or later) releases we do not have Evenwell at all.

Best regards,
Laura & Team

Please, add Classic Nokia Fonts for Nokia Android phones as the default font. I really hope that HMD will grant my request. Thank you!!!

madbilly

Hi @Daniel G M can you give some examples of the ADB output that shows these hidden apps which aren't in the system app list in the OS UI? I know that there's the list of com.evenwell.... etc overlays and they each have a corresponding app listed separately with a normal name (i.e. not just the namespace name com.evenwell.bokeheditor but actually an app called "Bokeh Editor").

@Mick1965 did you disable both the main Bokeh Editor app and the overlay, or only one of them?

Cheers

Mick1965

@madbilly

Just the com evenwell.

I was trying to work out what these overlays by com evenwell actually did. I ran with them all of them disabled for a week or so and as far as I can figure out,  they do absolutely nothing.

It is the power saver that I'm interested in.

How I understand don't kill my app website power saver and the com evenwell ...G3 ... overlay. Are part of the same app.

Now that hmd are not supposedly using the com evenwell apps, how come I cannot disable power saver, and if I force it to stop it just restarts itself shortly after.

Why does it need to be running if it's no longer being used.

Something doesn't add up with the statement from hmd_laura

madbilly

Yes I agree there's a lot left to be said on the subject of the Evenwell apps. I wish someone from HMD could just go through the list and say what does what, which apps are no longer doing anything even if they're running, etc.

Daniel G M

madbilly said:

Hi @Daniel G M can you give some examples of the ADB output that shows these hidden apps which aren't in the system app list in the OS UI? I know that there's the list of com.evenwell.... etc overlays and they each have a corresponding app listed separately with a normal name (i.e. not just the namespace name com.evenwell.bokeheditor but actually an app called "Bokeh Editor").

@Mick1965 did you disable both the main Bokeh Editor app and the overlay, or only one of them?

Cheers

@madbilly I've not been home for a few days, hence the late reply.

My device is Nokia 7 plus and is on August 1 patch.

Tagging @HMD_Laura

List of evenwell apps populated from adb

List of apps visible through the phone (I used myphoneexporer to get all in one screenshot)

This is same as the ones listed when you goto your apps list.

Although it seems that they have removed a few apps, these remain.

But see the battery protect. It is visible only on the adb list.

The one you see on your phone app list is just an overlay of some kind.

bokeheditor

voicenotes

mappartner

retaildemoapp

dataagent

setupwizard

pushagent

......

this goes on.

All the apps without the "base overlay" are not listed in the apps list on phone.
My guess is that these overlay apps work like a widget over the system while the core functions are done by their counterpart.
So even if you disable whats visible on the app list on phone, it does nothing.

Nokia 7 plus is still having evenwell junk in it.

Really ? I mean seriously, even the setup wizard ?

Proof that battery protect and autoregistration are still running. Both evenwell apps. These are autostarted when the phone boots. Others, I am not sure.

Stock Android my **** !

If they no longer do anything, then why this junk is still here ?

Why are they running ?

As a consumer my idea of stock android on a non Google OEM was like this.
Pure android with a minimal amount of modification to tap into the OEM specific hardware. The rest, use what's already provided in the rom as such.
Now all I can see is a lot of stock stuff ignored and a lot of junk added.

Come on ! do you really have to inject these many junk apps to make stock android run on a non google.

It took this much noise and commotion to make Nokia switch to stock power management.

All this shows that the device was launched in a hurry.

The faulty display panels.

The failing USB C ports.

Outsourcing the work of building a stock android rom for your device to a third party.

I still rock my 7 plus. Brought it during launch.

It is going good (even with the junk in it).

It is a good phone. And I will use it till it breaks down.

Please don't lie to your customers Nokia.

That's all we ask. We don't have much high expectations.

We know you will never become what Nokia was once upon a time.

Thanuj

Let me tell you something. The overlay's by these Evenwell apps aren't even needed for Android to function properly. I'm currently Rocking DotOS 3.1 on my Nokia 6.1 Plus, and here are my observations -

• The phone runs cooler much more than stock ROM and when Idle the phone reaches temperatures of upto 29C. It feels cold to the touch. This never happens with the stock firmware at all. Not even when 3rd party apps are installed.
• As I said before, The phone runs cooler - This means 2 things- 1. The phone will perform better due to lower heat on the CPU/Battery. 2. Lesser heat = Better Battery Life. Seriously, I've been acheiving 4.5 - 5Hrs SoT with 10-12 hours of standby on 3060 MaH battery.
• With Adaptive battery turned on, There is a issue of apps sending notifications after the phone was unlocked or the particular app was opened. While this was an issue with both Stock and Custom ROMS, The problem seems to go away faster on the custom ROM. This is i think due to evenwell battery saver and the other evenwell apps being active on Stock. These evenwell apps seem to confuse the AI that Adaptive Battery is using and making it not learn the app usage pattern of devices. On Custom ROMS, Adaptive battery take just half a day to start learning to how i use my phone and prioritizes battery power accordingly.
• Removing these evenwell apps completely from the system using root(Not ADB, Complete uninstall) on a stock ROM just makes the phone feel more lighter, faster and very much more responsive than with the evenwell apps.
• Navigating to the /root/system/product/overlay folder, There are 110-112 overlays of which many are from evenwell. Attempting to remove these overlays results in the system not booting. But removing just the battery saver and power monitor overlay results in a proper boot and improves the system in numerous ways(Assuming you removed the apps also)
  
• I've consistantly noticed due to less heat by the phone, The phone charges from 15-95% in just about an 1:10 mins. This is not at all possible on the Stock Firmware.
  

Overall in my view, Evenwell does more harm than good to the system. If Nokia/HMD starts building ROMS without the evenwell apps, Their phones will feel much much better than before and the users will have a more enjoyable time with their devices.

Android itself is very smart now. You don't need to add these useless evenwell packages and ruin how Android Functions.

*Tested on Nokia 6.1 Plus running on Stock, Stock Debloated(Evenwell removed), Custom ROMS

Screenshots -

*Temperature

*Battery Life Estimates

*Charging speed.

Varg

Sadly the Evenwell software is still active on my Nokia 8 with Android P and hasn't been disabled nor has it been removed.

When can we expect to see it implemented?

Muser

Varg said:

Sadly the Evenwell software is still active on my Nokia 8 with Android P and hasn't been disabled nor has it been removed.

When can we expect to see it implemented?

It's only the Power apps from them that were disabled I guess. If you try to manually launch them it loads Android Pie's default Restricted Apps setting page so I think at least that much is true.

As for all of the other Evenwell apps, since newer phones no longer have them I don't see why HMD won't remove them on older phones.

madbilly

Hi @Daniel G M and @MatteBlacke thank you for the excellent and very detailed insights, wow! You have managed to shine a light into the internal workings, much appreciated.

I'll try and do some similar investigation into my Nokia 8 but I'm not ready to run a custom ROM (I'm not even sure there really is one for the 8).

Cheers

Muser

scafroglia93 said:

I ask HMD not to talk about bullshit, as shown by an AMA on Android Q, it is clearly written that Google will not accept solutions to save battery in the face of aggressive management of the task manager
You are not doing anything special, just by following the dictates provided by Googlle for the release of the stock rom

Please, stop talk about closeness to users etc etc.

Cit:
https://hothardware.com/news/android-q-ama-details-next-google-mobile-os-desktop-mode

"What is also interesting is how Android Q will deal with manufacturers breaking apps running in the background for the sake of extending battery life. The user who brought up the topic in the AMA session noted that this practice "is an absolute support nightmare for both developers and users," and Google seems to agree."

Are you kidding me HMD ?

A little from column A a little from column B, no need to take it personally. 2017 devices that won't see Android Q had the apps disabled as well with Pie.

cooljevil

@madbilly @MatteBlacke , I just found what the Evenwell app "Battery protection" does. Though we all know it does more harm than good, it had one important job to do. You see, the app actually warns you if the temperature of your phone (while you're charging) is so high that it may damage the battery itself quickly.
Do note that this happened way back in April of this year. But in the recent updates of Pie build, I don't see it pop anymore.  

Thanuj

cooljevil said:

@madbilly @MatteBlacke , I just found what the Evenwell app "Battery protection" does. Though we all know it does more harm than good, it had one important job to do. You see, the app actually warns you if the temperature of your phone (while you're charging) is so high that it may damage the battery itself quickly.
Do note that this happened way back in April of this year. But in the recent updates of Pie build, I don't see it pop anymore.  

Yes. I used to see this prompt all the time when we had summer in my place. The phone would quite literally reach 50C while charging. Now, I think because Nokia has removed evenwell, The phone stays cooler while charging and never goes above 40C. Even during the hotter days(38-40C Temps)

madbilly

Hi @cooljevil yes I saw these in the activities breakdown for the app when I was checking it out over the weekend. I never saw these messages though, even though it does get very warm in summer where I live.

@matteblack nice to hear that charging is much cooler now! Maybe HMD are telling the truth and these system apps really are getting disabled. But why only disabled and not removed completely?

Cheers

Pawan Pal

But still some disgusting evenwell apps are running and causing background app killing.

alexium 67

Will it disable for Nokia 5 in the future? Or was it disabled already by any last updates?

user1532459652042

HMD_Laura said:

Hi Nokia phones Fans

Before Google introduced Adaptive battery on Android P, OEMs had their own solutions for managing system performance and battery life. Evenwell was our solution. With Android 9 Pie’s adaptive battery feature, the need to have an alternate solution no longer exists. Adaptive battery uses deep learning to understand usage patterns and prioritise battery and is more intelligent AI driven approach for battery and performance management and is available across the range of Nokia smartphones running Android 9 Pie. When our devices that launched with Android N or Android O originally upgraded to Android 9 Pie, we started to gradually disable Evenwell while carefully monitoring end user feedback. Now we have completely disabled Evenwell from our legacy devices so even if you see the solution there, it does not do anything. On our new devices launching with Android 9 P (or later) releases we do not have Evenwell at all.

Best regards,
Laura & Team

Unfortunately, on my Nokia 8.1 this junk is still present in the OS and phone is still killing backgroud apps instead of keeping them in RAM. RAM is being wasted and i have to re-open the app and waste battery and CPU.

joe367

it is seriously messing with Accessibility settings in Nokia 5.1+. I can't use any applock, gesture control applications, floating toolboxes, Third-party alarm applications, etc. wallpaper gets reverted frequently...these things need to be fixed immediately. Is this same with other devices? 

joe367

Evenwell apps still remain. but they seem to have fixed the problem in the last update. now accessibility settings are working fine...👍😇