Battery Optimization in Android Applications Using Smart Energy-Efficient Coding Techniques

Abstract

The proliferation of mobile applications mirrored the advancement of the digital world. However, battery life proved to be a major interruption to using these applications for long period of time without need of charging. Users impacted by the battery life limitation, faced performance issues and diminished sustainability of their devices. Advances in hardware and battery technology certainly have improved energy storage capabilities with the passage of time. However, a major cause of smartphone battery drain remains software inefficiencies, which persist today despite advances in hardware. Thus, to mitigate this problem, this study was carried out which investigates the potential benefits of smart coding techniques, including algorithm optimization, asynchronous programming, correct use of data structures and network throttling for enhancing android application battery performance without affecting application functionality. An experimental approach was used in the research to evaluate conventional coding against smart coding techniques. Open-source applications were selected from GitHub and cloned in Android Studio for android application development and editing. Selected five application projects from different category were OpenTasks (Productivity), AmazeFileManager (Utility), AntennaPod (Media Streaming), ThunderBird K-9 Mail (Communication), Fossify Gallery (Media Viewer). Consumption was measured before and after making code modification/optimizationand Battery Discharge Rate (BDR) analysis was performed by making use of Battery Historian. However, application responsiveness was also observed qualitatively and no lack was found.  It was also carried out in debug mode on a physical device with a fixed real-world simulated scenario to measure each application’s power consumption. According to the research results, specific software optimizations improved energy performance by 12.28–32.99%, with an overall average reduction of 23.40%. The average BDR decreased from 15.82 %/hr before optimization to 12.1210 %/hr after optimization, representing a mean reduction of 3.7035 %/hr. The individual improvements per application were 32.99% for Amaze File Manager, 22.05% for AntennaPod, 17.40% for Fossify Gallery, 12.28% for K-9 Mail, and 32.13% for OpenTasks, which means that coding improvements can significantly substitute for hardware solutions to improve sustainability. Statistical validation using paired-samples t-tests showed statistically significant reductions for Amaze File Manager (t(3)=3.723, p=0.0337), AntennaPod (t(3)=4.108, p=0.0261), Fossify Gallery (t(3)=3.336, p=0.0445), and OpenTasks (t(3)=13.008, p=0.0010), while K-9 Mail showed a reduction that was not statistically significant at the 0.05 level (t(3)=3.098, p=0.0534). Across the 20 paired observations, the overall difference was statistically significant (t(19) = 7.618, p < 0.001; 95% CI: 2.69–4.72 %/hr), which means that coding improvements can significantly substitute for hardware solutions to improve sustainability. . This study fills the gap in existing literature as it moves away from theoretical abstractions and profiling techniques for developers and instead focuses on developer-oriented energy optimization techniques at development time. The results showed the need for energy awareness in the process through IDE tools and CI/CD energy tracking and developer training for energy-efficient programming during the development phase. This developer centric approach supports green software engineering by promoting Energy Efficiency (EE) as a fundamental design principle in the modern development of mobile applications.