I just thought I'd mention something I have noticed about the new ReadyCLOUD app (ver 1.2.3) for Android. I use a Nexus 4 phone and last week loaded the app as part of my tinkering, after the upgrade to 6.5.0 on my RN312 (which worked flawlessly for me - thanks devs). I began to notice that my phone battery was dying a lot quicker than usual, but I thought it was just that the phone is 3 years old, and was trying to tell me it needs replacing. After checking what was causing the drain, I found that the ReadyCLOUD app had used nearly 50% of the battery in the last day! Even weirder was that this was not caused by data traffic (either WiFi or 3G), as very little had been used in the last 24 hours. I had not even used the app over the last 24 hours, and am almost religious about turning off all unecessary apps to conserve battery power anyway. So how can the app be sucking the battery dry? I have uninstalled the app and will see if the battery problem continues, to rule out anything else, but this is not good - batteryt power is sacrosanct. Am I the only one?

Hi JohnNulty, The behavior seems unusual and we haven't seen any similar post like yours. Aside from uninstalling the app, have you just killed or end the ReadyCLOUD app process on your phone and see if the battery life improves? This needs more tests before we can say this is an issue. Kind regards, BrianL NETGEAR Community Team

BrianL2 wrote:This needs more tests before we can say this is an issue.Hi BrianL, I fully agree with you, so I'm testing the 'before' and 'after' installation behaviour, and will report back in a few days. I just thought I would make an initial post to bring attention to this potential issue, so others can look out for this behaviour. Cheers.

Hi JohnNulty, It's cool. Maybe somebody had already experienced this or not, but big thanks to you for bringing this up. Just update this thread once you're done with your tests. Kind regards, BrianL NETGEAR Community Team

OK BrianL, quick and dirty, i.e. not scientifically tested in lab controlled conditions: - Phone without ReadyCLOUD app installed = works as normal (~2 days battery life with normal use)- Phone with ReadyCLOUD app (ver 1.2.4) installed = works OK, but battery life shot to bits (<1 day)Weirdness noted (maybe app design, but not what I would call 'regular'):- When I swipe right to 'close' the ReadyCLOUD app (like any other app), it remains live in the background, as a service. Only way to close it for sure is to use the top level phone Settings|Apps|Running and 'Force Stop'. This is not what I expect from an 'add on' app.- When ReadyCLOUD app is forced stopped, battery drain returns to 'normal' levels.- When phone is switched off and then on again, ReadyCLOUD app starts in background without my permission - I do not know of a way to preventing this action - no settings provided in the app itself.- When app running in background, battery drain returns to abnormally high.- 'Mobile Radio Active' use by the app is reported as almost constant, but very little data is transferred by it (~2MB per half day).- When Mobile Data Services is switched off by me in the main phone settings (no such settings in the app itself), battery drain returns to 'normal'. However, this is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and renders the phone virtually useless, as it is without a data connection. So, my takeaways from this short usage trial is that I will not be using the ReadyCLOUD app until it has the ability for me to easily turn it on/off as a service. That way, if the battery drain by the app is part of its design, or not fixable, at least I have full control of when I use it, and will be able to take account of the resources it hogs. Don't get me wrong - I think the premise of the app is very laudible, and is just what I want, but I am not prepared to sacrifice my overall phone functionality for its use. Obviously, the usual caveats apply: this is only MY experience with the app, I have not been able to test it on any other platforms, and for any others users reading this, YMMV. Just for the record, my phone is an LG Nexus 4, Andoid Version 5.1.1. I would be most interested to hear other user's experiences and/or advice. If you have any questions, BrianL, please feel free to post them here, and I will try to get back to you promptly. Cheers.

Hi JohnNulty, Thanks for updating the thread. Well, it looks like the battery behavior of your phone seems unstable whenever the app is running in the background and you also can't seem to stop the app completely without using the 'Forçe stop' option in your phone settings. Anyway, let's hear from other ReadyCLOUD Android users if they have experienced the same or not. Kind regards, BrianL NETGEAR Community Team

Android Mobile ReadyCLOUD app battery drain

24 Replies

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BrianL2
NETGEAR Employee Retired
May 25, 2016
Hi JohnNulty,

The behavior seems unusual and we haven't seen any similar post like yours. Aside from uninstalling the app, have you just killed or end the ReadyCLOUD app process on your phone and see if the battery life improves? This needs more tests before we can say this is an issue.

Kind regards,

BrianL
NETGEAR Community Team
- JohnNulty
  Apprentice
  May 25, 2016
  BrianL2 wrote:
  This needs more tests before we can say this is an issue.
  Hi BrianL, I fully agree with you, so I'm testing the 'before' and 'after' installation behaviour, and will report back in a few days. I just thought I would make an initial post to bring attention to this potential issue, so others can look out for this behaviour. Cheers.
  - BrianL2
    NETGEAR Employee Retired
    May 26, 2016
    Hi JohnNulty,
    
    It's cool. Maybe somebody had already experienced this or not, but big thanks to you for bringing this up. Just update this thread once you're done with your tests.
    
    Kind regards,
    
    BrianL
    NETGEAR Community Team
BramdVries
Aspirant
Jun 02, 2016
Same here on a new Nexus 6p. Until an update that improves performance beter battery wise, I'll be forced to stop using this app.
- JohnNulty
  Apprentice
  Jun 02, 2016
  Thanks BrandVries,
  Glad to know I'm not the only one :smileywink:
  - BrianL2
    NETGEAR Employee Retired
    Jun 03, 2016
    Hi JohnNulty & BramdVries,
    
    Can you confirm if the 'Media Backup' feature is turned on? Again, I apologize if you guys are having battery problems when the ReadyCLOUD app is running on the background.
    
    Kind regards,
    
    BrianL
    NETGEAR Community Team
Paul_Thomas
Aspirant
Jun 14, 2016
I have also noticed this on IOS on both my iphone & ipad. So I don't think it's just an android problem.
- JohnNulty
  Apprentice
  Jun 17, 2016
  Thanks Paul_T, nice to know it is a 'real problem', not just a 'one-off'.
  More fuel for the Dev's, Brian ?
  - MarkusGo
    Aspirant
    Jul 06, 2016
    Hi all,
    
    the same happens on my Motorola Moto G (2 generation) with Android 5.1.
    
    My App-Version is 1.2.7 and the app is emptying the battery in 5-6 hours. Normally the phone runs >24 hours without recharge.
    
    Best Regards,
    Markus
Vollenbroek
Aspirant
Jul 13, 2016
Hi,

I also noticed the battery drain after the upgrade on my samsung galaxy S6 edge. I will force it to stop and see if battery life will improve.
I have to recharche once a day now, before I never had to do this. I realy like the readycloud app but with this battery drain I will be forced to remove it which is really a shame.

... just checked I have version 1.2.7 installed.
dbb40
Aspirant
Jul 14, 2016
Just another user here experiencing similar problems. I installed on my Moto X (2nd gen) and within hours the battery was getting hammered by the app - became the top consumer of battery life on the phone. Uninstalled/reinstalled, rebooted phone...no change.

Full disclosure, was absolutely using the mobile backup feature - the whole point of installing the app was to use the storage attached to my fancy new router rather than backing stuff up to Google photos. That being said, I was not using it over 4G, only WiFi -- and everything backed up pretty quickly, so my guess is that the app is polling for changes to upload perhaps too aggressively or something.

Consider me among the group who's got it uninstalled permanently until this is resolved, I use my phone constantly for business and I can't be charging it every 4 hours. Thanks to Netgear in advance for addressing this.
- JohnNulty
  Apprentice
  Jul 14, 2016
  Thanks to you all for your input to highlight this issue.
  
  BrianL2- now it's obvious this is not just a 'one-off' issue, can you please provide some confirmation of what is being done by Netgear to solve it? Some users appear to be joining the community just to highlight this issue, so it must warrant serious consideration for support.
jbpate
Aspirant
Jul 29, 2016
Had the ReadyCLOUD app (Version 1.2.7) installed on my Samsung Galaxy S5 (OS 6.0.1 Marshmallow) over the past few days trying to get my Hitachi 2TB drive to show up on the app when connected to the R6400 Netgear router (yet to be a success). I noticed the next day after installing the readycloud app the battery life on my phone had significantly reduced. However, like the original post I figured it was just due to my phone being archaic. I checked today to see what was causing the battery to be drained in 6 hours vs 16-18 hours (normal use). The result was the netgear application. I went in the settings to look for a way to try and disable it from running in the background. I was not able to find any setting to solve the issue. I went ahead and forced the app to stop and thought that would take care of it until I restarted my phone. I was wrong because I checked the battery drain again 30 minutes later and the app was back running and draining the battery. Needless to say the issue is definitely something that needs attention and until the solution is presented I am following the others in the uninstallation of the application.
ljung
Tutor
Aug 18, 2016
I'm also having battery drain problems since last two updates.
- JennC
  NETGEAR Employee Retired
  Aug 18, 2016
  Hello ljung,
  
  Do you have any Media Backup configured on the ReadyCloud app of mobile phone that is always running?
  
  Regards,
ljung
Tutor
Aug 18, 2016
Yes I do, the media(photo) backup feature is what I use this app for. But it's not always running in the task switcher (maybe somewhere in the background)
- JennC
  NETGEAR Employee Retired
  Aug 23, 2016
  Hello ljung,
  
  Have you checked if it still uses that high percentage when there is no backup running on the ReadyCloud app?
  
  I personally have this app installed on my phone and not getting this battery drain problem.
  
  Regards,
ljung
Tutor
Aug 24, 2016
Yes, I have disabled bqckup and now it's fine. No battery drain. But I would like to have that feature enabled.
dazrav
Aspirant
Sep 27, 2016
I have never used the media backup. But it's running in the background all day today. Even when tasks were killed. Force freeze is all I can do. 50 % of my battery gone all with screen off. Never happened before, perhaps I accidentally tapped it, then closed it. But it kept running. I MUST UNINSTALL UNLESS FIXED asap. HTC M9.

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Android Mobile ReadyCLOUD app battery drain

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