Anoto Live Forms for Mobile - Why is my phone battery life poor when using the ALF mobile app?

Question
Why is my phone battery life poor when using ALF app?

Answer
Using Digital Pen and Paper requires Bluetooth to be switched on and for the ALF app to be running in order to be able to transmit. These may have a slightly bigger drain on the phone's battery but it should not constitute excessive draining. Battery life can be extended in some cases by simply changing how the phone is used:

  1. If the users are charging the battery before it has become suitably depleted, they should be aware that "drip feed" charging can reduce battery life.
  2. In line with above, how many times has the battery been charged since new?  Battery life will degrade with every charging cycle.
  3. What else is the phone being used for? E.g. web browsing, texting, calling for long periods?
  4. How many applications do they have running in the background? On Symbian devices it's possible to run multiple applications. Therefore it's good practice to properly exit an application when not using it. A simple and easy way to tell is to hold down the home key which will display a list of active applications. Selecting one of the applications will bring it to the foreground, select options and exit. When you hold the home key again, that application will not be listed. Repeat until all unused applications have been closed, except ALF.
  5. You may also want to change the "packet data connection" configuration. To do this go to Home > Settings > Connection > Packet Data. There are two possible answers "when needed" and "when available". Selecting "when needed" will save both the battery and your data usage allowance.
  6. There may also be other setting for GPRS, which should be configured in the same way.
  7. If it is not too much of an inconvenience, you can further lengthen the period between charges by closing the ALF app and disabling Bluetooth when not needed.
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