Nothing surprising. Apps like Twitter (or G+, or Facebook) that continuously sync data in the background are one of the main battery-sucking categories.
If you want to keep the app but you seldom use it, maybe you can set the refresh interval to something less frequent. That should help. Or you could disable Twitter sync altogether and sync manually when you open the app.
+Brent Burzycki, I just installed the Twitter app on my Galaxy Nexus to see if I could find the sync settings and there don't seem to be any. In fact the settings menu seems way shorter than it used to be. As far as I can see the only thing you can do is turn off sync completely from the Accounts settings. Le suck.
I have the twitter client and have syncing set to 1hr. It's in the settings for the account. I don't think I've ever seen the twitter client show up on my battery usage screens.
+Jason Chu, we seem to be using versions of the app. I have 3.0.0.
The only menus in the app are "settings" and "accounts". The only "settings" are "sound effects", "photo upload service" and "font size". The "accounts" menu just lets me switch between Twitter accounts.
No way to change the interval. I'm sure this option used to exist, but it seems they've removed it.
+Ana Ulin I'm pretty sure they're the same. Go to "Settings", then choose your account under "Account settings". That will bring you to the account's specific settings. Top section is "Sync settings" where you'll see "Sync interval". There's also sections for "Notifications", "Notification indicators", and "Other settings" ("Contact settings", "Edit profile", and "Remove account").
+Jason Chu always great how they can hide features under accounts or under the app itself… that really should be standardized… Also how some aps show up in Accounts and Sync while others do not.. thus must be handling syncing in a different way that I am sure is either more or less controllable.. well at least it is moving in the direction of uniformity
+Brent Burzycki It's definitely not perfect, but I like the idea of being able to have different notification or sync intervals for different accounts.
It's up to the app writer to make an entry in Accounts and Sync if they so choose. Generally if an account does sync data, multiple types of data, that is useful to other applications, and can work if you disable various aspects of that data syncing then it makes sense to have an account.
If it doesn't do any of those things (e.g. only syncs one thing, doesn't make that data accessible to other apps, won't work if you disable syncing), then having an account row is less useful.
+Jason Chu Just seems LIke I would want all my accts that do things in one location.. Example: Tweetdeck does not make an entry into accts.. yet the twitter app does.. but then again tweetdeck has become a hog and syncs many services..
I can understand the issues presented to developers…about what to do where and when…
+Paul Wiltsey That's the battery usage dialog in ICS. There's a similar one in pre-ICS under Settings->About Phone->Battery Usage (or something like that, I can't quite recall).
The Twitter app for ICS doesn't give you the option to change the sync interval. The one on Gingerbread does. Twitter's battery consumption has only become a problem for me on ICS. I have Tasker profiles that automatically shut down networking when I turn my screen off for more than three minutes. I think that Twitter keeps trying to update itself when the network is off, and upon failing tries repeatedly. This causes it to eat my battery like a lion feasting on a gazelle. If you guys find a way to curb the battery consumption (short of switching to third party), let me know.
+Nicholas Bowers I must be using the old version on my Galaxy Nexus. How do I upgrade it? I don't see any available updates in the Google Market. Why would some ICS phones not get the ICS update of twitter and others get it?
I misspoke, you are right, I have been in there before, but it slipped my mind today for some reason. I set the syncing to Never just now, and I'm going to see if that changes its consumption pattern. I'm investigating an app called Pushee that uses its own servers to check for updates on your accounts, and then sends you push notifications when you have one, instead of using the pull notifications that suck up so much battery life. Can't seem to get it to work with ICS though.
Try Tweetcaster or Twicca if you don't want to miss Twitter. They're much better than the official app in my opinion.
I use TweetCasterPro on my ICS Nexus – and it works fine…
Nothing surprising. Apps like Twitter (or G+, or Facebook) that continuously sync data in the background are one of the main battery-sucking categories.
If you want to keep the app but you seldom use it, maybe you can set the refresh interval to something less frequent. That should help. Or you could disable Twitter sync altogether and sync manually when you open the app.
+Ana Ulin It would be great to know when we install these apps what they are actually syncing and when…
+Jan Westerbarkey thanks….
+Leif Sikorski thanks…. will give them a try….
+Angel Figueroa NO setting for it I can tell in the app other than to turn syncing it off….
+Brent Burzycki, tru dat.
At least the battery usage and data usage screens can give you a sense for who are the worst offenders.
I haven't found a better way than poking through all the settings menus when I install an app, and tweaking whatever sync options are available.
Oh wow.
+Brent Burzycki, I just installed the Twitter app on my Galaxy Nexus to see if I could find the sync settings and there don't seem to be any. In fact the settings menu seems way shorter than it used to be. As far as I can see the only thing you can do is turn off sync completely from the Accounts settings. Le suck.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105900404848489720525/Random#5691283369870646402
I have the twitter client and have syncing set to 1hr. It's in the settings for the account. I don't think I've ever seen the twitter client show up on my battery usage screens.
+Jason Chu, we seem to be using versions of the app. I have 3.0.0.
The only menus in the app are "settings" and "accounts". The only "settings" are "sound effects", "photo upload service" and "font size". The "accounts" menu just lets me switch between Twitter accounts.
No way to change the interval. I'm sure this option used to exist, but it seems they've removed it.
+Ana Ulin I'm pretty sure they're the same. Go to "Settings", then choose your account under "Account settings". That will bring you to the account's specific settings. Top section is "Sync settings" where you'll see "Sync interval". There's also sections for "Notifications", "Notification indicators", and "Other settings" ("Contact settings", "Edit profile", and "Remove account").
I am also using Version 3.0.0.
+Angel Figueroa Try following my steps above. I'm using V3.0.0 and that's how I get to it.
+Jason Chu always great how they can hide features under accounts or under the app itself… that really should be standardized…
Also how some aps show up in Accounts and Sync while others do not.. thus must be handling syncing in a different way that I am sure is either more or less controllable.. well at least it is moving in the direction of uniformity
+Ana Ulin Thats what I found also…..
+Brent Burzycki It's definitely not perfect, but I like the idea of being able to have different notification or sync intervals for different accounts.
It's up to the app writer to make an entry in Accounts and Sync if they so choose. Generally if an account does sync data, multiple types of data, that is useful to other applications, and can work if you disable various aspects of that data syncing then it makes sense to have an account.
If it doesn't do any of those things (e.g. only syncs one thing, doesn't make that data accessible to other apps, won't work if you disable syncing), then having an account row is less useful.
+Jason Chu Just seems LIke I would want all my accts that do things in one location.. Example: Tweetdeck does not make an entry into accts.. yet the twitter app does.. but then again tweetdeck has become a hog and syncs many services..
I can understand the issues presented to developers…about what to do where and when…
what battery app is that?
+Paul Wiltsey That's the battery usage dialog in ICS. There's a similar one in pre-ICS under Settings->About Phone->Battery Usage (or something like that, I can't quite recall).
The Twitter app for ICS doesn't give you the option to change the sync interval. The one on Gingerbread does. Twitter's battery consumption has only become a problem for me on ICS. I have Tasker profiles that automatically shut down networking when I turn my screen off for more than three minutes. I think that Twitter keeps trying to update itself when the network is off, and upon failing tries repeatedly. This causes it to eat my battery like a lion feasting on a gazelle. If you guys find a way to curb the battery consumption (short of switching to third party), let me know.
+Nicholas Bowers I must be using the old version on my Galaxy Nexus. How do I upgrade it? I don't see any available updates in the Google Market. Why would some ICS phones not get the ICS update of twitter and others get it?
TwitterAccountSettings | 105900404848489720525
What do you see when you tap your account name? I see an option for Sync Interval, as well as a bunch of other account configurations.
I misspoke, you are right, I have been in there before, but it slipped my mind today for some reason. I set the syncing to Never just now, and I'm going to see if that changes its consumption pattern. I'm investigating an app called Pushee that uses its own servers to check for updates on your accounts, and then sends you push notifications when you have one, instead of using the pull notifications that suck up so much battery life. Can't seem to get it to work with ICS though.