Battery Saver option in game settings?
since the game came out in july, i've been playing pokemon go with this option enabled, so that when i hold my phone upside down, the screen would turn darker and therefore use less energy. It used to work perfectly on my Alcatel Idol 3, although i was not convinced that it really saved any battery. but still, i was thinking "the game empties my battery like crazy, how could it be worse, why not use this feature, it can only help"
But since august i bought a new phone (Galaxy A5-16), and this "battery saver" feature never worked on it. But as it has already an incredibly better battery than my old phone, it never bothered me. Yes, the rotation of the screen is activated on my phone. But i'm just curious why it doesnt work, while it works on my friend's phone (S6 edge), and i think i would use it if it worked, cause why not
1) does it really save any battery overall?
2) do you use it?
3) anyone else having issues with it?
4) anything else you want to say? ^^
EDIT : my AR doesnt work neither, so it must be linked to the previous problem
Answers
I6S here. Early on, that feature caused my phone to crash constantly. I stopped using it, and have never went back. What I do though is dim my default screen intensity down quite a bit, and then put it on auto. It seems to keep my battery life a little better, but the game still can suck battery life from 100% to 60% in about an hour.
Pokemon GO has always drained battery substantially, but with my Galaxy S6 with a super AMOLED display there's no doubt black pixels use less power than brighter ones. I use the power saving option a lot and just leave my phone upside down in my pocket whenever I just walk for distance and battery seems to last a little while longer. I also try to limit catch/battle/pokestop animations when I'm low on power (which essentially means I just get the distance).
I use the battery saving option, and it does seem to help with the battery life. I play on a tablet with a soft plastic waterproof cover, which sometimes seems to cause issues with the battery saving feature. Sometimes the battery saver won't turn on or off correctly, and shaking it or taking it out of the case helps.
I also notice that if I relog into my account, it defaults to being off, and I have to select the feature again. Make sure that you have the feature selected still.
All phones have an accelerometer, which is what it uses to determine screen orientation. Only some phones have a more advanced gyroscope, which is what Pokemon Go uses for AR mode and battery saver mode. It's not clear to me why they can't/don't use the accelerometer to induce battery saver mode.
It's not like gyroscopes are a necessary new technology that's going to be less likely to be seen in old phones and standard in newer phones. The extra benefits it brings over an accelerometer are really only useful for gaming, so you're more likely to see it excluded from budget phones for cost reasons. I think Samsung only includes it in their S series phones (their top lines), and excludes it from things in their A and J series.
