WiFi/Mobile Data On/Off according to screen state?

Yoni · 12 Nov 2021, 06:19

@lakotaubp
Thats correct, I would want to see if it will be possible to have the WiFi//mobile Data disabled while the screen is turned off, and then back on again when the screen turns on.
I know that there is no settings/app to do that.. It is a general question to see if it is even possible for a hypothetical app to enable/disable radios.
Apps in Android used to be able to do that, but now only rooted devices are supported.

Keneda · 11 Dec 2021, 06:36

@yoni
There is a thread on the forum where someone provided a script to enable 3/4g only when screen is on and stay on 2g when it is off so i imagine you can adapt that to shut data when screen off.

Edit : by chance i bookmarked the thread https://forums.ubports.com/topic/6211/howto-alternate-way-of-saving-battery-when-using-4g-lte/9?_=1636668869452

Yoni · 12 Nov 2021, 19:16

@keneda
That's amazing! It's not exactly what I was looking for, but it's definately the right direction.
I had actually wanted to reduce unnecessey radiation, as turning the data off reduces the radiation by around 90% (-/+4%) and standby time increases by 40%-400%.
I will do some tinkering with the script and I'll post my battery longevity and radiation findings there in a couple of weeks.
Here's a graph showing radiation over a 3 hour periods with multiple phones, with and without mobile data activated.

flohack · 12 Nov 2021, 19:27

@yoni How is "radiation" measured?

Yoni · 12 Nov 2021, 19:54

@flohack
Using a RF meter and recording the total amount of radio activity over 3 hours.
Although I had carried the tests in the attick, and as far away from over radio sources, and the meter is not a professional one, I had trippled tested most of those phones and came with very similar results, so I'm quire certain that the results should be representative of what's really happening in regards to radio activity, and it makes sense that when mobile data is turned on, apps would comunicate with servers every so often, and that will account for the results.

Keneda · 11 Dec 2021, 22:37

@yoni said in WiFi/Mobile Data On/Off according to screen state?:

what's really happening in regards to radio activity

https://youtu.be/M0D7MBBI2Ik

Sorry i couldn't resist this masterpiece

Yoni · 13 Nov 2021, 17:00

@keneda
I never cared less about the radios in my phone, until a friend lost his right ball to cancer, needless to say that from beibg his regular place of keeping his phone, he would never put it there again.
Am I saying that because he always left his phone in his right front pocket, that he got cancer in his right ball? I'm not. But since then I don't keep my phone in the front pockets.
Have a look at how it actually looks during those 3 hours, and the first 10 minutes for better resolution.

flohack · 13 Nov 2021, 17:08

@yoni Well Ubuntu Touch has no background activity for Apps by default, the only thing that you will see is the push client keeping a socket open for incoming pushes, ntp client doing time sync, etc some few bytes only here and then. And of course, the modem does probably a bit of additional transmission when data is on, but that should also be not that much.

Also, there is no evidence now over more than 25 years that mobile radios can cause cancer in any way. By now long-term effects should be visible, but they aren´t. You also might want to read https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/cancer-myths/do-mobile-phones-cause-cancer

Keneda · 13 Nov 2021, 21:05

@yoni
I was not arguing with your intend to reduce radio exposition.
I just intended to share a music masterpiece your sentence made me think about directly reading it.

Just listen to it, Deutch Kalitaat it is.

Yoni · 13 Nov 2021, 22:40

@keneda
I listen to it, it's nice, but too slow for me.
I'm super appriciative for the link you sent me, I probably wouldn't had came over it by myself, and i wasn't offended or anything by your reply, and if I had offended you, please accept my sincere appology.

Yoni · 13 Nov 2021, 23:10

@flohack
There are countless studies that prove that mobile phones can, and can not, cause cancer and other medical issues, but I had never seen a study that shows that they have any medical benefits.
And the figure of 25 years of mobile phones being around should be evaluated with the massive proliferation of radio emitting devices, and also the amounts or signals being transmitted, that are exploding in numbers, especially since the iPhones and smartphones became prevalent in society about a decade ago, and then there are the smart home devices that didn't really exist a few years ago...
I'm waiting for a sim card to arrive so I can test UT's radio activity, and I hope that I'll be able to dual boot Android on it to see how the phone behaves on both.
I think that UT should have less activity due to the reasons that you mentioned, but let's wait and see.

cliffcoggin · 13 Nov 2021, 23:56

Wouldn't it be simpler to turn the phone off completely when you are not actively using it? Your EM radiation exposure would then be zero.

Lakotaubp · 14 Nov 2021, 05:42

@yoni Though it may be technically possible in some cases, we do not support dual boot. Just wanted you to know.

Yoni · 14 Nov 2021, 13:11

@cliffcoggin

The hassle of turning the phone off and then on and then to unlock the device, is too cumbersome.
That would make the phone useless for any incoming communications.
I know someone who does that, but he is on the extreme of RF exposure prevention, he even uses the JRS router to reduce the signal strength and disable the beacons, but personally I still want to be reachable at least for calls and texts immediately, and for emails and IM I propose to have the data connection activated when the screen is turned on for a short while, regardless if the user didn't unlock the device, so that those communications could be retrieved, and there should also be a user defined windows of connectivity, so that it can be set to turn on the data every 5,10,xx minutes for lets say 30 seconds, and maybe even having the data only turning on depending on the proximity sensor so that it wouldn't turn on if it is in a pocket.
Every person should have the ability to create a tailord scenario depending on their communication needs and exposure avoidance preferences.

Yoni · 14 Nov 2021, 13:17

@lakotaubp
I wish that UT was complete enough for all of my needs, but for me to be able to use the phone regularely, I need to use some apps on Android, and I really want to see how both OSs use the radio and battery.

Lakotaubp · 14 Nov 2021, 13:25

@yoni Have you looked at WayDroid? http://www.waydro.id/

Yoni · 14 Nov 2021, 17:31

@lakotaubp
It looks like the back gesture is working so it might be a much better solution than dual boot, thank you for the idea, I'm definitely going to try it out!

nero355 · 15 Nov 2021, 17:58

@cliffcoggin said in WiFi/Mobile Data On/Off according to screen state?:

Wouldn't it be simpler to turn the phone off completely when you are not actively using it? Your EM radiation exposure would then be zero.

Actually that's not true!

You would also need to remove the battery but we all know by now that we can't expect that to be possible anymore...

cliffcoggin · 15 Nov 2021, 22:11

@nero355 said in WiFi/Mobile Data On/Off according to screen state?:

You would also need to remove the battery but we all know by now that we can't expect that to be possible anymore.

But then you would not have power to run the app you ask about. You can't have it both ways.

nero355 · 19 Nov 2021, 17:17

@cliffcoggin said in WiFi/Mobile Data On/Off according to screen state?:

But then you would not have power to run the app you ask about. You can't have it both ways.

I am not asking for any app but I can tell you the following :

I already had a Samsung Note II which had a removable battery in the time that I bought my BQ E5 HD Ubuntu Phone.
There are still some so called "Rugged phones" that have a removable battery!

So not all hope is lost : Just a lot of it! :grinning_squinting_face: