Hush: The free app that SLASHES battery drain on Android smartphones

Hush stops power-hungry apps from refreshing in the background

UNIVERSITY researchers have released a new tool for Android smartphones which could BOOST your battery life by some 20 per cent.

 

Researchers from Purdue University have released a new tool for Android handsets which targets battery-draining apps.

Dubbed Hush, the free tool stops power-hungry apps checking for updates in the background.

It targets apps you do not use regularly – so should not affect your day-to-day mobile use.

The Purdue University researchers claim Android apps account for a whopping 45.9 per cent of all battery usage.

Of that number, a staggering 29 per cent takes place when the smartphone's display is switched off and the phone appears inactive.

 

Android apps will launch and refresh themselves throughout the day – to ensure they are always up-to-date and ready to use.

This takes place without your knowledge while the phone is locked and the handset is stored in your pocket or bag.

Hush is able to reduce the battery usage taking place while the phone is asleep from 29 per cent to just 16 per cent, the Purdue University team has claimed.

That alone gives the smartphones running Hush a battery boost of some 13 per cent.

Another big drain on battery life takes place when an app refreshes, then does not let the smartphone go back into sleep mode – mostly due to poorly written code.

Prof Charlie Hu, of Purdue University, explained: "Apps wake the phone up periodically during screen-off to do useful things, but then afterward, they should let the phone go back to sleep. 

"They are not letting the phone go back to sleep because of software bugs and, specifically, due to the incorrect use of Android power control application programming interfaces called wakelocks."

 

Hush prevents these apps from keeping the phone active and awake when it shouldn't be.

Android phones running Hush lasted about 15 per cent longer than those without it, the team discovered.

The Android tool intelligently identifies the apps rarely used by the smartphone owner – and puts a stop to all background activities.

A total of 2,000 Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S4 smartphones were tested during the research. The Purdue University tests took place in as many as 61 countries with involvement from 191 mobile operators.

Prof Hu revealed the team's final goal aim was to double battery life.

"The big picture is that we want to double the battery life for smartphones," he said.

"This is going to be a non-trivial journey because much of the battery drain is caused by various apps when the screen is on and also legitimate maintenance functions."

• Hush can be downloaded for free from GitHub