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Without ads, Android apps could be more than twice as power-efficient

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Re: Without ads, Android apps could be more than twice as power-efficient

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when is Microsoft so interested in doing Android-related research?

Since they started developing Windows Phone? It's a little obvious, but why not study the design decisions of your competitors? Especially when it reveals inefficiencies?

And they thought they should just share it with the world? Please. This is just more of Microsoft's FUD tactics to attack competitors in a dirty way.

They were also the ones to pay for that research that uncovered the first Chrome sandbox exploit. I question their motives for all of this.

Re: Without ads, Android apps could be more than twice as power-efficient

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since they started developing Windows Phone? It's a little obvious, but why not study the design decisions of your competitors? Especially when it reveals inefficiencies?

And they thought they should just share it with the world? Please. This is just more of Microsoft's FUD tactics to attack competitors in a dirty way. They were also the ones to pay for that research that uncovered the first Chrome sandbox exploit. I question their motives for all of this.

That's my point. Microsoft has nothing to lose by researching the inefficiencies of their competitors. It's a pretty good business tactic if you have enough money to spare, and since they started developing Windows Phone, it makes even more sense for them to uncover "problems" with Android.

Re: Without ads, Android apps could be more than twice as power-efficient

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since they started developing Windows Phone? It's a little obvious, but why not study the design decisions of your competitors? Especially when it reveals inefficiencies?

And they thought they should just share it with the world? Please. This is just more of Microsoft's FUD tactics to attack competitors in a dirty way. They were also the ones to pay for that research that uncovered the first Chrome sandbox exploit. I question their motives for all of this.

This paper was written by an intern at MSR. It's possible that it was easier to instrument Android or it has more apps or whatever.

Re: Without ads, Android apps could be more than twice as power-efficient

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when is Microsoft so interested in doing Android-related research?

Since they started developing Windows Phone? It's a little obvious, but why not study the design decisions of your competitors? Especially when it reveals inefficiencies?

You haven't actually read the paper, have you?

Re: Without ads, Android apps could be more than twice as power-efficient

#45
post #25

This test was run on a Nexus One, which was released in 2010. I'd be curious to see if they got the same results on a newer phone. I'd be willing to bet that this is mostly because ads require more network requests, which aren't as efficient on newer phones. Something smells of a researcher cherry-picking a result that shows off their tool's results in the best possible light. I suppose I don't have any way to prove…

A Nexus One is a very convenient target for research because it is (a) sold without ties to a carrier or any carrier-specific junk, and (b) flashable with any specific system image you want, including custom AOSP builds without doing any other work (the hardware profile for the Nexus One is shipped with AOSP).

Re: Without ads, Android apps could be more than twice as power-efficient

#46
post #3

I'm surprised that the ad sevices aren't smarter. Wait until on wifi, cache a bunch of ads, share those ads amongst all the apps that use your service. Is this feasible?

Well, if only I could tell them that I don't give a shit about dating sites or finding! singles! in! my! area!

At least I do get a relevant ad (for a DirecTV promotion, I don't have cable).

But seeing it 100.000 times is NOT going to make me purchase it.

Re: Without ads, Android apps could be more than twice as power-efficient

#47

So, obviously, the solution here is to have tighter integration of ad platforms with the underlying system, perhaps an ads repo that installed applications can access and which is optimized for power use. Or, you know, you could charge for your applications and stop putting ads in altogether. It will be a dark day, my friends, when there is kernel support for advertisements.

iAd is pretty low level in iOS, right?

Re: Without ads, Android apps could be more than twice as power-efficient

#48
post #27

So, obviously, the solution here is to have tighter integration of ad platforms with the underlying system, perhaps an ads repo that installed applications can access and which is optimized for power use. Or, you know, you could charge for your applications and stop putting ads in altogether. It will be a dark day, my friends, when there is kernel support for advertisements.

the ad services (Google, etc.) doesn't care about your phone's battery life as long as they can serve their ads. They don't get anything in return if they spend time and resources making their ads "more efficient". These companies don't care about the user experience or providing a better product. They're in the ads business not in the making-a-better-phone business. as far as they're concerned your phone's battery l…

google is an ad company. the whole reason android exists is to make sure you view as many ads as possible.

you think they don't care about how that affects your battery life? if your phone battery dies, you're not viewing ads anymore. the goal is to have you connected to the internet as much as possible. the more usable their stuff is, the better they can accomplish that goal. the making-a-better-phone business is the ad business for google.

Re: Without ads, Android apps could be more than twice as power-efficient

#49
post #2

If you are not paying for the product, you are paying in other ways, this just puts a number on it. If you consider the implications, you are paying quite a bit in power in addition to privacy issues. This is why: a) my gps AND network location is turned off 99.99% of the time. b) I have ad-blocking software which prevents lots of this network overhead. ^^ the above is justified because it actually costs me, want to…

Is there any adblocker which works without rooting the Android?

Re: Without ads, Android apps could be more than twice as power-efficient

#50
post #2

If you are not paying for the product, you are paying in other ways, this just puts a number on it. If you consider the implications, you are paying quite a bit in power in addition to privacy issues. This is why: a) my gps AND network location is turned off 99.99% of the time. b) I have ad-blocking software which prevents lots of this network overhead. ^^ the above is justified because it actually costs me, want to…

[i]a) my gps AND network location is turned off 99.99% of the time.[/i]

My understanding was keeping GPS ON does not amount to any battery loss or power usage. GPS is only active for a few seconds when some app request location.

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